Senior AI Scientist in Melbourne

Open to candidates based in Melbourne and Sydney. A key role working at the frontier of applied AI within a growing team at NAB. Contribute to the design and implementation of architecture, evaluation approaches, and technical standards across NAB’s AI function. Partner with AI engineers, product leaders and domain experts to deliver solutions across the AI portfolio.

This is a delivery-focused role for Senior AI Scientists who thrive beyond experimentation—delivering business outcomes using advanced AI capabilities (LLMs, agentic systems) in production-grade systems at enterprise scale. At this level, you will not only build but also lead the design and implementation of AI solutions across multiple squads, guiding how systems are developed, evaluated, and scaled.

Our people are customer obsessed. They prioritise the needs and satisfaction of the customer above all else. Our mindset fosters innovation and creates strong, lasting customer relationships as we strive to be the most customer centric company in Australia and New Zealand. In the role of Senior AI Scientist, you will join the AI team that’s doubling down on customer obsession.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development of core components of NAB’s agentic AI products across multiple squads and initiatives.
• Translate architectural direction into scalable, production-grade solutions, ensuring consistency across teams.
• Partner with Principal AI Scientists to shape solution design and evaluation approaches.
• Provide technical guidance and coaching to other Data Scientists to uplift delivery quality and capability.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Platform teams to translate AI capability into measurable business outcomes.
• Design and implement prompting strategies, retrieval pipelines, and context assembly that determine the quality and reliability of AI systems.
• Drive consistent evaluation, experimentation, and monitoring practices across squads (offline evals, online testing, performance tracking).
• Ensure AI solutions are safe, explainable, and aligned to Responsible AI and governance requirements.

What You Bring

• Strong experience delivering end-to-end AI/ML systems into production at scale, ideally across multiple use cases or teams.
• Demonstrated ability to design solutions and guide others in implementation, not just build individually.
• Hands-on expertise in evaluation pipelines, runtime controls, and CI/CD integration for AI systems.
• Experience operating in cloud-native environments and working across multiple cross-functional squads.
• Comfort working across ambiguity, balancing speed, safety, and value in complex environments.
• Strong foundations in statistics, probability, and experimental design: you can design rigorous experiments, interpret results critically, and quantify uncertainty.
• Familiarity with prompt and context engineering, RAG, tool use patterns, and agent orchestration.

Why This Role Matters

• Influence how AI systems are designed, scaled, and delivered across multiple teams, not just individual use cases.
• Play a key role in uplifting technical capability and consistency across the AI Science function.
• Combine deep technical craft with broader system ownership and leadership impact.

A diverse and inclusive workplace works better for everyone. We know that our people make us who we are. That’s why we have built a culture of equity and respect - where everyone feels valued and appreciated for being their authentic selves. In partnership with our multiple Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), we continue to foster an inclusive environment, where all NAB colleagues’ unique backgrounds and identities are understood, respected and celebrated. We are committed to providing an environment where you can work your way.

For details on the recruitment process, and accessibility, or alternate methods to apply for this role, please visit NAB Careers. To discuss adjustment requirements, please contact the NAB Careers team (please reference job number) or visit our Careers page through the link above for other contact options.

If you think this role is the right fit for you, we would love to hear from you. Please note candidate screening and interviews may be conducted prior to the closing date of the job advert. Unsolicited CVs from agencies will not be accepted.