Location: Lithuania

Are you a strategic thinker who can bridge the gap between advanced analytics and business impact? Are you a "Player-Coach" who not just builds models, but defines why we build them and how they solve real-world problems?

At Danske Bank, we are looking for a Principal Data Scientist to join our Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) Analytics unit. This is not a standard coding role; we need an experienced professional to act as a technical lighthouse, guiding strategy, mentoring, and translating complex data capabilities into actionable business value.

Role Overview: Strategic Vision & Technical Leadership as a Principal Data Scientist in our FCC Models, Solutions & Data Analytics unit, you will operate at the intersection of data science and business strategy. While you will maintain a hands-on understanding of our stack, your primary value lies in your ability to see the bigger picture. We are looking for a profile that balances technical expertise with strong leadership capabilities. We are willing to trade off some daily active coding volume for a candidate who brings strategic vision and the ability to lead people.

You will be responsible for defining the "Why" behind our development efforts, ensuring our machine learning and AI initiatives are not just technically sound, but commercially and operationally vital in the fight against financial crime.

Location & Ways of Working This position is based at our office in Warsaw, Poland or Vilnius, Lithuania. You will work with colleagues across the Nordics and Warsaw / Vilnius. We embrace a hybrid working model that combines the benefits of collaborating in person with the flexibility of working from home. We expect our employees to be physically present at the office at least 3 days per week to encourage teamwork, innovation, and a strong team culture. Please note that you must have the right to work in Poland or Lithuania, as we do not offer visa sponsorship for this role.

You will:

• Strategic Direction: Leading the conceptualization of analytical solutions. You will define what we should build to solve complex financial crime problems, rather than simply executing on predefined tasks

• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: Acting as the primary translator between the data science team and senior, non-technical stakeholders. You should be able to "sell" complex AI/ML solutions, explain their value, and secure buy-in from stakeholders and risk managers

• Mentorship & Team Development: acting as a "Player-Coach" for the team. You will dedicate significant time to mentoring data scientists, fostering technical excellence, and helping junior colleagues grow their skills

• Technical Oversight: guiding the architecture of robust, scalable data pipelines and workflows (Python, SQL, Big Data). While you may code less than a Junior Data Scientist, your code review and architectural decisions might set the standard for the team

• Innovation: Driving the adoption of new technologies and methodologies to keep our analytical capabilities on the cutting edge

Requirements:

• Solid Technical Foundation: Typically, 5-7+ years working with analytics. While you may be moving toward a more strategic focus, you possess high-level understanding of Python, SQL, and ML/AI lifecycles to effectively guide the team and improve poor design

• Strategic Mindset: Ability to understand the business side of Financial Crime. You can articulate a technical strategy and define the roadmap

• Strong Communication: You excel at explaining complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences. You can create compelling presentations and narratives that drive decision-making at a senior level

• Leadership & Mentoring: Experience leading projects and developing people. You enjoy helping others and have a track record of elevating the technical level of your team

• Problem Solving: A proactive approach to identifying "hidden" business problems and proposing data-driven solutions

• Beneficial experience: Familiarity with big data technologies (particularly PySpark), cloud data platforms (especially AWS), and the Databricks platform would be beneficial

• Language: Fluency in written and spoken English

We offer:

This position can be located both in Lithuania and Poland.

If you are hired in Lithuania, the applicable salary range will be from 5040 to 7560 EUR monthly (based on your competencies relevant for the job).

Additionally, each Danske Bank employee receives employee benefits package which includes:

• Growth opportunities: professional & supportive team, e-learnings, numerous development programs; (incl. professional certificates); 100+ professions for internal mobility opportunities.
• Health & Well-being: a diverse, inclusive, work & life balance work environment; additional health insurance; mental well-being practices; partial psychologist counselling compensation; silence and sleep zones at the office; game rooms.
• Hybrid working conditions: Work from home up to two days a week; home office budget (after the probation period); modern Danske Campus workplace developed with anthropologist for the best employee experience.
• Additional days of leave: for rest, health, volunteering, exams in higher education institutions, and other important activities. Moreover, for seniority with Danske Bank.
• Monetary compensation package: accidents & critical diseases insurance; financial support in case of unfortunate events, travel insurance; IIIrd Pillar Pension Fund contribution.

See all the benefits HERE.

Your title in job contract will be Data Scientist, Principal.

If you're interested in this role and joining my team, feel free to contact me – Kim Kongsted via LinkedIn, and I will answer your questions!

#LI-DBLT

Are you interested in developing advanced analytical solutions & models to identify complex patterns of activity? Do you wish to contribute to fighting financial crime? Do you thrive in leading projects aimed at converting extensive and intricate datasets into meaningful, actionable insights? Join us and apply your skills to a mission that matters!