Lead Data Scientist
$127k - $203kFull-time
Mastercard
Our Purpose Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary
This is a full-time hybrid position based in Toronto, Canada, with an expectation of at least three days per week in the office. Role: • Design, build, evaluate, enhance, and monitor machine learning and statistical models focused on merchant risk, fraud detection, merchant credit risk, Anti-Money Laundering, and payment-related risk use cases.
• Oversee feature engineering, model training, validation, packaging, production support, and performance monitoring across the full model lifecycle.
• Ensure high standards for model quality, robustness, interpretability, documentation, and production reliability.
• Lead hands-on model development, experimentation, and technical problem solving using large-scale merchant/acquiring and transaction data.
• Partner with product, engineering, development, QA, customer success, and business stakeholders to define problem statements, success metrics, implementation needs, and release readiness.
• Collaborate closely with AI/ML engineering and development teams to support production model deployment, scaling, operationalization, and ongoing implementation activities.
• Operate independently in a lean, highly collaborative team, driving initiatives end-to-end with limited oversight while balancing speed, quality, and production impact.
• Deliver work through typical project cycles of approximately 4–6 weeks from development through delivery.
• Communicate insights, recommendations, technical trade-offs, and model performance clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. All About You: • Bachelor’s or Accelerated Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Relevant experience in data science, AI, or machine learning roles, with proven ability to own and deliver data science projects end-to-end.
• Strong Python expertise with experience in machine learning model development, standard data science libraries, and distributed data processing frameworks such as PySpark.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks or similar distributed data platforms, with the ability to work with large-scale, complex transaction datasets.
• Experience with machine learning techniques and tools relevant to fraud and risk modelling, including XGBoost or similar approaches.
• Proven ability to design, build, deploy, monitor, maintain, and improve production-ready machine learning models.
• Experience working with transactional, merchant, acquiring, or behavioural data at scale, with strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Effective communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders and explain complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to balance hands-on technical work with leadership responsibilities in a lean, collaborative environment. Preferred: • Advanced degree in a relevant quantitative field.
• Experience in payments, acquiring, transaction processing, merchant risk, AML, fraud, or financial crime analytics.
• Familiarity with fraud detection, merchant credit risk, anomaly detection, behavioural modelling, graph techniques, model explainability, governance frameworks, or regulatory requirements in financial crime.
Lead Data Scientist
Overview:
Services within Mastercard is responsible for acquiring, engaging, and retaining customers by managing fraud and risk, enhancing cybersecurity, and improving the digital payments experience. We provide value-added services and leverage expertise, data-driven insights, and execution. The Data Science team is responsible for developing advanced AI and machine learning solutions that power critical products across Mastercard’s network. This role will support the merchant/acquiring side of the business, working with large-scale transaction data and machine learning models focused on merchant risk, payments, fraud detection, merchant credit risk, and Anti-Money Laundering. We are seeking a Lead Data Scientist to drive the design, delivery, and success of data science initiatives. This role combines deep technical expertise with end-to-end project ownership, strong production focus, and cross-functional leadership to deliver high-impact, production-ready machine learning solutions.This is a full-time hybrid position based in Toronto, Canada, with an expectation of at least three days per week in the office. Role: • Design, build, evaluate, enhance, and monitor machine learning and statistical models focused on merchant risk, fraud detection, merchant credit risk, Anti-Money Laundering, and payment-related risk use cases.
• Oversee feature engineering, model training, validation, packaging, production support, and performance monitoring across the full model lifecycle.
• Ensure high standards for model quality, robustness, interpretability, documentation, and production reliability.
• Lead hands-on model development, experimentation, and technical problem solving using large-scale merchant/acquiring and transaction data.
• Partner with product, engineering, development, QA, customer success, and business stakeholders to define problem statements, success metrics, implementation needs, and release readiness.
• Collaborate closely with AI/ML engineering and development teams to support production model deployment, scaling, operationalization, and ongoing implementation activities.
• Operate independently in a lean, highly collaborative team, driving initiatives end-to-end with limited oversight while balancing speed, quality, and production impact.
• Deliver work through typical project cycles of approximately 4–6 weeks from development through delivery.
• Communicate insights, recommendations, technical trade-offs, and model performance clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. All About You: • Bachelor’s or Accelerated Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Relevant experience in data science, AI, or machine learning roles, with proven ability to own and deliver data science projects end-to-end.
• Strong Python expertise with experience in machine learning model development, standard data science libraries, and distributed data processing frameworks such as PySpark.
