Sr Data Scientist

F5 Networks, Inc.; Hyderabad; Hybrid; INR 2,500,000 - 4,000,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 Networks, Inc. is seeking a Senior Data Scientist in Hyderabad to own end-to-end modeling projects and drive business impact.

You will collaborate with stakeholders across data engineering, analytics, marketing, and finance to frame problems, deploy models, and communicate insights that influence strategic decisions. The role emphasizes technical leadership, experimentation, A/B testing, and responsible use of AI/LLM tools.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience in data science with end-to-end modeling projects and business impact.
• Portfolio of work demonstrating IP-respectful projects and stakeholder outcomes.
• Experience collaborating with stakeholders to scope and deliver results.

Responsibilities

• Independently own end-to-end modeling projects from problem framing to deployment and results communication.
• Lead stakeholder conversations to align on measurable business outcomes and trade-offs.
• Design and deploy advanced statistical models and ML algorithms for descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive needs.
• Provide technical leadership, code reviews, and mentorship within the Data & Insights team.
• Lead projects on agent evaluation, prompt strategies, and grounding LLM solutions in enterprise data.

Skills

SQL

Python

LLM prompt engineering

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Feature engineering

ML lifecycle

Experiment design

Docker

Kubernetes

Git

CI/CD

Communicating results

Stakeholder management

Education

Master's degree in Data Science

PhD is a plus

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

TensorFlow

PyTorch

MLflow

scikit-learn

Git

Job description

At F5, we strive to bring a better digital world to life. Our teams empower organizations across the globe to create, secure, and run applications that enhance how we experience our evolving digital world. We are passionate about cybersecurity, from protecting consumers from fraud to enabling companies to focus on innovation. Everything we do centers around people. That means we obsess over how to make the lives of our customers, and their customers, better. And it means we prioritize a diverse F5 community where each individual can thrive.

Senior Data Scientist Location: Hyderbad, India (F5 Office 3-5 days/week)

Reports To: Director of Data Science Team: Data & Insights Compensation: Competitive salary plus benefits

Role Overview Join F5's Data & Insights team as a Senior Data Scientist and drive high-impact outcomes through data. You'll own end-to-end modeling projects — from problem framing and stakeholder alignment through deployment and communication of results. Leveraging advanced statistical methods, machine learning, and large language models (LLMs), you'll create and scale data products that drive decision-making, boost revenue, and streamline operations. As a senior member of the team, you'll guide technical direction, elevate team capabilities, and serve as a trusted partner to stakeholders across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

End-to-End Project Ownership

Independently initiate, scope, execute, and deliver end-to-end modeling projects — from exploratory analysis and feature engineering through model deployment, monitoring, and results communication. Define project milestones, make responsible commitments, and consistently deliver against them through every phase of the project lifecycle. Communicate project outcomes, business impact, and strategic recommendations to audiences at all levels, including senior leadership.

Stakeholder Partnership & Project Shaping

Lead stakeholder conversations to clarify ambiguous requirements, refine project specifications, and align on measurable business outcomes. Proactively guide stakeholders through trade-offs, prioritization, and expectation-setting to ensure projects are well-scoped and deliver meaningful value. Build and maintain trusted relationships with project management, data engineering, data analytics, customer success, marketing, and finance teams.

Data Analysis & Modeling

Design, develop, and deploy advanced statistical models and machine learning algorithms to address descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive business needs. Perform deep exploratory data analysis to uncover trends, patterns, and anomalies in large datasets; translate findings into clear, actionable narratives. Build predictive and classification models to forecast key metrics, support operational decisions, and guide business strategy. Design and execute experiments, including A/B tests and causal inference methods, to measure impact and inform strategic decisions.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

Guide team members on optimal approaches for feature creation and refinement, model evaluation and tuning, and reliable, scalable pipeline deployment. Establish and promote best practices for model development, validation, reproducibility, and production readiness. Conduct rigorous code reviews and model reviews, raising the quality bar across the Data & Insights team.

