Staff Researcher – Applied Science (Bangalore Urban)

About the Team The Data Science team at Navi plays a central role in building intelligent solutions that power our products and drive business impact. We work across key domains such as Lending, Collections, KYC, UPI Growth and Ads recommendation, applying advanced machine learning/deep learning/GenAI techniques to solve high-impact challenges. Our work involves a diverse range of data types—including text, image, and tabular data—and we closely collaborate with cross-functional teams like Product, Business, Engineering, etc. to deliver end-to-end solutions. About the Role As a Staff Researcher at Navi, you will play a pivotal role in defining and advancing the applied data science vision across the organization. This role offers the unique opportunity to lead cross-functional, enterprise-level data science initiatives that have a direct and lasting impact on Navi’s most critical business strategies. You will operate at the forefront of advanced machine learning, large-scale data engineering, and domain innovation—architecting and deploying scalable solutions that set industry benchmarks. Collaborating with senior leaders across multiple business units, you will address Navi’s most complex and high-value challenges, foster a culture of technical excellence, drive innovation, and develop the next generation of data science talent. Your leadership will be instrumental in establishing data science as a key strategic differentiator for Navi’s future growth. In Navi Data Science team, you will get opportunity to work across high-impact initiatives like:
- Risk & Credit Intelligence
- Credit Risk and Fraud prediction
- Income, Loan amount and Credit line management
- Loss forecasting
- Growth & Personalization
- Retention and Personalisation
- Ads Recommendation
- Cross sell initiatives and conversion optimisation
- Strategy & Operations
- Collections operations optimisation
- Pricing
- Quant fund management What We Expect From You
- Advance Applied Research: Drive innovation in ML, AI, optimization, causal inference, and allied areas to solve problems that go beyond current product needs. Produces foundational deliverables in terms of data science improvements as well as scalable platforms which can be adopted across all domains for driving data science initiatives
- Thought Leadership & Technical Strategy: Shape the data science roadmap for the organization. Champion state-of-the-art approaches, set technical standards, and guide teams in solving ambiguous, high-stakes business problems.
- Mentorship, Coaching & Talent Development: Develop, mentor, and inspire a diverse team of senior data scientists and leads. Foster a culture of continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and technical excellence across the entire data science organization.
- Rapid Experimentation: Identify emerging opportunities and lead the development of POCs using the latest ML and AI advancements, ensuring rapid experimentation and best-in-class solution delivery.
- Strategic Cross-Functional Influence: Cultivate and maintain robust partnerships with executive leadership, business, product, engineering, and analytics teams. Influence business priorities, evangelize data-driven decision-making, and translate insights into high-impact actions.
- Governance & Model Excellence: Define and enforce industry-leading standards for model development, deployment, validation, monitoring, and lifecycle management. Ensure solutions are reliable, scalable, and deliver sustained business impact.
- Organizational Impact: Drive the adoption of best practices in MLOps, code management, experiment design, cost optimization, and monitoring frameworks across teams. Lead quarterly, annual, and long-term planning for the data science organization and contribute to company-wide strategic initiatives. Must Haves
- Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in Engineering with at least 9 years of relevant experience
- OR PhD in relevant domain with at least 5 years of relevant experience
- Demonstrated thought leadership and deep expertise in modern machine learning techniques, advanced statistical methods, and hands-on experience with leading ML framework
- Proven track record of driving long-horizon research initiatives (6–24 months) that delivered measurable business or product impact.
- Significant experience mentoring and developing senior data scientists; demonstrated ability to set and drive technical vision for large teams
- Strong business acumen and a history of translating data-driven insights into actionable, high-impact business strategies
- Deep expertise in experiment design, A/B and multivariate testing, and measurement frameworks to optimize data science solutions
- Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and executive influencing skills, with a track record of working across business, product, engineering, and leadership functions
- Proven ability to drive innovation, operationalize best practices in MLOps, and stay at the cutting edge of machine learning and AI advancements
- External visibility through publications, patents, talks, or open-source contributions will be a plus Inside Navi We are shaping the future of financial services for a billion Indians through products that are simple, accessible, and affordable. From Personal & Home Loans to UPI, Insurance, Mutual Funds, and Gold — we’re building tech-first solutions that work at scale, with a strong customer-first approach. Founded by Sachin Bansal & Ankit Agarwal in 2018, we are one of India’s fastest-growing financial services organisations. But we’re just getting started! Our Culture The Navi DNA Ambition. Perseverance. Self-awareness. Ownership. Integrity. We’re looking for people who dream big when it comes to innovation. At Navi, you’ll be empowered with the right mechanisms to work in a dynamic team that builds and improves innovative solutions. If you’re driven to deliver real value to customers, no matter the challenge, this is the place for you. We chase excellence by uplifting each other—and that starts with every one of us. Why You'll Thrive at Navi At Navi, it’s about how you think, build, and grow. You’ll thrive here if:
- You’re impact-driven : You take ownership, build boldly, and care about making a real difference.
- You strive for excellence : Good isn’t good enough. You bring focus, precision, and a passion for quality.
- You embrace change : You adapt quickly, move fast, and always put the customer first. Apply on Kit Job: kitjob.in/job/4mjug5