Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data Scientist

Ignite Digital is seeking an experienced Senior Data Scientist to support a U.S. Navy customer in the Norfolk, VA area. This role is ideal for a highly analytical, detail-oriented professional who thrives in data-driven environments and can translate complex analytical insights into actionable outcomes for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The Senior Data Scientist will leverage advanced statistical methods, machine learning techniques, and data engineering practices to solve complex mission and business challenges within a Naval program environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Strategy

• Lead complex, multi-disciplinary data science projects from conception to deployment.
• Mentor and guide data scientists and analysts; provide technical leadership and oversight.
• Conduct research into emerging methodologies, tools, and approaches to advance Ignite Digital's data science practice.
• Work independently and provide strategic guidance to internal and external stakeholders.

Data Engineering & Preparation

• Gather and integrate data from diverse sources (databases, APIs, web scraping, etc.).
• Clean, transform, and structure data for analysis and modeling.
• Build, optimize, and maintain automated data pipelines.
• Implement robust data quality checks and validation procedures.

Analytics, Modeling & Experimentation

• Perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) to uncover patterns, trends, and anomalies.
• Develop, test, and refine statistical and machine learning models (regression, classification, clustering, supervised/unsupervised learning, deep learning).
• Evaluate model performance and implement improvements.
• Design and execute A/B tests and other experimental frameworks.

Communication & Visualization

• Clearly communicate findings to both technical and non-technical audiences through presentations, reports, and dashboards.
• Develop visualization products using tools such as Tableau, Power BI, Matplotlib, and Seaborn.
• Build dashboards and monitoring tools to highlight key metrics and trends.
• Document methodologies, workflows, and results thoroughly and clearly.

Collaboration & Problem-Solving

• Work effectively with data scientists, engineers, operational analysts, and Navy mission stakeholders.
• Identify mission and business challenges that can be solved using data-driven approaches.
• Design and deploy innovative, practical data solutions.
• Troubleshoot and resolve data-quality or data-pipeline issues.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Stay current with state-of-the-art data science techniques, automation approaches, and cloud technologies.
• Contribute to internal knowledge-sharing, code reviews, and capability development.

Required Skills & Experience:

• 7+ years of professional experience in data analysis, data science, or closely related fields.
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency in core data science concepts, methodologies, and tools.
• Recognized subject-matter expertise and ability to develop innovative solutions to complex mission challenges.
• Expert programming proficiency in Python or R.
• Strong experience with key data science libraries (Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn).
• Proficiency with database technologies (SQL, NoSQL).
• Expert-level experience with data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Matplotlib, Seaborn).
• Deep knowledge of statistical modeling methods and machine learning algorithms.
• Significant experience with cloud ML platforms (AWS SageMaker, Google Cloud AI Platform, Azure Machine Learning).
• Experience with big data platforms (Hadoop, Spark).
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a dynamic team environment.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

Education & Certifications:

• Master's or Doctorate in a quantitative discipline (Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Economics, or similar).
• Additional technical certifications in data science, cloud technologies, or machine learning are highly desirable.

Security Clearance

• Active DoW SECRET clearance required.

Salary: $150k+ to align with education and experience.

Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled