Generative AI Research Scientist

Closing date for applications: 12/06/2026

Location London, United Kingdom

Job typePermanent | Contract typeFull Time

Remote / On-site Hybrid

You’ll spend some of your time at home, working with your team digitally. You’ll also regularly work at your office or hub to collaborate with your colleagues.

Managerial / Technical Lead

This is a general indication and doesn’t always reflect day-to-day responsibilities. Check the job description for full details.

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Join our digital revolution in NatWest Digital X

In everything we do, we work to one aim. To make digital experiences which are effortless and secure.

So we organise ourselves around three principles: engineer, protect, and operate. We engineer simple solutions, we protect our customers, and we operate smarter.

Job description

This role is based in the United Kingdom and as such all normal working days must be carried out in the United Kingdom.

Join us as a Generative AI Research Scientist

• You’ll drive innovation in how the bank applies generative AI (GenAI), identifying high-value opportunities, proving what works, and shaping next-generation products and customer experiences
• Act as the bank's technical authority on GenAI, guiding internal adoption while representing our capabilities externally across the wider AI community
• You’ll have the opportunity to work at the cutting edge of generative AI, exploring emerging techniques and turning research into real‑world solutions that deliver impact at scale

What you’ll do

As our Generative AI Research Scientist, you’ll bring strong research rigour to everything you do, from problem framing and model selection to building defensible, evidence-based outcomes. You’ll explore and evaluate emerging techniques, including new model families, retrieval‑augmented generation, agentic patterns and multimodal approaches, and run experiments to determine what works best for the business.

You’ll lead the strategy for customisation, deciding on what to fine-tune, which data to use, and how success is measured. You’ll also translate complex business challenges into clear machine learning problems and identify which GenAI approaches are worth pursuing and why. You’ll stay at the forefront of scientific advancements, applying the latest research to uncover new opportunities and drive innovation across the bank.

You’ll also be:

• Taking ownership of evaluation, designing robust benchmarks, test sets and statistical analyses to assess accuracy, safety, bias and model robustness
• Prototyping innovative GenAI solutions, working with product and business teams to test ideas and validate them using real users and data
• Defining quality and safety standards, setting the bar solutions must meet before scaling across the organisation
• Advising on model risk, interpretability, and regulatory considerations so proposed approaches are robust, transparent, and fit for purpose
• Publishing research and contributing to intellectual property, including papers, patents or recognised contributions to the applied GenAI community
• Collaborating with interdisciplinary team, including research and software engineers and cross functional partners, to develop solutions that support the productionisation of research outcomes

The skills you'll need

To thrive in this role, you’ll bring a strong foundation in machine learning, statistics and experimental design, combined with hands‑on experience in fine‑tuning, prompt engineering and rigorous model evaluation. You’ll have a deep understanding of GenAI architectures and their trade‑offs, along with the ability to design experiments, interpret results and defend conclusions using robust, evidence‑based approaches. You’ll have strong judgement in identifying high‑impact opportunities, paired with the ability to assess which problems are tractable and which approaches will deliver meaningful outcomes.

You’ll also bring:

• An understanding of model risk, data governance and financial‑services regulation
• The ability to communicate complex ideas clearly, engaging both technical and non‑technical stakeholders, including risk and compliance teams
• Sound decision‑making in selecting appropriate methods and techniques, applying the right tools to solve problems effectively and efficiently
• A track record of taking GenAI concepts from idea to validated proposition, demonstrating the ability to translate research into practical, real‑world impact

Your benefits breakdown

Here’s a quick look at what your pay package and annual leave could look like if you get accepted for the role. We have a wide range of benefits to support you in your working life and beyond.

Tap each segment for details.

Your pay package

80% Base pay This is the part your your pay package that you take home every month.

10% Pension funding 10% of your salary goes towards your pension every month.

10% Benefit funding 10% of your salary goes towards a range of benefits you can choose from.

Your leave allowance

30 days Annual leave You’ll also have the opportunity to purchase up to 5 additional days off.

3 days Volunteering Take time off to support the causes you’re passionate about.

3 days Training Take time to build the skills you need to grow your career.

Total rewards package

Welcome to our Bishopsgate hub

Based only a few minutes’ walk from Liverpool Street Station, the central location of this office makes working there incredibly convenient. Everything you need is close by, so you can run errands, go to the gym, and socialise with friends and colleagues before and after work.

Bishopsgate recently underwent a multi-year refurbishment programme to improve spaces and facilities as well as become more sustainable.