Data Scientist – GenAI & Machine Learning (all humans)

Make a difference in the financial life of millions of people: At Erste Digital you are co-creating the digital future, in which better financial health is possible. #believeinyourself

We are part of Erste Group - the largest banking group in Central and Eastern Europe with more than 2,500 branches and over 45,000 employees. Our more than 2,000 IT experts and enthusiasts are the bank's Digital Muscle.

What to do:

• You deliver Data Science and Generative AI solutions that create measurable value for our internal business customers across Retail, Corporate, Operations, Data Quality and other areas. Typical use cases include customer experience, sales optimization, churn prevention, transaction classification, text and document processing, knowledge assistants and AI-powered automation.

• You design, develop and evaluate predictive models, machine learning solutions and GenAI applications, including solutions based on Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), AI agents and other emerging AI technologies.

• You work across the full Data Science and AI lifecycle - from understanding the business problem and exploring data to data preparation, feature engineering, model development, experimentation, evaluation, deployment and continuous improvement.

• You apply appropriate evaluation methods and guardrails to ensure that AI and GenAI solutions are accurate, reliable, explainable and suitable for use in a regulated banking environment.

• You collaborate closely with business experts, Data Engineers, Software Engineers, AI Platform teams and other partner departments to bring prototypes into robust, scalable and production-ready solutions.

• You work effectively both independently and as part of a team, proactively involving colleagues and subject-matter experts whenever needed to deliver high-quality results on time.

• You demonstrate genuine curiosity and continuously explore how developments in Machine Learning, Generative AI and emerging AI technologies can be translated into practical solutions for the banking industry.

• You are willing to continuously learn and develop your skills while working with business owners and multidisciplinary teams, including in international projects across Erste Group.

• You combine a strong interest in data, technology and business problems and are able to translate between technical possibilities and tangible business outcomes.

Requirements

You check these boxes:

• Bachelor’s or Masters degree with a focus on quantitative disciplines

• Minimum of 2 years practical experience as a Data Scientist

• Good understanding of statistical methods and common machine learning algorithms

• Hands-on experience in the design and development of applications utilizing the Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pattern, which includes steps such as chunking, embedding, and querying a Large Language Model (LLM)

• Good knowledge of Python, Spark and SQL (with practical experience).

• Hands-on experience with Databricks is a big plus.

• Basic understanding of the banking business

• Language skills: English full professional proficiency

Why you will like us:

• Possibility to benefit and learn from our international, talented and passionate community at Erste

• Interest groups and clubs: Take part in discussions and get involved in projects. Numerous interest groups invite you to engage with a topic

• Health Centre - The Erste Campus operates a fully equipped health center that offers all employees a high standard of medical services during working hours.

• Employee benefits - Benefit from special conditions for financial services and insurances, supermarkets, clothing stores and many more.

• Employee Referral Program - Become a talent scout for career opportunities in IT. We are rewarding every successful referral for Erste Digital

• A competitive and performance-related salary dependent on your professional and personal qualifications is granted - the minimum wage for this position in accordance with the respective collective agreement is EUR 52.136,-gross per year. But this is just a formality, we are more than happy to discuss your actual expectations.

The way we are:

Erste Group considers the diversity of its employees as key to innovation and success. As employer we are proud to offer everyone equal chances, irrespective of age, skin colour, religious belief, gender, sexual orientation or origin.