About The Company
Vanguard is a globally recognized leader in the financial services industry, committed to providing innovative investment management solutions and fostering long-term financial well-being for its clients. With a rich history of integrity, transparency, and client-centricity, Vanguard has established itself as a trusted partner for individuals, institutions, and advisors worldwide. The company emphasizes a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and technological advancement, ensuring it remains at the forefront of industry innovation. Vanguard's dedication to responsible investing and its focus on delivering measurable results make it an employer of choice for professionals seeking impactful careers in finance and technology.
About The Role
Vanguard's Center of AI and Intelligence is seeking an experienced Senior Data Scientist to join their team supporting the Office of General Counsel and Finance departments. This pivotal role involves leading the design, development, governance, and deployment of advanced AI and machine learning solutions aimed at automating knowledge-intensive business processes. The ideal candidate will leverage cutting-edge ML methods, large language models (LLMs), enterprise data platforms, and agentic workflows to create scalable, trusted, and compliant AI solutions that drive measurable business outcomes. The role requires close collaboration with business, risk, compliance, and technology stakeholders to transform operations and implement responsible AI practices.
Qualifications
- Proven experience in designing AI agents capable of reasoning, planning, and acting across multiple systems and platforms.
- Hands-on experience building enterprise applications utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs), including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), tool use, orchestration, and evaluation techniques.
- Strong background in Natural Language Processing (NLP), with expertise working with unstructured text and language-driven workflows.
- Proficiency in machine learning, particularly Gradient Boosting methods, hyper-parameter tuning, and interpretability techniques.
- Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, or a related quantitative field.
- Minimum of 3 years delivering AI/ML solutions in production environments with a focus on enterprise applications.
- Over 5 years of hands-on experience with Python programming, with familiarity in distributed data processing being advantageous.
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to translate business challenges into effective AI solutions.
- Excellent communication skills, capable of explaining complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience working within cross-functional, enterprise environments, demonstrating collaboration and stakeholder management skills.
Responsibilities
Solve Business Problems with AI
- Design and develop sophisticated machine learning models that synthesize multi-dimensional data into actionable insights and signals to support critical business decisions.
- Create enterprise knowledge systems that unify structured and unstructured data across various platforms, enabling AI agents to retrieve, reason over, and operationalize organizational knowledge securely and reliably.
- Partner with business stakeholders to identify, frame, and prioritize high-value problems suitable for Agentic AI, LLMs, and ML solutions, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
- Establish and execute evaluation frameworks focused on coverage, relevance, trustworthiness, explainability, and user adoption, alongside traditional technical performance metrics.
- Maintain a business-centric approach, emphasizing measurable outcomes and value delivery beyond mere model accuracy.
Design & Build Agentic AI Solutions
- Architect and develop agentic AI systems capable of reasoning, planning, and executing actions across diverse tools, workflows, and data sources.
- Design multi-agent and tool-augmented LLM solutions to automate complex, multi-step enterprise processes efficiently.
- Ensure all AI solutions are reliable, explainable, and governed to meet enterprise standards for security, compliance, and operational integrity.
Scalable & Responsible AI
- Collaborate with engineering teams to deploy AI solutions that are scalable, secure, and high-performing, aligning with enterprise infrastructure standards.
- Implement robust evaluation, monitoring, and guardrails to detect and mitigate bias, model drift, and failure modes in LLM and agentic systems.
- Align AI solutions with enterprise risk management, compliance, and responsible AI principles, ensuring ethical and lawful deployment practices.
Thought Leadership & Collaboration
- Serve as a trusted AI advisor within the organization, guiding teams on where and how Agentic AI and LLMs can add value, and where they may not be appropriate.
- Contribute to the development of AI best practices, reusable solution patterns, and strategic initiatives to foster innovation and consistency across projects.
- Mentor peers and team members on applied AI techniques and business-oriented problem solving to build internal capabilities and expertise.
Benefits
Vanguard offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the health, well-being, and professional growth of its employees. This includes competitive salary packages, health and dental insurance, retirement plans, and generous paid time off. Employees have access to ongoing training and development programs, fostering continuous learning and career advancement. The company promotes a collaborative and inclusive work environment, encouraging innovation and diversity of thought. Additionally, Vanguard supports flexible working arrangements through its hybrid work model, enabling employees to balance