• Hands-on experience with Databricks or similar distributed data platforms, with the ability to work with large-scale, complex transaction datasets.
• Experience with machine learning techniques and tools relevant to fraud and risk modelling, including XGBoost or similar approaches.
• Proven ability to design, build, deploy, monitor, maintain, and improve production-ready machine learning models.
• Experience working with transactional, merchant, acquiring, or behavioural data at scale, with strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Effective communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders and explain complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to balance hands-on technical work with leadership responsibilities in a lean, collaborative environment. Preferred: • Advanced degree in a relevant quantitative field.
• Experience in payments, acquiring, transaction processing, merchant risk, AML, fraud, or financial crime analytics.
• Familiarity with fraud detection, merchant credit risk, anomaly detection, behavioural modelling, graph techniques, model explainability, governance frameworks, or regulatory requirements in financial crime.
Mastercard is a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disabled or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We hire the most qualified candidate for the role. In the US or Canada, if you require accommodations or assistance to complete the online application process or during the recruitment process, please contact View email address on decentrajobs.com and identify the type of accommodation or assistance you are requesting. Do not include any medical or health information in this email. The Reasonable Accommodations team will respond to your email promptly.
Corporate Security Responsibility All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:
- Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;
- Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
- Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
- Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.
In line with Mastercard’s total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in Canada, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive pay based on location, experience and other qualifications for the role and may be eligible to participate in a discretionary annual incentive program.
Pay RangesVancouver, Canada: $127,000 - $203,000 CAD
Vacancy posted 14 hours ago
Similar jobs that could be interesting for youBased on the Lead Data Scientist in Canada vacancy
$127k - $203k
...of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Lead Data Scientist - Financial Crime Overview: Within Financial Crime Solutions, we build and deliver products powered by payments data to...SuggestedFull timeWork at officeWorldwide3 days per week$91k - $140k
...set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Data Scientist II Overview The Security Solutions Data Science team is responsible for developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and...SuggestedFull timeWorldwide$111k - $160k
...realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Senior Data Scientist Overview The Security Solutions Data Science team is responsible... ...across Mastercard’s payment networks. The team also leads the research and development of scalable data science systems...SuggestedFull timeWorldwide$111k - $160k
...of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Sr. Data Scientist Overview: Services within Mastercard is responsible for acquiring, engaging, and retaining customers by managing fraud...SuggestedFull timeWorldwideFlexible hours- Data Engineer (Data Designing, ETL, ELT, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Snowflake, AWS, Azure, data integration, Data Movement, on premise - off premise, SSIS, Snowflake, Dell Boomi) in Middletown, RI Data Migration, Data Strategy, Dell Boomi, ETL, Oracle, Snowflake, SQL...SuggestedFull timeTemporary workRemote work
- INTEGRITYOne Partners - Data Engineer (Analytics) Location: Washington, D.C. 100% Onsite Full-Time (Monday to Friday) The Role: You'll be at the forefront of delivering data and software solutions that directly impact our clients' law enforcement mission. You...Full timeMonday to Friday
$139k - $181.5k
...given extreme autonomy to tackle unique data engineering challenges and reinvent modern... ...Partnering directly next to cross-functional data scientists, analytics engineers, and product... ...English, with an established background leading cross-team technical initiatives across data...Permanent employmentFull timeTemporary workWork at officeRemote workFlexible hoursShift workClickUp
Canada6 days ago- ...Req ID: 375278 NTT DATA strives to hire exceptional, innovative and passionate individuals who want to grow with us. If you want to... ...society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world's leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched...Work experience placementWork at officeRemote workFlexible hours
$154k - $247k
...governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Director, Data Scientist Overview: The Mastercard Security Solutions Data Science team is seeking a Director of Data Science to lead the development and delivery of machine learning models focused on...Full timeWork at officeWorldwide3 days per week$155k - $233k
...work. Job Summary The Digital Information Security Engineering team is seeking a highly experienced Principal Data Protection Engineer to lead the design, development, and automation of data protection capabilities embedded across enterprise platforms and services...Full timeWork at office$111k - $160k
