Senior Data Scientist

Forestar Group; Arlington (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; 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 HOL

Job summary

D.R. Horton, Inc. is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to turn complex data into advanced analytics, ML, and AI solutions that drive business performance. You will lead modeling from framing to deployment and partner with business and engineering teams to produce measurable outcomes.

The role emphasizes end-to-end model delivery, production monitoring, and applying practical business judgment to deliver value. Travel overnight may be required as part of collaboration across functions.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a quantitative field or bachelor's degree with equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of data science, machine learning, analytics, statistics, or related experience.
• Strong Python and SQL with practical experience in ML, forecasting, statistics, or optimization, and familiarity with LLMs, prompt/context engineering, and evaluation design.
• Experience with model validation, experimentation, feature engineering, version control, and production collaboration.
• Strong business communication and ability to work with nontechnical domain experts.
• Ability to work independently, take ownership, and deliver results in an evolving environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop, validate, and document predictive, forecasting, optimization, statistical, and ML models for priority use cases.
• Perform exploratory analysis and feature engineering using enterprise data.
• Define evaluation approaches aligned with business decisions and constraints.
• Partner with engineers to integrate models into workflows, APIs, and production monitoring.
• Communicate findings and recommendations clearly to business partners.
• Represent the analytics function in cross-functional discovery, governance, and improvement activities.
• Stay current on data and AI practices and apply new capabilities that create business value.
• Identify and pilot new opportunities where data and AI create value.

Skills

Python programming

SQL

Machine learning

Forecasting

Statistical analysis

Optimization

LLMs / prompt engineering

Decision communication

Education

Master's degree in a quantitative field

Bachelor's degree with equivalent experience

Tools

Snowflake

Azure ML

MLflow

Open-source ML libraries

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 Senior Data Scientist. The Senior Data Scientist will help turn complex data into advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI solutions that improve decisions and business performance. This role will independently lead modeling work from problem framing through validation and deployment, partner closely with business and engineering teams, and help establish repeatable practices for production analytics and AI. The ideal candidate combines technical depth, curiosity, and practical business judgment with a focus on measurable outcomes. Success in this role means models delivered end to end that improve a measurable business outcome and are monitored in production.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Develop, validate, and document predictive, forecasting, optimization, statistical, and machine learning models for assigned priority use cases
• Perform exploratory analysis and feature engineering using enterprise data while identifying data quality and measurement limitations
• Define evaluation approaches that reflect the actual business decision, operational constraints, and cost of errors
• Partner with Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) and engineers to integrate models into workflows, applications, APIs, and production monitoring
• Communicate findings, uncertainty, assumptions, and recommendations clearly to business partners
• 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

• Master's degree in a quantitative field or bachelor's degree with equivalent experience
• 5 or more years of data science, machine learning, advanced analytics, statistics, or related experience
• Strong Python and SQL with practical experience in machine learning, forecasting, statistical analysis, or optimization, and working familiarity with LLMs, prompt and context engineering, and evaluation design
• Experience with model validation, experimentation, feature engineering, version control, and production collaboration
• Strong business communication and ability to work with nontechnical domain experts
• 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

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Snowflake, Azure ML, MLflow, open-source ML libraries, geospatial data, document AI and unstructured data, or comparable technologies 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