Applied Researcher in Artificial Intelligence Santander (www.santander.com) is evolving from a global, high-impact brand into a technology-driven organization, and our people are at the heart of this journey. Together, we are driving a customer-centric transformation that values bold thinking, innovation, and the courage to challenge what's possible.
This is more than a strategic shift. It's a chance for driven professionals to grow, learn, and make a real difference. Our mission is to contribute to help more people and businesses prosper. We embrace a strong risk culture and all our professionals at all levels are expected to take a proactive and responsible approach toward risk management.
Our Chief Data & Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAIO) division is building a world-class AI & Data team to make a difference in the lives of over 170 million people worldwide, through one of the largest banks in the world. We are undergoing one of the biggest transformations in our history and technology is at the heart of our strategy.
Santander AI Labs is looking for an Applied Researcher in Artificial Intelligence based out of Madrid. At Santander AI Lab, we are building the world's leading financial AI research hub — a place where science, technology, and impact converge. Our mission is to redefine the future of banking through frontier AI research.
We bring together researchers, engineers, and innovators from across the globe to pioneer breakthroughs in large language models, agentic AI, reinforcement learning, autonomous systems, and responsible AI governance. We create not just incremental improvements, but moonshot innovations that transform how millions of people interact with their money, businesses, and society.
You will join a world-class team with access to proprietary financial datasets, high-performance computing infrastructure, and partnerships with top universities and research institutes worldwide. We actively support publishing in top-tier venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, CVPR, KDD, etc.), collaborations with academia, and global conference participation.
We're shaping the way we work through innovation, cutting-edge technology, collaboration and the freedom to explore new ideas. To succeed in this role, you will be responsible for:
Adapt and fine-tune cutting-edge AI models (LLMs, NLP, IR, CV, multi-agent RL) to Santander's real-world use cases.
Build end-to-end prototypes that demonstrate the feasibility of frontier AI methods in banking applications (fraud detection, credit risk, digital onboarding, autonomous finance).
Collaborate with Research Scientists to operationalize novel algorithms into production-ready pipelines.
Work closely with ML engineers, product managers, and business stakeholders to ensure research transitions into products and services at global scale.
Evaluate trade-offs between accuracy, efficiency, interpretability, and compliance, ensuring alignment with Responsible AI principles.
Stay updated on recent AI advances and rapidly integrate breakthroughs into experimental prototypes.
Contribute to open-source initiatives and represent Santander AI Lab in industry and academic forums.
What You'll Bring: Our people are our greatest strength. Every individual contributes unique perspectives that make us stronger as a team and as an organization. We're enabling teams to go beyond by valuing who they are and empowering what they bring.
The following requirements represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential for success in this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Professional Experience:
At least 3–5 years of experience applying AI/ML in real-world systems, preferably in research-to-production pipelines (Required).
Strong track record of building prototypes and models that made it into production or influenced product decisions (Required).
Familiarity with large-scale datasets, cloud platforms, and MLOps practices (Required).
Experience working in AI labs, R&D teams, or advanced analytics units (Required).
Background in financial data, risk modeling, fraud detection, or recommendation systems (Preferred).
Education:
Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, or related fields. (Required).
Postdoctoral research or equivalent industrial research experience in AI will be valued (Preferred).
Languages:
Fluent English, both written and spoken (Required).
Hard Skills:
Strong applied knowledge of deep learning architectures (transformers, CNNs, GNNs, RL) (Required).
Hands-on experience with large language models (LLMs), fine-tuning, and prompt engineering (Required).
Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX) (Required).
Experience with cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP) and MLOps pipelines (Docker, Kubernetes, MLflow) (Required).
Ability to adapt and scale research models into enterprise systems (Required).
Understanding of Responsible AI and compliance requirements in applied AI (Required).
Soft Skills:
Creativity. Research mindset. Passion for pushing the boundaries of AI technology will be highly valued.
Excellent problem-solving and communication skills, able to work across research and product teams.
WE VALUE YOUR IMPACT: Your contribution matters, and it's recognized. You can expect a fair, competitive reward package that reflects the impact you create and the value you deliver.
We offer a range of benefits, including:
Global opportunities and broad career paths.
Flexible working models—some days remote, some days onsite with your team—along with flexible hours.
Access to hundreds of courses on our platforms, including exclusive access to our global learning space: Santander Open Academy (www.santanderopenacademy.com).
Competitive rewards, including performance-based bonuses.
Financial advantages, such as preferential banking terms and special interest rates on loans.
Wellbeing programs, including our global wellness programme, BeHealthy.
Family-friendly programs and childcare support.
Access to Santander Contigo, our program for employees and their families offering legal, emotional, and administrative advisory services.
Extra benefits, such as gym membership, medical centers, meal subsidy, parking, and shuttle service.
LOCAL COMPLIANCE: Santander is proud of being an organization where there are equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, disability, civil status, race, religion or sexual orientation. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible application process for all candidates.
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