Our Purpose Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions...Full timeWork experience placementWorldwide- ...workforce, Reddit provides a progressive data-driven footprint where talented engineers... .... Self-Service Data Democratization: Lead transformational platform initiatives to... ...Act as a primary technical advisor to Data Scientists, Engineering Managers, and executive...Full timeRemote workWork from homeFlexible hours
Reddit
Canada7 days ago - ...and build things that actually ship. We’re looking for a Staff Data Engineer to join a multi-disciplinary engineering team building... ...in 30 to 45 days . That pace demands people who take ownership, lead with craft, and care deeply about what they put their name on....Full time
Robotsandpencils
Canada1 day ago - COMPANY OVERVIEW: A leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services POSITION TITLE: Data Center Sales Engineer COMPENSATION: Competitive Salary BENEFITS: Standard package LOCATION: Toronto, ON SUMMARY: Our client is looking for a Data...Full timeFor contractorsLocal areaRemote work
$154k - $247k
...transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions... ...enterprise environments. • Experience contributing to or leading cross functional initiatives, including coordinating efforts...Full timeWorldwide$136k - $204k
...work. Job Summary Independently leads and holds responsibility for multifaceted... ...integrating ML models, LLMs, APIs, and enterprise data Translate business requirements into... ...data sources Work closely with Data Scientists and ML Engineers to integrate model...Full timeWork at office- ...Introduction: As a Machine Learning Engineer I at TRAFFIX you will work with your colleagues to support the productization of data models. This involves taking models created by our data science team and assisting in producing viable azure services which can orchestrate...Full time
$142k - $192k
...services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Senior Research Manager - Data Scientist Job Description: Senior Research Manager – Data Scientist (L6) Location: Toronto, Canada Overview The Advisors...Full timeWorldwide$152k - $209k
...Overview We are seeking an accomplished Principal Engineer to lead the technical architecture and evolution of our hybrid digital ecosystem... ...Modernization: Lead the roadmap for migrating legacy data pipelines to AI-native architectures. You will design modern data...Local areaWorldwideFlexible hours- ...Staff Engineering Technician - Virtual Design & Data Solutions JOB-10046603 Anticipated Start Date July 13, 2026 Location Overland Park, KS Type of Employment Contract Employer Info Our client is an employee-owned engineering, procurement...Full timeContract workWork experience placementLocal area
$200k - $300k
...business stakeholders to evaluate buy vs. build decisions for generative AI applications Develop end-to-end ML pipelines, covering data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring Architect and implement LLM-powered...Full timeWork at office$147k - $245k
...Req ID: 369008 NTT DATA strives to hire exceptional, innovative and passionate individuals... ...and methodologies Working with data scientists and other stakeholders to understand business... ...to Have; (But not a must) • Project lead experience with a global team •...Work experience placementWork at officeRemote workFlexible hours- ...web Expérience en développement des applications web qui utilisent des APIs REST Compréhension de l'architecture web typique (data, application, couches web, etc.) et connaissance de Amazon Web Services ou d'autres plateformes d'infrastructure cloud Motivé.e,...Full timeTemporary workInternship
$227k - $270k
...our customers with the actionable insights, critical vulnerability data, and remediation guidance necessary to mitigate product risk and... ..., edge functions, and internal AI/agent tooling. ~90 Days: Lead new initiatives, drive improvements in performance and security posture...Full timeRemote work- ...Req ID: 353881 NTT DATA strives to hire exceptional, innovative and passionate individuals who want to grow with us. If you want to... ...society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world's leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched...Work experience placementWork at officeRemote workFlexible hours
- ...Generation (RAG) flows to ground diagnostic reasoning mechanisms inside high-volume structured operational telemetry, device state data, and deep system documentation. Production Evaluations: Construct and expand rigorous evaluation harnesses engineered to quantitatively...Full timeRemote workFlexible hours
NetSpeek
Canada6 days ago $111k - $160k
...Summary Senior AI Engineer Overview The Security Solutions Data Science team is responsible for developing Artificial... ...systems across Mastercard’s payment networks. The team also leads the research and development of scalable data science systems spanning...Full timeWorldwide$88.8k - $133.2k
...NTT DATA strives to hire exceptional, innovative and passionate individuals who want to grow with us. If you want to be part of an inclusive... ...through responsible innovation. We are one of the world's leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched...Work experience placementWork at officeRemote workFlexible hours$298k
...Summary We are seeking a Senior Director of AI Engineering to lead and scale a high-performing Machine Learning Engineering (MLE) organization... ...and Innovation Office, this role will work closely with the Data & Engineering team around technology and development. This is a...Full timeWork at office$127k - $203k
...governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Lead AI Engineer Overview We are looking for a talented Lead AI... ...training pipelines and deployment frameworks. • Builds and optimizes data ingestion, preprocessing, and feature engineering workflows...Full timeWorldwide
Do you want to receive more vacancies?
Subscribe and receive similar vacancies to Lead Data Scientist. Be the first to apply!
