Head of Research, Banking & Payments

Introduction

Evident is an intelligence platform that benchmarks and tracks AI adoption across the financial services sector. Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of AI across the sector by creating the most complete, unbiased and transparent public benchmarks of AI capability.

Since the launch of our flagship product in January 2023, the Evident AI Index has rapidly become the global standard benchmark for AI maturity in financial services.

We’re a Future Fifty company 🚀

Evident is a Future Fifty 2026 company, recognised by Tech Nation alongside some of the UK’s most ambitious and fast-growing technology businesses. With a team nearing 100 and a growing global client base, we’re entering an exciting next chapter of growth.

Why join us:

• We are index experts. Our Co-Founders Alexandra Mousavizadeh and Annabel Ayles have more than 30 years of experience building complex indices that drive positive change in the world

• We are building a cutting edge research team that uses the latest techniques in machine learning to build faster and better data collection and analysis tools

• We’ve been backed by some of the world’s leading tech investors, including the backers of Revolut and the tech commentator Scott Galloway

• We’re working with some of the world's largest banks, helping them shape their AI strategies impacting millions of customers

If you are interested in advancing your career at a fast-growing, innovative and impact-driven company, you can read about Our Values and Our Commitment to Responsible AI. Our commitments to diversity and inclusion are set out at the end of this job description.

The Role

To that end, we are searching for a Head of Research (Banking & Payments) to execute and deliver research insights tailored to a sector-specific audience.

Leveraging the data produced by the Evident AI Index (as well as private surveys), this role will be responsible for end-to-end production of original research insights – spanning ideation, research design, hypothesis testing, analysis, authorship, and delivery of key insights.

The ideal candidate will combine proficiency in research with technical expertise acquired through past work with leading global banks (either directly or on a consulting basis). Ultimately, the Head of Research will be expected to define the changing parameters of “frontier” AI applications and pace of deployment within the enterprise – by building out a supporting team of junior analysts to go deeper into individual lines of business.

Successful candidates will demonstrate equal comfort with quantitative (data) and qualitative (interview) methods and sources. Most of all, we’re looking for candidates that exhibit intense intellectual curiosity and a passion for data-driven storytelling.

Key Responsibilities

• Research Content

  • On a quarterly basis, author a Key Findings Report in tandem with an updated ranking release, including: Banking, Payments, and Regional perspectives (MEA, LATAM)

  • Maintain a State of AI x Banking briefing deck that includes: hypothesis-based trends, latest overview of use case landscape, recent examples of “frontier” use cases, and curated topics of critical enablers (previewing future inputs into the next ranking release)

• Analyst Coverage

  • Partner closely with client strategists to define and iterate Evident’s current point-of-view, expanding our library of Analyst Briefing materials to better address incoming customer questions on trending topics

  • Regularly interact and interview subject matter experts and industry practitioners across our client base to validate our point-of-view and stay ahead of emerging trends (filtering those insights back into our knowledge base and research outputs)

• Coordination & Alignment

  • Partner with Outcomes team to ensure our LoB-specific taxonomy remains up-to-date and maturity models for discrete use cases reflect “best-in-class” implementation

  • Liaise with cross-sector Research Analysts focused on our thematic research (Talent, Innovation, Leadership, Responsible AI, Outcomes) to hone sector-specific messaging and key takeaways

Core Skills

• 8-12 years of research and/or consulting experience

• Direct experience covering the Banking & Payments industry

• Proficiency across both insight generation and insight delivery to customers

• History of cross-team collaboration / orchestration (especially in regards to Data, Engineering, and Marketing teams)

Key Experience

• Understanding of key issues facing leadership teams in global banks on topics related to artificial intelligence and/or other emerging technologies

• Experience adapting and publishing primary or secondary research in different form factors (written reports, presentations, social media posts, webinars/podcasts)

• Experience working with data scientists, engineers, and design teams to create supporting interactive visualization and/or rich media assets

• Intellectual curiosity about AI topics, trends, and tech impacting the banking industry

Benefits

• Share options: we offer all employees share options over a 4-year vesting period

• Holidays: 28 days of holiday + public bank holidays

• Flexible working: 3-4 days per week in our Central London office, 1-2 days remote

• Pension

• Private health insurance

Our commitments to diversity and inclusion

• Evident is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating all forms of discrimination. Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.

• During our recruitment process, you will not be discriminated against for any of the following reasons: race (including colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin), age, disability, gender reassignment, being married or in a civil partnership, being pregnant or on maternity leave, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. If you need us to make certain changes (known as reasonable adjustments) to make sure you are not disadvantaged during the recruitment process, you should contact us as soon as possible.

• We strive to create a working environment free of bullying, harassment, victimisation and discrimination, promote dignity and respect for all, and value and recognise individual differences and the contributions of all staff.