AI, Agents & LLM Solutions

Lead projects for agent evaluation, prompt effectiveness evaluation, and prompt evolution strategies. Drive context engineering approaches for grounding LLM solutions in enterprise data, ensuring accuracy, relevance, and safety. Contribute to the technical specification and architecture of agent-based solutions for internal business problems. Leverage AI-assisted coding tools responsibly in day‑to‑day work to improve speed, reliability, repeatability, and quality of results.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

Stay current with advancements in AI tools, agentic frameworks, data science methodologies, machine learning, and causal inference. Continuously refine models, processes, and team workflows to improve accuracy, efficiency, and business impact. Identify and champion opportunities to apply new techniques and technologies to existing and emerging business problems.

Qualifications

Education

Master's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a related quantitative field. PhD is a plus.

Experience

5+ years of professional experience in data science, with a demonstrated track record of independently owning and delivering end-to-end modeling projects that drove measurable business outcomes. Please provide an IP‑respectful portfolio of work examples. Proven experience managing stakeholder relationships — including scoping projects, navigating ambiguity, setting expectations, and delivering results.

Technical Skills

• Expert-level proficiency in SQL and Python.
• Skilled in LLM prompt engineering, prompt evaluation methodologies, context engineering, and integrating LLM APIs into production workflows.
• Deep expertise with machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch) and libraries (e.g., scikit‑learn).
• Advanced knowledge of feature engineering, feature stores, feature evaluation, and model selection strategies.
• Experience with MLflow and end‑to‑end ML lifecycle management.
• Strong understanding of experiment design, A/B testing, and causal inference methodologies.
• Experience with containerization and deployment tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) for productionizing models and data science solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to build, optimize, and maintain reliable, scalable ML pipelines.
• Proficient with version/source control (e.g., Git), CI/CD workflows, and AI coding assistants.
• Proven ability to evaluate, optimize, and monitor model performance tied to business outcomes, and to guide others in doing the same.

Interpersonal & Leadership Skills

• Skilled at leading stakeholder conversations — able to listen deeply, ask the right questions, clarify requirements, and guide projects toward well‑defined, achievable outcomes.
• Demonstrates strong ownership, initiative, and accountability — "figure it out, make it happen, share what you learned, and help others do the same."
• Exceptional communicator who can tailor complex technical concepts to any audience, from engineers to executives.
• Effective working both independently and as a senior contributor within a small, high-demand team.
• Natural mentor who elevates the people around them through guidance, feedback, and example.

Why Join F5?

At F5, we harness the power of data to drive business success. As a Senior Data Scientist on our Data & Insights team, you'll shape the future of data utilization at F5 and deliver critical insights and data products that empower decision‑making across the company. You'll have the autonomy to own high‑impact projects end to end, the influence to guide technical direction, and the opportunity to mentor a growing team. We offer a collaborative and innovative environment that values professional growth and celebrates impactful contributions. Join us and transform data into a cornerstone of F5's success.

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is the policy of F5 to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to unlawful considerations of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, sensory, physical, or mental disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, discipline, and termination. F5 offers a variety of reasonable accommodations for candidates. Requesting an accommodation is completely voluntary. F5 will assess the need for accommodations in the application process separately from those that may be needed to perform the job. Request by contacting [e-mail].

Hybrid

Employees within 30 commutable miles of an F5 office are required to work from the office a minimum of 30 business days per quarter.

Remote

Primarily work from designated home location but can come into an F5 office to work or travel to an offsite location as needed.

Together, we're building a better digital world. Founded in 1996, F5 is a global leader in application delivery and security. Our premier platform helps customers secure and deliver every app, API, and piece of infrastructure across all environments. Backed by over three decades of expertise and 553 patents, our solutions protect against threats while ensuring fast, reliable digital experiences. With over 6,400 employees, we serve more than 23,000 customers in over 170 countries. To continue this work, we need people like you—the best minds in the industry. We're committed to a unique, human‑first culture that encourages authenticity, prioritizes diversity and inclusion, and fosters the growth and success of our employees.