Principal Data Scientist

Forestar Group; Arlington (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision

401(K)

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Flex Spending Accounts

Life & Disability Insurance

Vacation, Sick, Personal Time and Co.H

Job summary

D.R. Horton, Inc. is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to serve as a senior technical authority for analytics, ML, and AI. You will lead high-impact modeling efforts, establish standards, and mentor practitioners to move methods from exploration to scalable production solutions.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with business judgment to drive value and ensure models run reliably in production environments.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• 10+ years of data science, ML, OR analytics experience.
• Expert Python and SQL with statistical modeling, forecasting, and optimization.
• Experience deploying and monitoring models in production with engineering teams.
• Strong leadership and ability to explain complex methods to business leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-impact modeling work and set standards for validation and monitoring.
• Translate business decisions into analytical formulations with measurable outcomes.
• Mentor data scientists and review modeling approaches and production readiness.
• Collaborate with operators and engineers to integrate models into workflows.
• Shape opportunities where data and AI create business value.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Forecasting

Optimization

Experimentation

Leadership

Education

Advanced degree in quantitative field

Tools

LLMs

Document AI

Production monitoring

Job description

D.R. Horton, Inc., the largest homebuilder in the U.S., was founded in 1978 and is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. It is engaged in the construction and sale of high-quality homes designed principally for the entry-level and first time move-up markets. The Company also provides mortgage financing and title services for homebuyers through its mortgage and title subsidiaries. Please visit our website at www.drhorton.com for more information.

As the nation's largest homebuilder by volume, D.R. Horton is transforming how it uses data, AI, and digital solutions for the next generation of homebuilding, and we pair the reach of a national enterprise with a culture built on local ownership, practical innovation, and deep business partnerships. Our teams focus on solutions that work in the field and deliver real results, not technology for its own sake. In this role, you'll have a critical opportunity to shape modern capabilities that will influence how the company operates for years to come.

D.R. Horton, Inc. is currently looking for a Principal Data Scientist. The Principal Data Scientist will serve as a senior technical authority for advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI, helping define how these capabilities are applied to complex business problems. This role will lead high-impact modeling work, establish scientific and engineering standards, mentor other practitioners, and help move promising methods from exploration into scalable production solutions. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with business judgment and can shape both individual solutions and the broader capability for the future. Success in this role means high-value decisions run on rigorous, monitored models in production, and the data science practice has standards other practitioners follow.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Lead design and development of complex forecasting, optimization, machine learning, causal, and experimentation solutions
• Translate high-value business decisions into rigorous analytical formulations, assumptions, constraints, evaluation methods, and measurable outcomes
• Set modeling standards for validation, reproducibility, explainability, monitoring, bias/risk assessment, and technical documentation
• Work directly with business operators and Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) to understand real-world constraints and integrate models into workflows
• Mentor data scientists and review modeling approaches, code, experiments, and production readiness
• Build trusted relationships across the organization, balancing enterprise standards with business needs and operating realities.
• Represent the function in cross-functional discovery, architecture, governance, operational-readiness, and continuous-improvement activities as appropriate
• Stay current on relevant data, AI, digital, software, and industry practices and apply new capabilities when they create practical business value
• Identify, shape, and pilot new opportunities where data, AI, and digital capabilities can create business value, operating with an owner's mindset and a bias toward building, testing, and learning quickly
• Conduct all business in a professional and ethical manner
• Ability to travel overnight

Education and/or Experience

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field or equivalent demonstrated experience
• 10+ years of data science, machine learning, operations research, statistics, or advanced analytics experience
• Expert Python and SQL skills with deep experience in statistical modeling, machine learning, forecasting, optimization, and experimentation, and working knowledge of LLMs, evaluation design, and document AI
• Experience deploying and monitoring models in production and working with engineering teams on scalable implementations
• Demonstrated technical leadership and ability to explain complex methods to business leaders
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, take ownership, communicate clearly, and deliver results in an evolving environment
• Ability to build trusted relationships across the organization, balancing enterprise standards with business needs and operating realities
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written and oral form or via DRH applications
• Ability to sit for majority of 8-hour workday; use hands and fingers to handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and peripheral vision
• The noise level is generally moderate

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with optimization, simulation, geospatial analytics, pricing, demand forecasting, sequential decision-making, computer vision, or LLM-based solutions is preferred.
• Experience in homebuilding, real estate, construction, mortgage, title, land development, sales, purchasing, finance, customer care, or another distributed operating business is a plus.
• Experience working in a large enterprise with complex enterprise environments is preferred.
• Experience founding, incubating, or building new products, capabilities, or businesses from the ground up is a plus.

Come join a winning team with a Fortune 500 company! We are growing fast and are looking for enthusiastic attitudes and team players to join our success. We offer an excellent benefits package including:

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• 401(K)
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Flex Spending Accounts
• Life & Disability Insurance
• Vacation, Sick, Personal Time and Company Holidays
• Multiple Voluntary and Company provided Benefits

Build YOUR future with D.R. Horton, America's Builder. #WeBuildPeopleToo