Senior Data Scientist

Les Produits Scientific Games Canada; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Scientific Games seeks a founding Senior Data Scientist to build high‑impact decision systems in a fast‑paced, startup‑style environment within a large organization. You will own end-to-end data products across forecasting, experimentation, pricing, and recommendations.

The role starts remotely and will transition to a hybrid setup in Toronto, ON, with collaboration to Staff and Principal DS leadership. You will mentor junior scientists and help shape the early data science roadmap.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in CS, Stats, Math, Engineering, OR related STEM field.
• 2+ years of hands-on data science or ML experience.
• End-to-end data science delivery from framing to production impact.
• Experience in forecasting, experimentation, optimization, pricing, or recommendations.
• Comfortable in fast-paced startup environments with ownership.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deploy end-to-end decision science systems.
• Build batch and real-time recommendation pipelines.
• Translate problems into hypotheses, KPIs, experiments, and production solutions.
• Collaborate with MLEs to deploy tooling, observability, and monitoring.
• Own domain areas end-to-end and drive measurable business impact.
• Mentor junior data scientists and contribute to team growth.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Production systems

Communication

Team collaboration

Education

Master’s or PhD in STEM

Tools

Databricks

PySpark

MLflow

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job description

Position Summary

Scientific Games: Scientific Games is the global leader in lottery games, sports betting and technology, and the partner of choice for government lotteries. From cutting-edge backend systems to exciting entertainment experiences and trailblazing retail and digital solutions, we elevate play every day. We push game designs to the next level and are pioneers in data analytics and iLottery. Built on a foundation of trusted partnerships, Scientific Games combines relentless innovation, legendary performance, and unwavering security to responsibly propel the global lottery industry ever forward.

About the Role

We are looking for a founding Senior Data Scientist to help build high-impact decision systems in a fast‑paced, startup‑style environment within a large organization. This is a hands‑on builder role for candidates who thrive in ambiguity, move quickly from idea to production, and are energized by turning complex business problems into scalable data products. You will work closely with Staff and Principal Data Scientists to deliver production‑grade systems across forecasting, experimentation, constrained optimization, pricing, and batch and real‑time recommendation systems. The role requires strong end‑to‑end ownership from problem framing and modeling through production deployment using self‑service ML platform tooling. This position will start remotely and transition to a hybrid role. Candidates must be local to Toronto, ON.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and deploy end‑to‑end decision science systems spanning demand forecasting, experimentation, portfolio optimization, pricing, and recommendation systems
• Build batch and real‑time recommendation pipelines using multi‑stage cascading ranking architecture, including candidate generation, pre‑ranking, ranking, and re‑ranking
• Translate ambiguous business problems into structured hypotheses, measurable KPIs, experimentation plans, and production solutions
• Partner closely with MLEs to leverage self‑service deployment tooling, observability, shadow deployment, canary rollout, and KPI monitoring workflows
• Own one or more domain problem areas end‑to‑end, driving measurable business impact through fast iteration cycles
• Contribute to modeling standards, code quality, validation rigor, and experimentation best practices established by Staff and Principal DS leadership
• Mentor junior Data Scientists and contribute to the technical growth of the founding team

Required Qualifications

Education Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Operations Research, Economics, or another related STEM field.

Experience 2+ years of hands‑on experience in data science, decision science, econometrics, or applied machine learning.

Proven ability to independently deliver end‑to‑end data science systems from problem framing through measurable production impact.

Demonstrated experience in at least two of: forecasting, experimentation, optimization, recommendation systems, pricing, causal inference, or portfolio science.

Comfortable operating in fast‑paced, startup‑style environments with evolving priorities and high ownership expectations.

Technical Skills

• Strong Python proficiency across pandas, scikit‑learn, PyTorch, and TensorFlow
• Strong SQL and large‑scale data manipulation experience
• Solid grounding in statistical modeling, machine learning, experimentation, and optimization
• Hands‑on experience building production‑grade batch and low‑latency real‑time decision systems
• Familiarity with multi‑stage ranking systems, ANN retrieval, embeddings, and vector search is strongly preferred

Soft Skills

• Strong communication skills with ability to present complex findings to business and technical stakeholders
• Collaborative mindset with ability to work cross‑functionally with DS, MLE, and product teams
• Strong execution bias and comfort with rapid iteration under ambiguity

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as an early or founding Data Scientist in a new team or product area
• Hands‑on portfolio optimization, assortment optimization, payout optimization, or mathematical programming
• Experience with personalization, gaming, retail, marketplace, or digital consumer decision systems
• Familiarity with Databricks, PySpark, MLflow, experimentation tooling, and cloud‑native deployment workflows
• Strong product intuition for balancing revenue, engagement, margin, and responsible use constraints

SG is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants due to race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

If you’d like more information about your equal employment opportunity rights as an applicant under the law,

Relentless innovation. Legendary performance. And unwavering security. All built on a foundation of trusted partnerships.

And to propel the industry ever forward. At Scientific Games, we elevate play every day. From cutting‑edge backend systems to exciting entertainment experiences and trailblazing retail and digital solutions, we care about the details that drive profits for lottery beneficiary programs. We know what people like to play today. And with the power of data analytics, we can predict what they'll want to play tomorrow. We're always thinking about the player experience. Because it's not just a game. It's an instant of optimistic fun. But the best part? We're just getting started. iLottery and sports betting are the new frontier in play. And Scientific Games is the partner of choice for these growing markets. Because when it comes to digital, trust is everything. The lottery experience is always one of excitement. But we're endlessly innovating, always evolving and firmly committed to responsible gaming. So that the future of lottery funding shines bright. It's a future of stability and inspiration. The strength of security paired with the thrill of the new. It's the future of Scientific Games. The driver of today's favorite lottery games and most advanced technologies, and sustainability for tomorrow. And it all starts now.