Job Description

Company: Wise
Location: London
Department: Fraud Prevention & Risk
Job Type: Full-Time

Help Build the Future of Global Money Movement

Wise is a global technology company building the best way to move and manage money internationally. With low fees, fast transfers, and seamless global payments, Wise is transforming how people and businesses send, receive, and spend money worldwide.

As part of the Fraud Prevention team, you’ll help protect millions of customers and strengthen Wise’s global financial infrastructure through advanced machine learning, fraud intelligence, and real-time risk detection systems.

About the Team

The Fraud team at Wise is dedicated to protecting the platform from financial crime while ensuring a safe experience for legitimate customers. By combining machine learning, transaction monitoring, and large-scale data analysis, the team continuously develops intelligent fraud detection systems.

Data scientists, engineers, analysts, and fraud specialists collaborate daily to:

• Detect emerging fraud threats
• Improve risk mitigation systems
• Reduce customer friction
• Enhance fraud investigation capabilities

Team Vision

• Build globally scalable fraud prevention systems
• Use machine learning to identify risky customer activity
• Strengthen collaboration between investigators and product teams
• Exceed regulatory and audit expectations
• Continuously evolve fraud intelligence capabilities

The Role

Wise is seeking a highly motivated Lead Data Scientist to join its Fraud Risk Team. In this role, you will maintain and improve existing machine learning systems while developing new models, features, and intelligence that reduce fraud without negatively impacting legitimate customers.

You will also contribute to the growth and technical development of the wider data science function within fraud prevention.

Key Responsibilities

Model Maintenance & Optimization

• Maintain and improve existing fraud risk models
• Monitor model performance and implement enhancements
• Ensure reliability, scalability, and accuracy of deployed systems

Machine Learning Innovation

• Lead development and deployment of machine learning models
• Create new fraud intelligence systems and predictive features
• Deploy production-ready solutions with engineering teams

Data Analysis & Intelligence

• Analyze large datasets to identify fraud trends and anomalies
• Generate actionable insights to support fraud mitigation strategies
• Build intelligence-driven approaches for risk reduction

Collaboration & Stakeholder Communication

• Partner closely with Fraud Risk teams and engineers
• Translate technical findings into business insights for non-technical stakeholders
• Contribute to cross-functional initiatives and strategic decisions

Customer Risk Reduction

• Design data-driven interventions that minimize customer friction
• Balance fraud prevention effectiveness with user experience

Reporting & Documentation

• Document model development and maintenance workflows
• Create dashboards and reports for monitoring risk outcomes and model performance

Qualifications

Required Skills & Experience

• Proven experience deploying machine learning models from scratch
• Strong expertise in Python
• Ability to read and collaborate on Java-based services
• Experience with:
  • Data preprocessing
  • Feature engineering
  • Model evaluation
  • Monitoring and optimization
• Strong statistical analysis and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and presentation abilities
• Product-oriented mindset with ability to work independently
• Experience collaborating across technical and non-technical teams

Preferred Skills

• Experience with unsupervised learning algorithms
• Previous experience in fraud detection or financial crime prevention
• Understanding of modern fraud prevention techniques and systems

Why Join Wise?

Mission-Driven Impact

Help build a new global financial network that works for everyone, everywhere.

Innovative Work

Work with cutting-edge machine learning systems and real-time fraud detection technologies at global scale.

Diverse Global Team

Join an international and inclusive company that values diversity, equity, and collaboration.

Career Growth

Contribute to high-impact projects while growing your technical leadership and product expertise.

Inclusive Culture

Wise welcomes talented people from all backgrounds and especially encourages applications from underrepresented groups.

About Wise

Wise is redefining international money movement through transparent pricing, fast transfers, and borderless financial services. The company is building a global financial infrastructure designed to make money move instantly, conveniently, and affordably across the world.

Wise believes diverse teams create better products and foster stronger innovation. The company is committed to building an inclusive workplace where every employee feels respected, empowered, and supported in their career growth.