Lead AI Researcher

End Date

Thursday 12 March 2026

£111,809 - £131,540

Job Share

As a Lead AI Researcher at Lloyds Banking Group, you will be a strategic leader and expert practitioner at the forefront of the Group's AI transformation. In this role, you will lead the research and development of cutting‑edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generative AI technologies, guiding their application to drive business value while ensuring ethical and responsible implementation. You will work within the AI Centre of Excellence, collaborating with diverse teams to solve complex financial challenges and create innovative, customer‑centric banking solutions.

Lead AI Researcher

£90,440 - £131,450

Bristol or London

Hybrid, 40% (or two days) in the Bristol or London office.

As a Lead AI Researcher at Lloyds Banking Group, you will be a strategic leader and expert practitioner at the forefront of the Group's AI transformation. In this role, you will lead the research and development of cutting‑edge artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generative AI technologies, guiding their application to drive business value while ensuring ethical and responsible implementation. You will work within the AI Centre of Excellence, collaborating with diverse teams to solve complex financial challenges and create innovative, customer‑centric banking solutions.

• AI Research & Innovation: Lead and conduct hands‑on, end‑to‑end research, developing novel AI, machine‑learning (ML), generative AI (GenAI), and Agentic AI solutions and patterns.
• Strategic Leadership: Set the technical direction and research roadmap for the AI team, translating complex business challenges and opportunities into a clear vision for AI development. Your work will inform the Group's AI strategy and advance its capabilities.
• Project Execution: Lead the full lifecycle of AI research projects, from formulating problems, ideation, proposing hypotheses, developing new algorithms/models to experimentations to validating outcomes and publishing results, ensuring high‑quality impactful outcomes.
• Collaboration: Lead and work within cross‑functional teams comprising of product managers, data scientists, ML/AI engineers, and business leaders. Lead research partnerships with key academic partners and fintechs.
• Thought Leadership & Communication: Act as a subject matter expert, present research findings at conferences and publish papers to advance the field. You will communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders, including senior leaders.
• Team Mentorship: Coach and mentor junior AI researchers and engineers, helping to grow team capabilities and fostering a culture of continuous learning and curiosity.
• Responsible AI Governance: Partner with the Responsible AI team to embed robust ethical principles, bias mitigation techniques, and regulatory compliance into all AI development workflows.

We’re on an exciting journey and there couldn’t be a better time to join us. The investments we’re making in our people, data, and technology are leading to innovative projects, fresh possibilities, and countless new ways for our people to work, learn, and thrive.

• Extensive experience developing and deploying AI systems and machine learning models in a production environment.
• Demonstrable experience in AI research, with a strong publication record in top‑tier conferences and journals.
• Master’s or PhD (preferred) in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or relevant STEM field.
• Deep knowledge of AI/ML concepts, algorithms, and techniques, including generative AI, Agentic AI and reinforcement learning.
• Strong proficiency in programming languages, particularly Python.
• Expertise in AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch/Tensor Flow, Scikit-learn, Stats models, Lang Graph and ADK.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (preferably Google Cloud Platform and Vertex AI).
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and complex…