Forward Deployed Principal Data Scientist

SAP; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 176,000 - 374,000; Full time

Job summary

SAP is hiring for a data science and machine learning role based in New York City. The position embeds in customer environments and delivery teams to translate business challenges into scalable analytical solutions.

You will work with Python, SQL, and leading ML frameworks to deliver enterprise-grade outcomes, balancing accuracy with interpretability, and collaborating with decision-makers to drive measurable value.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of expert-level proficiency in data science and machine learning.
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• In This Role, You Will Transform complex business challenges into data-driven insights and build scalable ML solutions.

Responsibilities

• Transform complex business challenges into data-driven intelligence by identifying high-value problems, framing analytically, and engineering robust features and insights.
• Design, develop, train, and implement mathematical models, algorithms, and machine learning solutions to solve complex business problems.
• Apply advanced techniques across exploratory analysis, statistical modeling, experimentation, forecasting, segmentation, anomaly detection, causal analysis, and machine learning.
• Integrate analytical and machine learning solutions into products, prototypes, or business processes, ensuring enterprise-grade scalability and robustness.
• Define success metrics and translate analytical results into actionable recommendations for decision-makers.
• Lead or manage complex analytical workstreams or projects, including deliverables, milestones, risks, and escalations.
• Communicate insights to cross-functional teams and customer stakeholders, influencing decisions through evidence.
• Work in an embedded, customer-facing setup, collaborating closely with customer teams to deeply understand their data and business context.

Skills

Python

SQL

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Scikit-learn

XGBoost

Statistics

Experimentation

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Tools

SAP S/4HANA

SAP BW/4HANA

SAP HANA Cloud

SAP BTP

AI Core

AI Launchpad

SAP AI services

Job description

We help the world run better At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

We help the world run better At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

We help the world run better At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

What You'll Build

In this role, you design, develop, and apply advanced data science, statistical, and machine learning methods to solve complex, business-critical problems. Embedded directly within customer environments and fast-moving delivery teams, you translate strategic and operational challenges into rigorous analytical solutions at speed. You work closely with customers to deliver scalable, enterprise-grade outcomes that drive measurable business value. You are accountable for the quality, impact, and delivery of complex analytical initiatives — acting as a subject-matter expert, managing ambiguity, and ensuring data-driven solutions are robust, reliable, and aligned with business objectives.

In This Role, You Will

• Transform complex business challenges into data-driven intelligence by identifying high-value problems, framing them analytically, and engineering robust features and insights.
• Design, develop, train, and implement mathematical models, algorithms, and machine learning solutions to solve complex business problems.
• Apply advanced techniques across exploratory analysis, statistical modeling, experimentation, forecasting, segmentation, anomaly detection, causal analysis, and machine learning.
• Integrate analytical and machine learning solutions into products, prototypes, or business processes, ensuring enterprise-grade scalability and robustness.
• Define success metrics, quantify business impact, and translate analytical results into clear, actionable recommendations for decision-makers.
• Lead or manage complex analytical workstreams or projects, including deliverables, milestones, risks, and escalations, as appropriate.
• Communicate insights, trade-offs, and recommendations effectively to cross-functional teams and customer stakeholders, influencing decisions through evidence and expertise.
• Work in an embedded, customer-facing setup, collaborating closely with customer teams to deeply understand their data, applications, and business context — co-developing impactful data and AI-driven solutions.

What You Bring

• 8 + years of expert-level proficiency in data science and machine learning, with strong command of Python and SQL, and the ability to design, validate, and optimize end-to-end analytical and ML solutions.
• Hands-on expertise with Python and ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, and XGBoost.
• Deep applied knowledge of statistics and experimentation, including hypothesis testing, experimental design, causal inference, and uncertainty interpretation.
• Proven experience applying a wide range of ML techniques — classification, forecasting, clustering, recommendation systems, anomaly detection — balancing accuracy, robustness, interpretability, and usability at scale.
• Strong capability to translate ambiguous business questions into measurable analytical problems and connect model outputs to commercial, operational, or strategic decisions.
• Experience delivering production-ready analytics and ML systems on modern data platforms, with a strong focus on data quality, governance, and reusability.
• Exposure to SAP data landscapes including SAP S/4HANA, SAP BW/4HANA, SAP HANA Cloud, and familiarity with SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), AI Core, AI Launchpad, and SAP AI services.
• Ability to operate effectively in an Agentic AI context, contributing to the design, application, and responsible use of AI agents within complex business processes.
• Advanced communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders through clear data narratives and executive-ready insights.
• You proactively leverage AI in everyday workflows, ensuring high-quality outputs through thoughtful context design and system integration.

Where You Belong

You will be part of a growing AI and industry expert team dedicated to serving customers across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. We bring together deep AI expertise, strong industry knowledge, and regional understanding to help customers innovate and lead in their markets. We work closely with decision-makers, challenge assumptions with data, and give data scientists room to influence strategy — not just produce analysis. This is a place for people who enjoy building something meaningful. You will thrive here if you are intellectually curious, customer-centric, and energized by the opportunity to drive real-world outcomes in a fast-evolving AI landscape.

Location: this is a hybrid position based from our New York City office located in the Hudson Yards.

#SAPIndustryAICareers

Bring out your best

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: [e-mail].

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency

SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted annual combined range for this position is 176300-374200USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.