Principal Data Scientist- Decisioning

Citizens; Columbus (OH); Hybrid; USD 149,000 - 194,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Retirement benefits

Flexible work arrangements

Education reimbursement

Wellness programs

Paid time off policy

Job summary

Citizens is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to design, build, and improve quantitative models that strengthen customer relationships, improve decision quality, and drive measurable business outcomes.

You will lead statistical, machine learning, and causal inference solutions from problem definition through deployment, monitoring, and continuous refinement, partnering with cross‑functional teams in a hybrid Columbus, OH environment.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in statistics, economics, engineering, computer science, or related quantitative field; PhD preferred.
• 10+ years applying advanced analytics and delivering models across full development lifecycle.
• Deep knowledge of statistical modeling, causal inference, and experimental design.
• Experience estimating heterogeneous treatment effects and uplift with RCTs, causal ML, and related methods.
• Strong Python and SQL skills (5+ years each) and ability to build reproducible data pipelines.
• Experience with AWS and ML services such as SageMaker.
• Able to balance rigor, interpretability, and business value; strong communication and stakeholder management.
• Financial services experience and familiarity with customer behavior analytics preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of statistical, ML, and causal inference solutions from problem definition through deployment, monitoring, validation, and refinement.
• Evaluate targeting and decision performance using experimentation and observational data to improve outcomes.
• Develop methods estimating incremental impact, treatment effects, and heterogeneous customer response.
• Translate business objectives into analytical problems, measurable outcomes, and implementation plans.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to integrate models into production decision systems.
• Synthesize findings into clear stories and actionable recommendations for varied audiences.
• Communicate assumptions, tradeoffs, limitations, and documentation; maintain governance and ownership.
• Guide continuous improvement of analytic systems using experimental results and observed behavior.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistical modeling

Causal inference

Experimental design

Experimentation

Communication

Stakeholder management

Education

Master's degree in statistics, economics, engineering, CS

PhD preferred

Tools

AWS

Amazon SageMaker

Job description

The Enterprise Data & Analytics organization is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to design, build, and improve quantitative models that strengthen customer relationships, improve decision quality, and drive measurable business outcomes.

In This Role, You Will

• Lead the development of statistical, machine learning, and causal inference solutions from problem definition through deployment, monitoring, validation, and continuous refinement.
• Evaluate targeting and decision performance using experimentation, counterfactual analysis, quasi-experimental techniques, and observational data to improve customer and business outcomes.
• Develop methods that estimate incremental impact, treatment effects, and heterogeneous customer response to support more effective and economically sound decisions.
• Translate ambiguous business objectives into defensible analytical problems, measurable outcomes, analytical requirements, and practical implementation plans.
• Partner with data science, marketing, product, finance, risk, data, and technology teams to integrate models into governed business processes and production decision systems.
• Synthesize analytic findings into a clear and approachable story and set of recommended actions, reducing complexity as appropriate for different audiences.
• Communicate assumptions, tradeoffs, limitations, and recommendations clearly while maintaining appropriate documentation, controls, and ownership.
• Guide the continuous improvement of analytical systems by incorporating experimental results, operational outcomes, and observed customer behavior into future models and targeting strategies.

A Successful Incumbent Will Have

• Master's degree in statistics, economics, engineering, computer science, or a related quantitative field; PhD preferred.
• 10+ years of experience applying advanced analytics and delivering models through the full development lifecycle, including deployment, monitoring, governance, and ongoing improvement.
• Deep knowledge of statistical modeling, causal inference, and experimental design, with a demonstrated ability to improve decision quality and targeting through estimation and counterfactual reasoning.
• Experience estimating heterogeneous treatment effects and incremental value using randomized experiments, causal machine learning, quasi-experimental techniques, uplift modeling, and contextual bandits to support customer-level personalization and decisioning.
• Experience designing, executing, and evaluating experiments, including randomization strategy, holdouts, guardrails, outcome measurement, and causal interpretation of results.
• Strong Python and SQL skills (with 5+ years of applied experience each), including experience building reproducible analytical pipelines and working efficiently with large, complex datasets.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms (preferably AWS) and ML-related services such as Amazon Sagemaker.
• Ability to balance analytical rigor, interpretability, implementation complexity, and business usefulness under evolving priorities.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills, including the ability to explain complex analytical, experimental, and causal concepts in clear, unambiguous language.
• Financial services experience and familiarity with related customer-level behavior, profitability, personalization, and relationship analytics preferred.

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday
• Hybrid: 4 days per week onsite and 1 day remote

Pay Transparency

The salary range for this position is $149,000 - $194,000 per year, plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the budget, work location, and relevant skills and experience.

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of every local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

Some job boards have started using jobseeker-reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague's or a dependent's reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.

Why Work for Us

At Citizens, you'll find a customer-centric culture built around helping our customers and giving back to our local communities. When you join our team, you are part of a supportive and collaborative workforce, with access to training and tools to accelerate your potential and maximize your career growth.

Posting End Date: 10/30/2026