Lead AI Engineer | €150M+ Financial Group | Applied AI Systems | Cloud & Data Strategy | Cologne (Hybrid)
AI Futures have been exclusively retained to appoint an AI Engineer for a well-capitalised, product-centric FinTech group based in Cologne. Generating over €150M in annual revenue, the business operates with the agility of a scale-up and the maturity of a regulated financial player — making it an exceptional setting for a data leader ready to shape and scale applied AI from within.
With significant investment earmarked for data-driven transformation, this is a greenfield role in every sense. You'll play a pivotal role in embedding intelligent automation, predictive insights, and scalable decision tooling into the company’s digital fabric — all within a low-hierarchy, impact-focused environment.
Hybrid: 2 days per week onsite in Cologne
Up to €150k fixed salary
The Role
Develop and deploy end-to-end AI applications to support business-critical domains such as risk intelligence, personalisation, and operational automation
Build scalable pipelines across a cloud-native stack (Azure, AWS, or GCP)
Partner with product, engineering, and strategy teams to identify and prioritise AI opportunities across the business
Lead testing, validation, and performance monitoring for deployed systems
Enable business users through intuitive tooling, dashboards, and ML-powered workflows
Clear scope for progression into strategic or leadership positions as the function grows
The Candidate
~3+ years experience in data science, machine learning, or applied AI
~ Strong hands-on knowledge of Python, ML frameworks, and cloud environments (GCP, Azure, AWS)
~ Practical understanding of MLOps and pipeline automation
~ Experience with GenAI technologies such as: LLMs, RAG, NLP
~ Commercially fluent with a product-mindset and stakeholder empathy
~ Fluent German required (Professional Level)
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