Principal Applied Scientist

Company Description

We're ASOS, the online retailer for fashion lovers all around the world.

We exist to give our customers the confidence to be whoever they want to be, and that goes for our people too. At ASOS, you're free to be your true self without judgement, and channel your creativity into a platform used by millions.

Everyone needs some help showing up as their best self. We're Disability Confident Committed - let our Talent team know if you need any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process

Job Description

ASOS is evolving towards an AI-enabled operating model where intelligence, automation and AI-powered workflows increasingly shape how we trade, forecast, personalise experiences and operate at scale. We see AI not as a standalone capability, but as a foundational part of how we serve customers, make decisions and run our business.

As part of this evolution, we're looking for a Principal Applied Scientist to help shape and scale Applied Science across ASOS.

This role sits at the intersection of:

• Applied Science leadership
• AI platform enablement
• Federated operating model governance
• GenAI-enabled ways of working

Today, Applied Science expertise exists across multiple business domains, including recommendations, forecasting, pricing, consumer modelling and marketing measurement. While this structure enables close alignment with business needs, it can also create opportunities for greater consistency, collaboration and reuse across teams.

In this role, you'll help establish the operating model, standards and technical direction that enable Applied Science teams to deliver impact at scale while maintaining flexibility within their domains.

This is a highly collaborative leadership role that combines technical expertise, systems thinking, stakeholder partnership and the ability to translate strategy into practical outcomes.

What you’ll be doing

Applied Science Operating Model Leadership

• Define and evolve the Applied Science operating model across federated business domains.
• Establish shared approaches for model development, evaluation, experimentation, deployment and monitoring.
• Promote the adoption of common tooling, reusable components and MLOps best practices.
• Develop governance frameworks that support consistency while enabling teams to move effectively within their domains.
• Encourage reuse of AI capabilities and platform components to reduce duplication and accelerate delivery.

AI Platform & Product Enablement

• Partner with Data Platform and Engineering teams to help shape the Applied Science platform roadmap.
• Support the prioritisation and simplification of platform requirements across science teams.
• Promote reusable frameworks, feature stores, evaluation capabilities and deployment standards.
• Foster a strong Applied Science community through technical forums, shared practices and knowledge exchange.
• Support the growth of scientific capability through mentorship, technical review and inclusive hiring practices.
• Work with senior stakeholders across Product, Technology, Commercial and Operations to align priorities and drive business impact.

Community & Technical Leadership

• Help build and strengthen the Applied Science community across ASOS.
• Establish forums, review practices and knowledge-sharing mechanisms that encourage collaboration and learning.
• Mentor scientists and support the continuous improvement of technical and scientific practices.
• Contribute to hiring processes and help develop consistent approaches to technical assessment.
• Partner with stakeholders across Product, Technology, Commercial and Operations to align on opportunities and priorities.
• Support the adoption of GenAI, AI-assisted tooling and emerging AI-powered ways of working across the Applied Science lifecycle.
• Explore opportunities to improve experimentation, feature engineering, model evaluation, documentation and development workflows through AI-enabled approaches.
• Identify where AI assistants and autonomous workflows can improve efficiency and productivity.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Product teams to shape AI-native ways of working.

Strategic AI Leadership

• Contribute to the development of ASOS's broader AI strategy and transformation agenda.
• Help translate successful models and experiments into scalable enterprise capabilities.
• Contribute to long-term thinking around agentic commerce, personalisation and AI-enabled operating models.
• Clearly communicate scientific strategy, opportunities and outcomes to senior and executive stakeholders.

Qualifications

We're interested in candidates who bring experience in several of the following areas. We recognise that expertise can be developed through a variety of career paths and experiences, and we encourage applications from people whose backgrounds may differ from those listed here.

Experience

• Experience leading Applied Science, Machine Learning or AI initiatives within large-scale consumer, retail, marketplace or technology environments.
• Experience working within federated or matrixed organisations.
• Experience delivering production machine learning systems at scale.
• Experience developing technical standards, governance approaches and operating models across multiple teams.
• Experience collaborating with platform and engineering teams on ML infrastructure and MLOps capabilities.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to build alignment and bring people together around shared goals.

Technical Expertise

Knowledge of, or experience with, several of the following areas:

• Forecasting and predictive modelling
• MLOps and machine learning platform design
• Experimentation and evaluation frameworks
• Large Language Models (LLMs), GenAI and agentic systems
• Modern data and AI ecosystems, including platforms such as Databricks, Azure, feature stores and orchestration frameworks

Leadership Capabilities

• Ability to influence and build alignment across teams, regardless of reporting structures.
• Strong systems thinking and platform-oriented mindset.
• Ability to balance long-term governance with practical delivery needs.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Coaching, mentoring and capability-building experience.
• Comfortable operating across strategic, organisational and technical contexts.

Additional Information

BeneFITS’

• Employee discount (hello ASOS discount!)
• Employee sample sales
• 25 days paid annual leave + an extra celebration day for a special moment
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Private medical care scheme
• Flexible benefits allowance - which you can choose to take as extra cash, or use towards other benefits
• Opportunity for personalised learning and in-the-moment experiences that enable you to thrive and excel in your role