Sr. Data Scientist

Title: Sr. Data Scientist
Location : DC Metro Area
Target Start Date : SAP
Type: contract
Pay Rate: ASAP


We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist to join an established Research & Development (R&D) program focused on exploring emerging technologies and identifying innovative ways to solve complex business problems.


This is a highly exploratory role for someone who enjoys research, experimentation, and working at the intersection of technology and business. You will collaborate with technical teams and business stakeholders to evaluate new technologies, structure research initiatives, develop prototypes and analytical solutions, and determine how emerging capabilities can improve business processes and decision-making.


The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker who can take an ambiguous problem, approach it systematically, and determine how data science, AI, machine learning, graph analytics, or other emerging technologies can be applied. Unlike a traditional production-focused Data Scientist role, this position provides significant opportunity to research, experiment, and influence how new technologies are evaluated and adopted.


Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to the strategic direction of the R&D program by identifying emerging technologies, data science methodologies, and potential business applications.
• Research and experiment with Generative AI, machine learning, graph analytics, and other emerging technologies.
• Partner closely with business and technology stakeholders to understand research questions, business challenges, and opportunities for greater efficiency.
• Translate open-ended business problems into structured research questions and data-driven approaches.
• Design and develop machine learning models, prototypes, analytical frameworks, and proofs of concept to evaluate new ideas.
• Conduct statistical analyses and experiments to validate research findings and ensure data integrity.
• Explore graph analytics, network analysis, and graph-based approaches to complex business and data problems.
• Develop advanced visualizations and interactive dashboards to communicate research findings and demonstrate potential solutions.
• Present complex technical concepts, research findings, and recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Serve as a data science thought partner to business teams exploring how AI, analytics, and emerging technologies can improve the way they work.
• Help create reusable resources, methodologies, and frameworks that strengthen the broader data science and R&D practice.
• Mentor and collaborate with other team members while contributing to a culture of experimentation, learning, and innovation.

Required Qualifications

• Strong professional experience in Data Science, Applied Research, Machine Learning, or a related analytical discipline.
• Expert-level Python skills for data analysis, modeling, experimentation, and automation.
• Strong proficiency with pandas for data manipulation and analysis.
• Experience with PySpark or similar technologies for large-scale data processing.
• dvanced SQL skills for data extraction, transformation, and analysis.
• Strong foundation in statistics, experimental design, hypothesis testing, and analytical methodology.
• Hands-on experience designing, building, and evaluating machine learning models.
• bility to approach ambiguous problems systematically and develop structured research methodologies.
• Experience creating compelling data visualizations; Plotly and Plotly Dash experience is preferred.
• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to make complex technical concepts accessible to non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with and influence stakeholders across both business and technology organizations.
• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or another quantitative discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in a quantitative or technical discipline.
• Experience with Generative AI, large language models (LLMs), prompt engineering, or AI-enabled applications.
• Experience researching, evaluating, or prototyping emerging technologies.
• Experience with graph databases, graph analytics, or knowledge graphs.
• Understanding of network analysis and graph-based algorithms.
• Experience working within an R&D, innovation, emerging technology, or applied research environment.
• Demonstrated curiosity and interest in learning new technologies and identifying practical business applications.

What Makes This Role Unique


This opportunity is ideal for a Data Scientist who enjoys exploring what is possible rather than simply executing against a predefined roadmap. You will have the flexibility to investigate emerging technologies, help shape research initiatives, work directly with business and technology leaders, and determine how new capabilities can translate into meaningful business value.


The environment is highly collaborative, experimental, and intellectually driven, providing an opportunity to work across multiple research initiatives while helping influence the future application of data science and emerging technology within the organization.


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