Linas Smalakys, PhD#
Summary#
Physicist turned data scientist and risk leader, with over a decade of experience spanning scientific research, R&D, and quantitative modelling. After growing from engineering to executive leadership at Lidaris, I moved into technical lead positions at Danske Bank before stepping into risk leadership as Head of Credit Risk Model Validation. My physics background gives me a first-principles approach to complex problems - whether designing models, validating them, or translating technical findings into decisions that matter at the organizational level.
Work Experience#
Danske Bank#
Denmark’s largest bank and one of the Nordic region’s leading retail financial institutions.
- Head of Credit Risk Model Validation
May 2026 – Present - Technical Lead | Credit Risk Modelling
April 2025 – April 2026 · 1 yr 1 mo - Technical Lead | Remediation
May 2024 – March 2025 · 11 mos - Senior Data Scientist | Remediation
December 2023 – April 2024 · 5 mos
Lidaris#
Specialized R&D company developing optical metrology and laser diagnostics for industrial and scientific applications.
- Chief Scientific Officer
June 2021 – December 2022 · 1 yr 7 mos - R&D Project Manager
August 2020 – May 2021 · 10 mos - Lead R&D Software Engineer
August 2016 – July 2020 · 4 yrs - Scientific Data Analyst
July 2014 – July 2016 · 2 yrs 1 mo
Laser Research Center#
A globally recognized laser and photonics research institute at Vilnius University, where I worked in the High-Intensity Laser Physics Group with a focus on laser-induced damage.
- Junior Researcher
2018 – 2022 · 4 yrs - Engineer
2014 – 2018 · 4 yrs - Laboratory Technician
2012 – 2014 · 2 yrs
Education#
Vilnius University#
- Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Physics
2016 – 2021- Thesis: Optical fatigue of dielectric coatings in the femtosecond regime: physical mechanisms and metrology
- Master of Science - MS, Laser Physics and Optical Technologies (Magna Cum Laude)
2014 – 2016 - Bachelor of Science - BS, Nuclear Energy Physics
2010 – 2014
Scholarships and Awards#
- Presidential scholarship of Aleksandras Stulginskis (2015) for academic achievements and active scientific work by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania.
- Best Oral Presentation of the Conference (Alexander Glass Award): What time-resolved measurements tell us about femtosecond laser damage? (A. Melninkaitis, N. Šiaulys, L. Smalakys, B. Momgaudis, J. Vaicenavičius, S. Barkauskaitė, V. Sirutkaitis, L. Gallais, S. Guizard) SPIE Laser Damage 2015: Boulder, CO, USA
- Best Poster Presentation of the Conference (Arthur Guenther Award): Bayesian approach of laser-induced damage threshold analysis and determination of error bars (G. Batavičiūtė, P. Grigas, L. Smalakys and A. Melninkaitis) SPIE Laser Damage 2012: Boulder, CO, USA