Applied Data Scientist, AI Data Platforms

Groundswell; McLean (VA); On-site; USD 103,000 - 178,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401K match

Paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

Flexible schedule

On-site gym

Childcare option

Job summary

Groundswell seeks a Data Scientist to build and operate an AI-assisted data platform that governs complex enterprise data. You’ll work with a small team to prepare the platform for mission use, handling data prep, knowledge management, AI evaluation, and decision-driven analysis.

You will ensure outputs are accurate, explainable and trusted by mission stakeholders, configuring AI capabilities and collaborating with engineers to deploy improvements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years applying statistics, ML, data analysis or related quantitative methods to real-world problems.
• Strong Python and SQL skills with common data science libraries (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn).
• Experience with knowledge graphs, graph data modeling or semantic technologies such as ontologies and taxonomies.
• Hands-on experience with language models or AI-assisted workflows, including evaluating output quality.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen per contract requirements.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Translate mission and customer data questions into objectives, success measures and evaluation criteria.
• Profile, clean and characterize complex multi-source enterprise data.
• Build and maintain metadata, data dictionaries and reference vocabularies ground data platform in customer environments.
• Configure and tune AI-assisted capabilities that match, classify, rank and validate data across systems.
• Evaluate AI agents and language-model workflows for accuracy, grounding and failure modes.
• Analyze human review feedback to improve platform performance.
• Support data validation and reconciliation for trusted data integration or migration.
• Collaborate with data, software and cloud engineers to deploy improvements into production.
• Create clear visualizations, narratives and briefings for technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistics

Machine Learning

Knowledge graphs

Language models

Public Trust Clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/DS/Math/Statistics/Engineering

Tools

Pandas

NumPy

scikit-learn

Job description

Who Are We?

Groundswell is a premier technology integrator and solution provider, resolutely committed to solving the most complex challenges facing federal agencies today. Our name, Groundswell, represents our commitment to be an unstoppable, seismic change in government. Ours is a small company culture with big company reach and results. Are you ready to be audacious, be bold and drive change at a rapid pace? Join us, where we'll make a greater impact together.

What You'll do:

Groundswell is seeking a Data Scientist to help build, configure and operate an AI-assisted platform that helps organizations understand, govern and move complex enterprise data. It combines knowledge graphs, semantic search, machine learning and AI agents with human review. You will work on the ground with a small team to prepare this platform for mission use. Your work spans data preparation, knowledge management, AI evaluation and the analysis that drives platform decisions. You will make sure outputs are accurate, explainable and trusted by mission stakeholders.

• Translate mission and customer data questions into clear objectives, success measures and evaluation criteria.
• Profile, clean and characterize complex multi-source enterprise data. Identify gaps, conflicts, quality issues and relationships that affect downstream use.
• Build and maintain the metadata, data dictionaries and reference vocabularies that ground the data platform in each customer environment.
• Configure and tune AI-assisted capabilities that match, classify, rank and validate data across systems.
• Evaluate AI agents and language-model workflows for accuracy, grounding, consistency and failure modes. Build test sets and track quality over time.
• Analyze human review feedback to find systematic errors and improve platform performance.
• Support data validation and reconciliation so integrated or migrated data can be trusted.
• Partner with data, software and cloud engineers to move validated improvements into production with version control and measurable results.
• Create clear visualizations, narratives and briefings for technical and non-technical stakeholders, without overstating certainty.
• Handle sensitive data under appropriate access controls, governance and auditability. Maintain reproducible code, experiments and documentation.
• Contribute data science expertise to solution planning and proposal efforts as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5+ years applying statistics, machine learning, data analysis or related quantitative methods to real-world problems.
• Strong Python and SQL skills with common data science libraries (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn or comparable).
• Experience with knowledge graphs, graph data modeling or semantic technologies such as ontologies and taxonomies.
• Hands-on experience with language models or AI-assisted workflows, including evaluating output quality.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen per contract requirements.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Clearance in accordance with contract requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graph databases and query languages, such as Neo4j and Cypher.
• Vector search, embeddings, RAG, and AI agent frameworks such as LangGraph.
• Entity resolution, record linkage, and systems for matching, classifying, linking, or ranking records.
• Enterprise data migration, ETL, or modernization, particularly for ERP or HR systems.
• Time-series analysis, anomaly detection, model monitoring, and drift analysis.
• Cloud data and ML services on AWS or another major cloud platform.
• Human-in-the-loop AI workflows, experiment tracking, and model evaluation.
• Experience working in segmented networks, controlled-change environments, or formal authorization environments.
• Active Public Trust Clearance.
• Preference given to candidates local to the Washington, DC metro area.

Certifications

• A relevant certification in data science, machine learning, cloud or analytics is preferred.

Why You'll Never Want to Leave:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
• Flexible Spending Account
• 4% 401K Match (immediate vesting)
• Paid Time Off
• Tuition reimbursement, certification programs, and professional development
• Flexible work schedule
• On-site gym and childcare option

Range: $103,307.00 - $178,090.00. The salary range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for any applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. At Groundswell, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Note: Groundswell does not accept unsolicited resumes through or from search firms or staffing agencies. All unsolicited resumes will be considered the property of Groundswell, and Groundswell will not be obligated to pay a placement fee.

Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Read a copy of the Company's Non-Discrimination Policy Statement.

Additional Resources

• EO 13496 Notification of Employee Rights under NLRA
• Know your rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal

Disability Accessibility Accommodation: If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation as part of the employment selection process, please contact us [e-mail] or 703-639-1777.