Lead Data Scientist, TS/SCI — Spatial AI & ML

Vantor; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 206,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with company match

Mental health resources

Student loan repayment assistance

Adoption reimbursement

Pet insurance

Job summary

Vantor is seeking a senior analytics lead to design and implement capabilities for UTS threat assessment. This on-site role in Herndon, VA requires an active TS/SCI clearance and experience directing AI/ML projects across data pipelines and modeling workflows.

Responsibilities include defining AI/ML architecture, leading feature engineering, supervising model development, and mentoring staff while coordinating with government partners. Strong communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Operations Research, Engineering, or related field.
• 12+ years of relevant experience with strong technical leadership and roadmap development.
• Proficient in Python and SQL; working knowledge of R is a plus.
• Hands-on experience with data manipulation, feature engineering, ML libraries, and automation tools.
• Ability to communicate complex concepts clearly in writing and speech.
• Must be able to work on-site in Herndon, VA.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical execution of the analytics program and establish project roadmap.
• Define overall AI/ML architecture and lead feature engineering strategy.
• Guide supervised, unsupervised, and deep learning development.
• Direct graph analytics and causal inference activities.
• Lead explainable AI implementation and oversee validation methodology.
• Mentor technical staff and present findings to Government leadership.
• Automate data extraction, cleaning, processing, and analysis workflows using Python/SQL.
• Work with data scientists, engineers, and mission partners to refine requirements.

Skills

Technical leadership

Machine learning

Feature engineering

Data manipulation

Communication

Education

Master's or PhD in Computer Science/Data Science/Applied Mathematics/Physics/Operations Research/Engineering

Tools

Python

SQL

R

Job description

Vantor is seeking a senior analytics lead to design and implement capabilities for UTS threat assessment. This on-site role in Herndon, VA requires an active TS/SCI clearance and experience directing AI/ML projects across data pipelines and modeling workflows.

Responsibilities include defining AI/ML architecture, leading feature engineering, supervising model development, and mentoring staff while coordinating with government partners. Strong communication skills are essential.