Head of AI & Machine Learning - Search, RecSys & Personalisation (Dubai based)

About the Role (Dubai based)

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Head of Data Science & Machine Learning to lead and scale our data science organization. In this role, you will drive innovation and execution across core ML pillars such as Search, Recommender Systems, Personalisation, and Generative AI (GenAI) to power the next generation of user experiences.

You will be responsible for shaping the strategy, building high-performing teams, and delivering impactful ML-driven features that directly influence key business outcomes. This is a hands-on leadership role that blends deep technical expertise with strategic vision and cross-functional collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute the long-term strategy for Data Science & ML aligned with company goals.
• Champion a culture of innovation, experimentation, and scientific rigor.
• Stay on top of industry trends and emerging technologies in AI/ML, particularly in GenAI, Search, RecSys, and Personalisation.

Search & Information Retrieval

• Lead the development and optimization of scalable search systems, including relevance tuning, semantic search, and ranking algorithms.
• Integrate LLMs and transformer-based models to enhance search accuracy and contextual understanding.

Recommendation Systems & Personalisation

• Oversee the design and deployment of large-scale recommender systems (collaborative filtering, deep learning-based, hybrid models).
• Drive user-centric personalisation across product surfaces using behavioural, contextual, and real-time data.
• Ensure systems are explainable, bias-aware, and continuously improving.

Generative AI (GenAI)

• Spearhead the application of GenAI across product areas (e.g., content generation, chat assistants, creative tools).
• Evaluate and fine-tune large language models (LLMs) or multimodal models to meet domain-specific needs
• Partner with engineering and product teams to deploy GenAI solutions that are scalable, secure, and responsible.

Team & People Management

• Build, mentor, and retain a world-class team of data scientists, ML engineers, and research scientists.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance team culture.
• Implement best practices for experimentation, model development, and production deployment.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Product, Engineering, Design, and Marketing to align ML initiatives with business priorities.
• Translate abstract product ideas into concrete ML solutions with measurable impact.
• Communicate complex technical ideas clearly to non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required:

• 10+ years of experience in applied data science / ML, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Proven experience delivering production-grade systems in Search, Recommender Systems, or Personalisation.
• Strong understanding of ML fundamentals and deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX).
• Hands-on experience with GenAI, including working with LLMs (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, HuggingFace models).
• Deep knowledge of MLOps, experimentation, and model evaluation techniques.
• Experience scaling ML platforms, pipelines, and tooling in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).

Preferred:

• PhD or MS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related field.
• Publications or patents in relevant areas (Search, RecSys, GenAI).
• Familiarity with data privacy, model fairness, and responsible AI principles.
• Experience in [insert domain: e.g., e-commerce, media, fintech, healthcare].