Senior Data Scientist
Senior / Principal Data Scientist
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE (relocation support provided)
Compensation: £120,000–£300,000 total compensation (fully guaranteed, all-in)
The Role
We are building a centralised data science function inside a quantitative investment platform.
This is not an asset-class desk role and not a downstream analytics or reporting position.
The team exists to work with large, messy, often unstructured data and determine how that data can and cannot be used in systematic investing.
Most of the work is greenfield. There are no inherited frameworks to follow and no fixed playbooks. You will be expected to reason from first principles, design your own experimentation standards, and build research systems that other teams rely on.
You will operate as a senior individual contributor. This is a hands-on role for people who want deep ownership rather than line management.
What You’ll Do
- Building data-driven research systems on large, noisy datasets
- Working with alternative and unstructured data such as transactions, text, imagery, sensor or network data
- Designing experiments to understand signal quality, bias, coverage, and failure modes
- Developing forecasting, optimisation, anomaly detection, or risk-aware models used in real decision-making
- Analysing regime shifts, drift, and breakdowns in modelling assumptions
- Translating research into production-grade components and owning them end-to-end
- Working closely with quantitative researchers and data engineers to shape how data is sourced and used across the firm
Who This Is For
This role suits people who are genuinely obsessed with data, enjoy ambiguity, and like investigating problems where structure is not obvious.
You’re likely a strong fit if you:
- Strong foundations in statistics, probability, and applied machine learning
- Fluency in Python and experience writing production-quality, testable code
- Clear evidence that you have personally designed and built systems
- Experience working directly with large, imperfect datasets
- A practical, detail-oriented approach to experimentation and validation
Experience in the following is a plus:
- Modern data architectures (e.g. lakehouse or columnar analytics)
- High-performance data tools (e.g. Polars, Julia)
- System-design thinking and data-lifecycle awareness
- Performance-critical workflows or systems-level tooling (e.g. Rust)
Relevant Backgrounds (Finance or Non-Finance)
We consider candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, provided their experience maps to the challenges of quantitative data research.
Compensation & Benefits
- Fully guaranteed, competitive compensation
- Education allowance for dependent children
- 30 working days of annual leave
- Comprehensive healthcare for employee and family
- Business class relocation flights
- Joining and departure allowances
The role is on-site in Abu Dhabi . Short-term remote work during the peak summer months is supported, along with generous leave and public holidays. The working model is designed for long-term sustainability and family life.
How to Apply
Send your CV and a brief summary of relevant experience to
dana@durlstonpartners.com