The Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank) is recruiting a Data Scientist to strengthen its growing artificial intelligence and data team. It suits data scientists and machine learning practitioners with at least four years of experience who have taken models all the way into production.
At a glance
- Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya (the bank’s head office; the advert itself does not name a location)
- Type: contract terms not stated in the advert
- Reference: DS/IID/2026
- Deadline: Monday 9 November 2026, 11:59 PM (EAT)
About the role
Co-op Bank wants to use statistics, machine learning and generative AI to serve customers better, manage risk and run its operations more efficiently. The Data Scientist works in cross-functional teams on priority problems in areas such as credit, fraud detection, collections and customer engagement, and works with engineers to put models into production. The bank expects every model to be fair, explainable and well documented under its responsible-AI and model-risk rules.
Key responsibilities
- Work with business and product teams to define problems, analytical approaches and measurable outcomes
- Explore large, complex datasets and turn the findings into recommendations for leaders
- Build, test and validate statistical, machine learning, generative AI and optimisation models with reproducible methods
- Set performance benchmarks and monitoring, with attention to fairness, explainability and human oversight
- Deploy models with data and application engineers using MLOps and LLMOps practice
- Run experiments, pilots and post-deployment evaluations to measure business impact
- Watch for model drift and recommend recalibration, retraining or retirement
- Keep model documentation, code and validation evidence ready for governance and audit
Qualifications and experience
- A bachelor’s degree in data science, statistics, mathematics, actuarial science, computer science, economics, engineering, operations research or another quantitative field
- At least four years of experience in data science, advanced analytics, machine learning or applied AI
- A track record of taking analytical or machine learning work from problem definition to production
- Python or R and SQL, with solid statistical modelling, feature engineering and model evaluation skills
- An advantage: experience in credit, fraud, collections, customer analytics or banking operations, or a master’s degree or certification in data science, machine learning, cloud computing or AI
How to apply
Email an application letter and a detailed CV to jobs@co-opbank.co.ke, quoting the reference DS/IID/2026. The deadline is Monday 9 November 2026, 11:59 PM (EAT); the bank gives the date only, so send your application in good time.
Source: Co-operative Bank of Kenya careers page. Co-op Bank is one of Kenya’s largest commercial banks, rooted in the co-operative movement.