Senior Data Scientist: Lead ML Models & Impact

Steampunk; Bloomington (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Steampunk is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to lead the design, development, and deployment of advanced analytical models and ML solutions that drive mission impact. You will guide modeling strategy, mentor junior staff, and partner with engineering, product, and mission stakeholders to translate insights into actions.

You will lead end-to-end model development, apply advanced ML techniques, and ensure robust diagnostics, explainability, and responsible AI practices across cloud environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant field with 6+ years (Master) or 8+ years (Bachelor) of experience.
• 8+ years designing, building, and deploying ML/analytics solutions.
• Strong Python and data-science library proficiency (Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn).
• Experience leading data science workstreams and mentoring practitioners.
• Experience with SQL and handling structured to unstructured data at scale.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern ML environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of predictive and analytical models including framing, feature engineering, training, and evaluation.
• Architect and apply advanced ML techniques (ensembles, DL, NLP, time-series, anomaly detection).
• Conduct model diagnostics, error analysis, and explainability studies.
• Collaborate with Data Engineers and MLOps to deploy models and monitor performance.
• Translate model outputs into actionable insights for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor junior data scientists and guide best practices in coding and project execution.
• Stay current on ML techniques and cloud-native analytics to shape strategy.

Skills

Python

SQL

Pandas

Cloud platforms

Lead teams

Mentor juniors

Statistics

Deep learning

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master’s degree in related field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

XGBoost

Databricks

SageMaker

Azure ML Studio

Job description

Steampunk is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to lead the design, development, and deployment of advanced analytical models and ML solutions that drive mission impact. You will guide modeling strategy, mentor junior staff, and partner with engineering, product, and mission stakeholders to translate insights into actions.

You will lead end-to-end model development, apply advanced ML techniques, and ensure robust diagnostics, explainability, and responsible AI practices across cloud environments.