Lead Data Scientist

About ARAs Client

ARAs Client is a fast-growing enterprise B2B SaaS startup founded by ex-Amazon ad-tech experts. Headquartered in Pune, India, ARAs Client is building a future-proof Retail Media Operating System , helping retailers boost profitability by up to 7% of sales . By offering omni-channel media buying, advanced targeting, analytics, and superior ROAS, the platform enables retailers and marketplaces worldwide to stay ahead of the market by at least two years.

Role Summary

We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist (Generative AI & LLMs) to design, build, and scale AI-powered solutions for retail media and ad-tech. This role blends technical leadership, applied research, and business impact , requiring hands-on expertise in machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and large language models. You will drive innovation in Generative AI , lead applied research, and collaborate with product and engineering teams to deliver customer-facing AI solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Translate complex business problems into advanced statistical and ML frameworks.
• Develop scalable ML and DL solutions with a strong emphasis on LLMs and Generative AI.
• Build and optimize training, fine-tuning, evaluation, and deployment pipelines for LLMs.
• Apply Responsible AI principles to ensure fairness, explainability, and bias mitigation.
• Lead applied research and incorporate cutting-edge GenAI methods into production.
• Build scalable data pipelines and end-to-end ML systems on cloud platforms.
• Provide technical leadership to data scientists, analysts, and engineers.
• Mentor junior talent, establish best practices, and influence the data science roadmap.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to integrate AI solutions into customer-facing platforms.
• Manage project execution, continuous improvement, and strategy alignment.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, or related fields.
• 8–12 years of applied data science/ML experience, with strong domain exposure to e-commerce, advertising, or retail.
• 3–4 years of hands-on expertise in LLMs, Generative AI, and NLP .
• 2+ years of leadership experience in guiding projects and teams.
• Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and cloud ML platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Experience with MLOps frameworks (MLflow, Kubeflow, Vertex AI, SageMaker).
• Solid statistical foundation (hypothesis testing, regression, causal inference, time-series).
• Strong data engineering skills for ETL and large-scale dataset processing.

Nice to Have

• Experience with ad-tech, ad-serving systems, or retail media platforms.
• Applied research contributions (papers, patents, open-source projects).
• Exposure to multimodal AI and personalization systems.
• Hands-on experience with LangChain, Hugging Face, RAG, LoRA, and fine-tuning of LLMs.

Behavioral Competencies

• Business acumen: ability to map AI/ML solutions to strategic goals.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven leadership and mentoring capabilities.
• Adaptability in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment.
• Innovative mindset with a passion for staying ahead of AI/ML trends.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to build cutting-edge AI solutions shaping the future of retail media.
• Work with a world-class leadership team of ex-Amazon ad-tech experts.
• Be part of a fast-scaling SaaS startup with global Tier 1 retailers as clients.
• Culture of innovation, ownership, and continuous learning.
• Competitive compensation, growth opportunities, and flexible working environment.