Data Science Manager - Space Intelligence (Remote)

The Home Depot; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The Home Depot in Atlanta, Georgia, seeks a Data Science Manager for Space Intelligence to drive AI-powered merchandising solutions. This role involves leading a team, managing technical projects, and ensuring the integration of AI systems with business processes.

The ideal candidate has a Bachelor’s or Master’s in a related field, 8+ years in data science, and strong technical and leadership skills. This position requires collaboration with various teams and influences business strategies.

Qualifications

• At least 8 years of work experience in data science or related field.
• 2+ years in a leadership role.
• Hands-on experience with AI-powered solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of data scientists.
• Manage projects and collaborate with partners.
• Evaluate and promote AI opportunities.

Skills

Data Science

Machine Learning

Python

Leadership

Software Engineering

Cloud Platforms

Education

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

Tools

GCP

VertexAI

Job description

Position Purpose

We are transforming how merchandising decisions are made through AI-powered solutions and automation. The Data Science Manager – Space Intelligence plays a critical role in the technical design and delivery of AI-enabled planogram automation capabilities. This role partners closely with Strategy and Process teams to ingest business requirements and translate them into a scalable technical roadmap, overseeing the development of business rules, AI/ML algorithms, and optimization techniques that accurately reflect merchandising intent. As the technical owner of the solution, this leader designs the end‑to‑end technical strategy to integrate tools and platforms together into a cohesive, scalable process, ensuring the underlying math, automation logic, and learning systems are sound, efficient, and adaptable.

As a people and technical leader, the Data Science Manager leads and mentors a team of data scientists and solution engineers, setting coding standards, QA processes, and deployment best practices to ensure solutions are robust, maintainable, and production‑ready. Acting as a trusted technical advisor to Strategy and business partners, this role evaluates proposed initiatives for technical feasibility, identifies advanced analytical and AI opportunities, and translates high‑level business goals into impactful automated systems. The role also collaborates closely with fellow Data Science Managers to align approaches, manage talent effectively, and deliver clear, executive‑level communication that drives alignment across all levels of the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• 40% People Management & Team Leadership – Provide leadership, mentorship and coaching to Data Scientists; evaluate performance, execution, and contribution; attract, retain and develop top talent; support team in development of business knowledge and technical skills; ensure appropriate processes and job‑specific requirements are documented; develop onboarding and training plan; manage resources; foster collaboration; support team in design and development of algorithms and models to use against large datasets; drive team’s results.
• 25% Project Management – Prioritize and assign projects balancing funding, ROI, innovation; manage programs; collaborate with program managers and business partners; serve as escalation point; provide executive updates.
• 15% Strategy & Business Development – Leverage business knowledge and relationships to seek out new opportunities; develop trust and collaboration; ensure alignment with IT support model; collaborate with other data science managers to establish high‑level strategy.
• 20% Technical Exploration & Development – Seek knowledge on key developments; participate in continuous improvement; develop replicable solutions; ensure best practices for data analysis and model productionalization.

Direct Manager / Direct Reports

• This position typically reports to Senior Manager or above.
• This position has Direct Reports and manages programs.

Travel Requirements

• Typically requires overnight travel 5% to 20% of the time.

Physical Requirements

• Most of the time spent sitting; frequent opportunity to move; rare occasions may need to move or lift light articles.

Working Conditions

• Located in a comfortable indoor area; any unpleasant conditions would be infrequent and not objectionable.

Minimum Qualifications

• Must be eighteen years of age or older.
• Must be legally permitted to work in the United States.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or related technical field.
• 7+ years industry experience in data science, applied machine learning, or software engineering, and 2+ years in people or technical leadership.
• Strong foundation in applied data science with experience building and maintaining production‑grade software; ability to set technical direction and drive excellence.
• Hands‑on experience developing AI‑powered tools and platforms that integrate seamlessly with enterprise software ecosystems.
• Proficiency in Python and solid understanding of engineering best practices, including APIs, microservices, version control, CI/CD, testing and deployment.
• Experience designing and operating large‑scale data pipelines and distributed systems with AI/ML components, preferably on cloud platforms such as GCP and VertexAI.
• Familiar with microservices architectures and deploying models and APIs in containerized, cloud‑neutral environments.
• Familiar with or contributed to AI agents or agentic applications in real‑world production settings.
• Proven ability to translate complex business processes and strategy into scalable, maintainable architectures.
• Domain experience in retail, merchandising, e‑commerce, or supply chain; familiarity with space intelligence concepts such as store layout optimization, merchandising analytics, computer vision, and LLM‑based solutions.

Minimum Education

• The knowledge, skills and abilities typically acquired through the completion of a bachelor’s degree program or equivalent degree in a field of study related to the job.

Preferred Education

• No additional education.

Minimum Years Of Work Experience

• 8

Preferred Years Of Work Experience

• No additional years of experience.

Minimum Leadership Experience

• None.

Preferred Leadership Experience

• None.

Certifications

• None.

Competencies

• Attracts Top Talent: Attracting and selecting the best talent to meet current and future business needs.
• Builds Effective Teams: Building strong‑identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Builds Networks: Effectively building formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside the organization.
• Business Insight: Applying knowledge of the business and the marketplace to advance the organization’s goals.
• Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi‑mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization’s goals.
• Directs Work: Provides direction, delegating and removing obstacles to get work done.
• Drives Engagement: Creating an environment where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.
• Drives Vision and Purpose: Painting a compelling picture of the vision and strategy that motivates others to action.
• Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Relating openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people.
• Organizational Savvy: Maneuvering comfortably through complex policy, process, and people‑related organizational dynamics.
• Persuades: Using compelling arguments to gain the support and commitment of others.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.