Machine Learning Lead

Build the ML infrastructure powering Saudi Arabia's financial transformation.

We're Aajil (previously Buildnow), backed by leading regional VCs and operating at the heart of Saudi Arabia's $50B+ SME market. We've already revolutionized lending timelines from 3 months to hours. Now we're building what's next: real-time, intelligent credit decisions that will transform how millions of SMEs access capital.

As Machine Learning Lead, you'll architect the intelligence layer for the Kingdom's most ambitious fintech. With exclusive access to the data we have, you'll build ML systems that don't exist anywhere in the region — yet.

Why Saudi Arabia, Why Now

Saudi Arabia is experiencing the world's most ambitious economic transformation. Vision 2030 has created unprecedented opportunities for those bold enough to seize them. The government is digitizing at breakneck speed, regulations are evolving in real-time, and there's genuine will to make the Kingdom a global fintech hub.

This isn't another "emerging market" story. This is ground zero for building financial infrastructure that will define the next decade.

The Role

You'll lead our ML efforts from our Riyadh headquarters, building systems that process billions in BNPL decisions:

Own the evolution from hours → minutes → real-time credit decisions

Build and lead a world-class ML team, mixing top Saudi talent with international experts

Architect production ML systems handling thousands of daily decisions with 99.9% uptime

What You Bring

Essential Experience:

8+ years building and deploying ML systems in production environments

Proven track record leading ML teams and delivering business impact

Deep expertise in credit risk, fraud detection, or financial ML systems

Experience with real-time ML serving, feature stores, and MLOps at scale

Strong engineering fundamentals and architectural thinking

Track record of hiring and developing exceptional ML talent

The X-Factors:

You've built ML systems that handle serious money and serious scale

You've worked in high-growth environments where perfect is the enemy of shipped

You're excited by exclusive data access and building unique competitive advantages

You see the opportunity in Saudi Arabia while others see only challenges

Why Top ML Leaders Are Moving to Saudi

Unprecedented Opportunity: The Kingdom is investing billions in digital transformation. Your work here will have 10x the impact of mature markets.

Exclusive Data Access: Through government partnerships, we have data advantages that other startups dream of. Tens of millions of transactions — this is your ML playground.

Ready to Build the Future?

This role isn't for everyone. It's for ML leaders who see massive opportunity where others see risk. Who want to build something that matters, not optimize something that already works.

P.S. We've already automated credit assessments from the industry standard of 3 months to hours in one of the world's most complex markets. If you think that's just the beginning of what's possible, we should talk.

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (relocation support provided)

Start Date: Q3 2025

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