Data Science Director

As part of our growth strategy, we are seeking a dynamic highly skilled Data Science Director to join our dynamic team and lead the data science and IA capabilities for the new Ice Cream organisation.

The newly created Ice Cream Technology function will drive the technology set-up, standalone design and implementation of all required technology capabilities to enable Unilever’s Ice Cream business to become a fully functioning standalone company, separate from Unilever.

We are looking for a Director of Data Science who will lead the strategy, development, and execution of advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI-driven solutions to accelerate business growth across the company’s value chain. This role will be responsible for shaping data-driven decision-making in conjunction with the functional leads in Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, Revenue Growth Management, and Consumer Insights, while ensuring alignment with enterprise data platforms and governance frameworks. The ideal candidate will combine deep technical expertise in AI/ML with strong business acumen in the CPG industry and proven experience in building and scaling high-performing data science teams.

The candidate comes with a strong ability to understand complex business and applications needs to translate them into data science and AI solutions to deliver on those requirements. Therefore, excellent understanding and experience of complex data projects/governance/standards.

The successful candidate will be one that has significant IT expertise with a proven record of leading large-scale technology transformation and has a passion for building world class technology and a desire to make a meaningful impact.

Define and execute the data science strategy aligned with the company’s digital transformation and growth objectives

Partner with business leaders to identify high-value AI/ML opportunities across functions (demand forecasting, trade promotions, pricing, personalization, etc.).

Drive innovation in predictive and prescriptive analytics, simulation modeling, and agentic AI for decision automation.

Lead the design, development, and deployment of machine learning models, optimization algorithms, and advanced statistical techniques to solve complex business problems.

Oversee MLOps processes for scalable and reliable deployment of models into production environments.

Ensure model explainability, fairness, and compliance with regulatory and ethical AI guidelines.

Collaborate with IT, Data Engineering, and Platform teams to leverage the enterprise data lake (e.g., Azure + Databricks) for model development and operationalization.

Partner with commercial, supply chain, and finance teams to ensure solutions deliver measurable business impact.

Act as a thought leader and evangelize data science capabilities across the organization.

Build and mentor a world-class data science team (data scientists, ML engineers, decision scientists).

Foster a culture of continuous learning, experimentation, and innovation.

Establish best practices for model governance, documentation, and performance tracking.

Professional Experience: 10+ years in data science, with at least 3-5 years in an leadership or senior management role.

Master’s or Ph.D. in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related field

Leadership Experience: Proven track record of leading and managing data science teams / capabilities, Strong ability to translate business problems into data-driven solutions. Excellent communication and storytelling skills to influence senior executives.

Industry Experience: Experience in a CPG company is critical to be successful in the role.

Technical Skills:

Hands-on experience with Python, R, SQL, and modern ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn).

Expertise in cloud platforms (Azure preferred), data engineering concepts, and Databricks or similar environments.

Architectural and Design Leadership: Track record in designing enterprise-scale data science products and applications that are secure, scalable across the enterprise.

Collaboration & Influence: Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills; ability to work across tech and business teams to deliver impactful solutions.

Data Governance and Quality: Understanding of data privacy, security, and governance frameworks (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) and experience embedding these into engineering practices.

Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors Personal Mastery : Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others. Passion for High Performance : Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Consumer Love: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers. Business Acumen: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.

Personal Mastery : Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others.

Passion for High Performance : Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.

Consumer Love: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.

Business Acumen: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

TMICC embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity .

Equal Opportunity Employer: TMICC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, or any other basis protected by applicable law, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

We take pleasure seriously. Join the Ice Cream team now!

#TMICC

Why join us? This is a place for people who are passionate about ice cream and are growth obsessed - both for the business and for themselves. People who act like an owner and drive our business end-to-end. People who are driven by success to deliver more than we ever thought we could! You’ll thrive here if you value an inclusive culture, with low ego and hierarchy - and if you’re excited to continuously learn and challenge how we work, using digital, data, and new thinking to push us forward. - Roles with real accountability and visible impact - Free to move fast, experiment and challenge how things are done - Continuous learning and development as the business grows - Reward linked to performance and contribution. Your career here is shaped by what you deliver, as you work across functions and markets and grow with the business. Ready to build the future of Ice Cream? If this sounds like the place where you'd thrive, we'd love to hear from you. Apply online and share your CV. We'll review your application and be in touch with the next steps. If you are an individual with a disability and require assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please let your Talent Acquisition Partner know. Additional information The Magnum Ice Cream Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We embrace diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work regardless of age, disability, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.