Senior Data Scientist - System Optimization

Danfoss GmbH; København; On-site; DKK 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Danfoss invites you to join its Digital Solutions, Utility team to advance system-level optimization of district energy. As Senior Data Scientist you will model physical networks, apply MILP and machine learning, and drive value for customers.

Based in Copenhagen or Kolding, you will work on on-site projects with colleagues across Europe, building data pipelines and communicating complex solutions to non-technical partners.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in a quantitative field.
• PhD beneficial but not required.
• Several years of experience applying data modelling to complex physical or industrial systems.
• Excellent command of Python.
• Solid knowledge of district energy and thermo-hydraulic simulation.
• Familiarity with numerical methods for dynamic physical systems.
• Experience with MILP is an advantage.
• Experience with C# and C++ is appreciated.
• Fluent in English.
• Willing to apply and learn advanced methodology in the district energy field.
• Interested in blending physical models with data-driven methods.

Responsibilities

• Develop and extend thermo-hydraulic simulation tools for district energy networks using physical modelling—flow, pressure, temperature dynamics—augmented with ML.
• Calibrate and validate models against live network data and operating measurements.
• Advance production optimization solutions using MILP and related techniques for heat production and storage.
• Link production, network, and demand into a single optimization problem from producers to consumers.
• Build data pipelines for model inputs with the data engineering team.
• Own problems and communicate with customers, prototyping and validating solutions.

Skills

Python

MILP

C++

English

Data modelling

Education

Master's degree or higher

PhD beneficial

Tools

Thermo-hydraulic simulation tools

Job description

Senior Data Scientist - System Optimization

Req ID: 51153 Job Location: Copenhagen, DK, Kolding (Marsvej), DK Employment Type: Full Time Segment: Danfoss Climate Solutions Segment Job Category: R&D, Technology and Engineering Work Location Type: On-site

The Impact You'll Make

Are you an experienced data scientist who wants to model how real energy networks physically behave — and then optimize across them?

Join Danfoss Digital Solutions, Utility, and help unlock the flexibility of district energy in the green transition.

The Vision We Are Building Towards

District heating and cooling utilities are facing their most demanding transition yet — changing production sources, electrified heat, volatile energy markets and a hard decarbonization mandate — operated, for the most part, with tools that optimize one asset or one hour at a time.

Our ambition is system-level optimization across production, network and demand, so that a utility can bring the best possible energy-economic value while honoring its decarbonization commitments.

What You’ll Be Doing

We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist to deepen the modelling and optimization core of our Utility team. You will apply mathematical modeling, programming skills and optimization theory to ensure our products deliver maximal value to our customers.

Some of the key activities will include:

• Develop and extend our thermo-hydraulic simulation tools for district energy networks by applying physical modelling principles — flow, pressure and temperature dynamics across the network — augmented with machine learning and data driven methods.
• Calibrate and validate the physical models against live network measurements, closing the loop between simulation, real operating data, and the hydraulic behavior of the networks we run.
• Advance our production optimization solutions, where Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) and related techniques plan heat production and storage across grid-scale utilities.
• Connect the layers into system-level optimization — production, network and demand treated as one problem, from heat producers through to consumers, including demand-side response.
• Build and develop the data pipelines your models depend on, together with our data engineering platform team.
• Own the problem and communicate with our customers – deeply understand the problem to solve, possible solution discovery, prototyping and validation. You can communicate technical solutions to non-technical collaboration partners.

The Team

Your main development team is based in Denmark, working with colleagues across several European locations. Beyond your daily team, you join a data science community in Denmark of experienced data scientists working on problems next to yours — production optimization, thermo-hydraulic network simulation, temperature optimization and forecasting. You will have people to think out loud with, review your models and challenge your assumptions, and you will do the same for them.

What We're Looking For

You are an experienced data scientist who knows how to solve complex problems by applying data modelling. You have experience working in a large development team in a modern software development environment. You own the problem and solution and at the same time collaborate with the team to make it happen.

On top of that, you should be able to check off as many of the following as possible:

• Hold a Master’s degree or higher in a relevant quantitative field (mathematics, machine learning, statistics, physics, engineering, etc.)
• PhD degree is a benefit, but not a strict requirement
• Several years of experience applying data modelling to complex physical or industrial systems
• Excellent command of Python as this is used as our main programming tool
• Solid knowledge of district energy and thermo-hydraulic simulation — experience with physical modelling of flow, pressure and temperature in fluid networks is central to this role
• Familiarity with numerical methods for simulating dynamic physical systems, and calibrating such models with measurement data
• Experience in solving complex optimization problems, for example with Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP), is an advantage
• Experience with C# and C++ is appreciated, as these are used for some of our legacy solutions
• Fluent in English
• Willing to apply and learn about advanced methodology in the district energy field
• Interested in blending physical models of heating and cooling systems with data-driven methods

Location

This position is based in our office in Copenhagen or Kolding, Denmark — Copenhagen preferred. We work closely as a team on site, and we are looking for someone who will be based in one of these two locations.

What You’ll Get from Us

At Danfoss, we are engineering solutions that allow the world to use resources in smarter ways — driving the sustainable transformation of tomorrow.

Purpose-driven work. District energy is one of the most effective levers for decarbonising heat. The models you build shape how much fuel is burned, how much CO₂ is emitted, and how much value a utility can capture from flexible operation.

Depth, and the mandate to go deeper. Physics-based modelling of real networks is where our expertise sits and where we intend to stay ahead. This is not a feature factory — the hard modelling problem is the product.

Growth. We value continuous development and encourage it through courses, rotations and career tracks.

We believe that innovation and great results are driven by the right mix of people with diverse backgrounds, personalities, skills, and perspectives, reflecting the world in which we do business.

Our Commitment to Transparency

Salary ranges listed reflect only primary location and currency. For local salary ranges and specific benefits in your preferred hiring location, please ask your Talent Acquisition representative for more information.

The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Any benefits listed do not promise or guarantee any particular benefit or specific action. They may depend on country or contract specifics and are subject to change at any time without prior notice.

Want to know more? Please visit ourFAQ Page.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other protected category.

Danfoss engineers solutions that increase machine productivity, reduce emissions, lower energy consumption, and enable electrification.

Our solutions are used in areas such as refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, power conversion, motor control, industrial machinery, marine, and on- and off-highway equipment. We also provide solutions for data centers, renewable energy, energy storage, heat recovery, as well as contribute to district energy solutions for cities.

Our innovative engineering dates back to 1933. Danfoss is family-owned and employs over 39,000 people. We create long-term value for our customers in more than 100 countries with a global footprint of around 100 factories.