Data Scientist AI - 36 Months Contract

Role Overview

Data Scientist AI at Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This is a 36-month contract position.

Company Overview

Etihad Airways is the UAE's national airline, operating from its hub in Abu Dhabi. The organization connects people across continents and cultures while pursuing its "Journey 2030" ambition to double its fleet, expand its network, and grow its people for a new era of excellence.

Role Purpose

Develop machine learning and generative AI solutions that solve complex business challenges, automate processes, and unlock valuable insights from data. Take ideas from concept to production, delivering scalable, secure, and impactful AI products in close collaboration with business and technology teams.

Key Responsibilities

Solution Design & Development

• Design, develop, deploy, and monitor machine learning and AI solutions addressing business-critical challenges.
• Develop and optimize machine learning models through feature engineering, validation, testing, and performance tuning.
• Build and deploy LLM-powered, retrieval-augmented, and agentic AI applications for automation, knowledge management, and business process optimization.
• Design document intelligence, search, and information retrieval solutions using structured and unstructured enterprise data.

Business Translation & Analysis

• Translate business requirements into data science and AI use cases, defining success measures and evaluation criteria.
• Analyze large and complex datasets to generate actionable insights, predictive models, and decision-support solutions.
• Lead discovery workshops, process assessments, and stakeholder engagements to identify and prioritize AI opportunities.

Governance & Quality Assurance

• Establish evaluation frameworks, monitoring, observability, and governance controls to ensure solution quality, reliability, and cost efficiency.
• Promote best practices in machine learning, AI engineering, responsible AI, and data governance.

Collaboration & Integration

• Collaborate with engineering teams to deliver scalable, secure, and production-ready AI applications integrated with enterprise platforms and systems.
• Experience integrating AI solutions with enterprise systems and business processes.

Communication & Continuous Learning

• Communicate findings, recommendations, and model outcomes through effective storytelling, visualization, and executive-level presentations.
• Stay current with emerging trends and technologies across artificial intelligence, machine learning, generative AI, and advanced analytics.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, AI, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, or AI.
• 2+ years delivering production-grade Generative AI solutions.
• Strong Python skills with hands-on experience in machine learning frameworks such as Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, or PyTorch.
• Experience building and deploying LLM, RAG, and agentic AI solutions using platforms such as Azure OpenAI, OpenAI, LangChain, or Semantic Kernel.
• Solid understanding of machine learning, statistical modelling, predictive analytics, and AI evaluation practices.
• Experience deploying AI solutions in cloud environments (Azure, AWS, or GCP) with knowledge of APIs, CI/CD, and containerization.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.

Additional Information

• Contract type: 36-month fixed-term contract.