Senior Data Scientist

Samba; Amsterdam; Hybrid; EUR 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Samba is seeking a senior data scientist to shape its data science function, define modeling methodologies, and build production ML systems at scale. You will collaborate with engineering, product, and partner teams to implement rigorous, defensible modeling practices and drive data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities cover end-to-end delivery, building AI systems with RAG/LLM approaches, integrating agentic workflows, and leading technical design while mentoring junior data scientists.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands-on data science experience with a quantitative degree or equivalent
• Demonstrated ability to own multi-sprint projects from scoping to production deployment
• Strong foundation in ML, statistics, and evaluation on large real-world datasets

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of data science projects from scoping to deployment
• Define and ship modeling methodology and evaluation frameworks
• Partner with Data Engineering to validate pipelines and ensure reliable inputs
• Build AI systems using RAG, LLM-augmented modeling, and Graph Neural Networks
• Integrate LLMs and agentic workflows into production ML pipelines
• Drive technical design for modeling components and mentor data scientists
• Establish and operate MLOps practices including experiment tracking, orchestration, monitoring, and governance

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Production-grade Python

ML & statistics

Education

Bachelor's in Statistics/DS/CS/Math

Master's preferred

Tools

Databricks

Delta Lake

Airflow

AWS/GCP

SQL

Job description

Samba connects the advertising industry. Today, a trillion dollars of media flows through platforms that don’t talk to each other, and each one measures its own results. We built the independent alternative: consented first-party data and AI that give the world’s biggest advertisers, publishers, and platforms one clear view across all of it.

The next era of advertising will run on AI agents, and those agents will need data they can trust. We’re building that foundation, and the agents that act on it. Join us and help build what the industry runs on.

About the Role

You help shape Samba’s data science function for the agentic era of advertising, defining modeling methodology, building production ML systems, and applying modern AI and agentic capabilities across our data products. You are an active collaborator with engineering, product, and partner teams, and an advocate for rigorous, defensible modeling practice.

What You’ll Do

• Own Delivery: Own end-to-end delivery of data science projects, from problem scoping through production deployment, building production-quality Python and PySpark on Databricks that is well-tested, documented, and reusable.
• Define Methodology: Define and ship the modeling methodology behind Samba’s data products, including model selection, evaluation frameworks, and reproducibility standards, applying core ML and statistics to billion-row, real-world data.
• Partner on Pipelines: Partner with Data Engineering to define data requirements, validate pipelines, and ensure model inputs are reliable and production-ready.
• Build AI Systems: Build and operate advanced AI systems using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), large language model (LLM) augmented modeling, and Graph Neural Networks that improve as signals evolve and support agentic decision-making.
• Integrate Agentic Workflows: Integrate LLMs and agentic workflows into production ML pipelines where they extend modeling capability and unlock new product surfaces.
• Design and Mentor: Drive technical design for modeling components, translate business requirements into modeling solutions with product, engineering, and go-to-market partners, and mentor data scientists through feedback, pairing, and design review.
• Run MLOps: Establish and operate MLOps practices (experiment tracking, Airflow orchestration, model monitoring, retraining workflows) and apply privacy-compliant data handling, including GDPR, CCPA, and Samba’s data governance policies.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of hands-on data science experience with a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field (6+ with a Master’s, 3+ with a PhD), or equivalent practical experience.
• A demonstrated ability to own and deliver complex, multi-sprint data science projects from problem scoping through production deployment, and a track record of building methodology, not just applying it.
• Solid command of core ML and statistics, including neural networks, regression, classification, clustering, model evaluation, experimental design, and causal inference, applied to billion-row datasets.
• Advanced Python with production-quality, tested code, strong SQL and PySpark, and hands-on production experience with Databricks, Delta Lake, Airflow, AWS, and GCP, plus MLOps proficiency in experiment tracking, model monitoring, and reproducible deployment.
• Production experience with vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Milvus, pgvector, or equivalent) and with designing and operating agentic AI systems, including prompt engineering, agent orchestration, tool use, or integrating LLMs into ML pipelines.
• A clear communicator who translates technical work into design docs and cross-functional conversations, and an active mentor who gives direct feedback and raises the bar for the team.
• Preferred: knowledge graph design (RDF, OWL, SPARQL), natural language processing, an adtech, CTV, ACR, identity resolution, or measurement background, and causal inference experience (A/B testing, synthetic control, uplift modeling).

Samba is an equal opportunity employer.

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