Senior Data Scientist, Head of the AI Accelerator for GoC

Automotive and Surface Transportation; Ottawa; Hybrid; CAD 140,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research and technology organization in Canada is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to lead their AI Accelerator. This role involves managing a team, driving data analytics initiatives, and collaborating with government clients to implement responsible AI solutions. Candidates should have a strong background in statistics, machine learning, and data processing, with a Master's degree preferred. The position offers a hybrid work arrangement and competitive salary.

Benefits

Robust pension plan

Comprehensive health and dental coverage

Disability and life insurance

Office closure at the end of December

Qualifications

• Experience performing complex data exploitation on large volumes of data.
• Experience gathering requirements and identifying opportunities for data science.
• Experience in management and supervision.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Artificial Intelligence Accelerator and manage a team of data scientists.
• Identify areas for collaboration and lead data analysis.
• Develop AI prototypes to enhance productivity.

Skills

Statistical methods

Machine learning techniques

Data processing

Data visualization

Python

R

SQL

Education

Master’s degree in Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science or Engineering

Bachelor’s degree in statistics, mathematics or engineering with significant experience

Tools

Python

R

GCP

Azure

AWS

Job description

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Senior Data Scientist, Head of the AI Accelerator for GoC

Priority may be given to the following designated employment equity groups: women, Indigenous peoples* (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), persons with disabilities and racialized persons*.

* The Employment Equity Act, which is under review, uses the terminology Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities.

Candidates are asked to self-declare when applying to this hiring process.

Organizational Unit: Digital Technologies

Classification: RCO-4

Duration: 2 years with possibility of extension or conversion

Work Arrangements: Due to the nature of the work and operational requirements, this position is eligible for a hybrid work arrangement (combination of working onsite and telework).

Discover the possible

Anything is possible at the National Research Council (NRC), recently named one of Canada’s 2025 Top Employers for Young People, a 2025 Top Employer in the National Capital Region and Forbes Canada’s Best Employers!

As Canada’s leading research and technology organization, our world-renowned research pushes the boundaries of science and engineering to make the impossible, possible. Every day we explore new ideas through innovative research and help companies discover possibilities that impact Canada’s future and the world.

At the NRC, you’ll also discover new possibilities. Our supportive workplace fosters a culture of creativity, welcoming fresh perspectives and innovation at all levels. We value teamwork. You’ll collaborate across multiple fields and with the brightest minds to find creative solutions. Most importantly, you’ll discover what’s possible within you as you grow, make valuable contributions and progress in your professional journey. From ground-breaking discoveries to a life-changing career, discover your possible at the NRC.

The Role

Help bring research to life and drive your career forward with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Canada's largest research and technology organization.

We are looking for a senior data scientist to support our Digital Technologies research Centre (DT). We seek individuals who share our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Respect, and Creativity.

Under the direction of the Team Leader, Data Analytics Centre, the incumbent senior data scientist will lead the Artificial Intelligence Accelerator (AIA), and contribute to the provision of data analytics services to Government of Canada clients and NRC.

The senior data scientist will manage a group of data scientists to plan, carry out data collection, analytics, and implement responsible AI solutions; and will ensure that the necessary IT infrastructure is available and maintained through interactions with Shared Services Canada.

More specifically, the senior data scientist will identify areas of collaboration, lead data analysis, and develop AI prototypes to enhance productivity and add value to the Government of Canada. She/he will have an interdisciplinary focus, using techniques and knowledge from a range of scientific and computer science disciplines (for example, economics, statistics, mathematics, predictive analytics, and machine learning) and are generally part of multidisciplinary project teams.

The roles and responsibilities of a senior data scientist may include:

1. Eliciting problems from business owners, understanding where data science can add value in supporting strategic and operational decision-making, and designing data science solutions and metrics to address these problems;
2. Cleaning, processing, and exploring structured and unstructured data to extract actionable insights for making business decisions;
3. Building and validating statistical models from data, often using advanced statistical techniques such as econometrics, machine learning, predictive analytics, regression, segmentation, and other relevant techniques;
4. Supporting computer scientists and data engineers in deploying and maintaining the models;
5. Using best coding practices to generate reproducible, verifiable work;
6. Exploring and visualizing data to present the ‘story’ of data, based on a thorough understanding of business processes and incentivized behaviour, in a meaningful way to a range of technical and non-technical audiences;
7. Using an evolving range of data analysis tools and techniques, including open source, some of which must be learned quickly, as and when required;
8. Adhering to standards, guidelines and norms around digital solutions and responsible development and implementation of responsible artificial intelligence and machine learning;
9. Managing a group of data scientists, which includes hiring, supervision, delegation, and finance responsibilities.

Screening Criteria

Applicants must demonstrate within the content of their application that they meet the following screening criteria in order to be given further consideration as candidates:

Education

Master’s degree from a recognized university in Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science or Engineering, or closely related to the position.

In lieu of a master degree, a combination of a Bachelor’s degree in statistics, mathematics or engineering with significant experience with data processing, analysis and applied AI may be considered.

• Experience performing complex data exploitation on large volumes of data to provide tactical and strategic insights directly to analysts, business owners, and decision makers.
• Experience gathering requirements and identifying opportunities to apply data science towards business objectives.
• Experience in management and supervision.
• Experience in capturing, cleaning, processing and analyzing data for the use of various machine learning and statistical methods.
• Experience prototyping and developing data exploitation capabilities using Python, R, and other technologies.
• Experience visualizing analytics, writing reports, producing functional notebooks, and designing and delivering presentations.
• Asset: Experience working with cloud infrastructure (GCP, Azure, AWS, etc.).

Candidates will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

• Strong knowledge of statistical methods and machine learning techniques.
• Basic knowledge of information acquisition using Application Programming Interfaces (API).
• Demonstrated ability to write efficient and maintainable code in R or Python.
• Knowledge of SQL Databases (such as Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL), NoSQL Databases (such as MongoDB, Cassandra) and Graph Databases (such as OrientDB, Neo4j).
• Ability to create, evaluate, interpret and present data sets concisely to management or business stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work in cloud environments an asset.
• Research - Communication (Level 3)
• Research - Creative thinking (Level 3)
• Research - Results orientation (Level 3)
• Management services - Client focus (Level 3)
• Management services - Teamwork (Level 3)
• Management services - Organizational and environmental awareness (Level 3)

The intent of this hiring action is to staff this position at the RCO-4 level, which is a mid-level career position with a salary range of $140,321 to $164,894.

Salary range is expected to increase starting July 20, 2025

NOTE: Please note that the full RO/RCO salary scale has five levels. Salary determination will be based on a review of the candidate’s expertise, outcomes and impacts of their previous work experience relative to the requirements of the level. As such, the initial salary could be within another level of the RO/RCO salary scale (i.e., above or below the intended level for this position).

NRC employees enjoy a wide-range of competitive benefits including a robust pension plan, comprehensive health and dental coverage, disability and life insurance, office closure at the end of December, and additional supports to enhance your well-being throughout your career and beyond.

Notes

• A pre-qualified list may be established for similar positions for a one-year period.
• Preference will be given to Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada. Please include citizenship information in your application.
• The incumbent must adhere to safe workplace practices at all times.
• We thank all those who apply, however only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Please direct your questions, with the requisition number (23685), to:

*If you are currently a term or continuing employee at NRC, please apply through the SuccessFactors Careers module from your NRC computer.