Principal Data Scientist, Scientific AI (Life Sciences)

McKinsey; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 214,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

World-class benefits

Mentorship and coaching

Comprehensive benefits package

Global community

Job summary

McKinsey in North America is seeking Principal Data Scientist to advance Scientific AI in Life Sciences, developing models, pipelines, and knowledge assets. You will work with cross-disciplinary teams, deliver client-ready analytics, and mentor others in a fast-paced, startup-like environment.

The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership, translating complex results for executives, and shaping internal knowledge with production-grade software, in a collaborative, growth-friendly setting.

Qualifications

• Master's degree with 8+ years or PhD with 7+ years of relevant experience in statistics, mathematics, computer science, or equivalent with research experience.
• Domain knowledge in Life Sciences Industry.
• ML experience with causality, Bayesian statistics & optimization, survival analysis, design of experiments, longitudinal analysis, surrogate models, transformers, Knowledge Graphs, Graph NNs, Deep Learning, computer vision.
• Strong programming experience in Python (R, C++ optional) and analytics libraries (pandas, numpy, matplotlib, scikit-learn, pymc, pytorch/tf/keras, langchain).
• Proven experience applying ML techniques to solve business problems.
• Experience leading teams of at least 3 people.
• Experience with version control (GitHub).
• Ability to write production code and object-oriented programming, and conduct detailed code reviews.
• Proven track record of end-to-end ownership of independent workstreams.
• Proven experience advising external parties and/or functions.
• Exceptional time management in a complex autonomous environment.
• Good presentation and communication skills with non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Develop advanced models and data solutions to optimize client performance.
• Mentor others and collaborate with world-class talent in a dynamic environment.
• Develop internal knowledge and prototype AI/ML pipelines; support client discussions and deployment with delivery teams.
• Translate technical outputs into actionable recommendations for senior leaders.
• Write production-ready code and review code when needed; advance Data Science Toolbox and methodologies.

Skills

Statistics

Machine Learning

Bayesian statistics

Causality

Transformers

Graph neural networks

Deep learning

Computer vision

Design of experiments

Survival analysis

Longitudinal analysis

Knowledge graphs

Python programming

Git

Education

Master's degree in statistics / mathematics / computer science or related field

PhD in a relevant field

Tools

Python

pandas

NumPy

Matplotlib

scikit-learn

PyMC

PyTorch

TensorFlow

LangChain

GitHub

Job description

McKinsey in North America is seeking Principal Data Scientist to advance Scientific AI in Life Sciences, developing models, pipelines, and knowledge assets. You will work with cross-disciplinary teams, deliver client-ready analytics, and mentor others in a fast-paced, startup-like environment.

The role emphasizes end-to-end ownership, translating complex results for executives, and shaping internal knowledge with production-grade software, in a collaborative, growth-friendly setting.