Senior Data Scientist

Perks of Working at Ignite Digital:

• Competitive pay and benefits, including PTO
• Education stipends and referral bonuses
• Compelling work with the U.S. federal government
• Strong emphasis on volunteer and community engagement
• Opportunity to shape the future of our industry
• Supportive colleagues and management who invest in your growth

Ignite Digital is seeking an experienced Senior Data Scientist to support a U.S. Navy customer in the Norfolk, VA area. This role is ideal for a highly analytical, detail-oriented professional who thrives in data-driven environments and can translate complex analytical insights into actionable outcomes for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The Senior Data Scientist will leverage advanced statistical methods, machine learning techniques, and data engineering practices to solve complex mission and business challenges within a Naval program environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Strategy

• Lead complex, multi‑disciplinary data science projects from conception to deployment.
• Mentor and guide data scientists and analysts; provide technical leadership and oversight.
• Conduct research into emerging methodologies, tools, and approaches to advance Ignite Digital’s data science practice.
• Work independently and provide strategic guidance to internal and external stakeholders.

Data Engineering & Preparation

• Gather and integrate data from diverse sources (databases, APIs, web scraping, etc.).
• Clean, transform, and structure data for analysis and modeling.
• Build, optimize, and maintain automated data pipelines.
• Implement robust data quality checks and validation procedures.

Analytics, Modeling & Experimentation

• Perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) to uncover patterns, trends, and anomalies.
• Develop, test, and refine statistical and machine learning models (regression, classification, clustering, supervised/unsupervised learning, deep learning).
• Evaluate model performance and implement improvements.
• Design and execute A/B tests and other experimental frameworks.

Communication & Visualization

• Clearly communicate findings to both technical and non‑technical audiences through presentations, reports, and dashboards.
• Develop visualization products using tools such as Tableau, Power BI, Matplotlib, and Seaborn.
• Build dashboards and monitoring tools to highlight key metrics and trends.
• Document methodologies, workflows, and results thoroughly and clearly.

Collaboration & Problem-Solving

• Work effectively with data scientists, engineers, operational analysts, and Navy mission stakeholders.
• Identify mission and business challenges that can be solved using data-driven approaches.
• Design and deploy innovative, practical data solutions.
• Troubleshoot and resolve data-quality or data‑pipeline issues.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Stay current with state‑of‑the‑art data science techniques, automation approaches, and cloud technologies.
• Contribute to internal knowledge-sharing, code reviews, and capability development.

Required Skills & Experience:

• 7+ years of professional experience in data analysis, data science, or closely related fields.
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency in core data science concepts, methodologies, and tools.
• Recognized subject-matter expertise and ability to develop innovative solutions to complex mission challenges.
• Expert programming proficiency in Python or R.
• Strong experience with key data science libraries (Pandas, NumPy, Scikit‑learn).
• Proficiency with database technologies (SQL, NoSQL).
• Expert-level experience with data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Matplotlib, Seaborn).
• Deep knowledge of statistical modeling methods and machine learning algorithms.
• Significant experience with cloud ML platforms (AWS SageMaker, Google Cloud AI Platform, Azure Machine Learning).
• Experience with big data platforms (Hadoop, Spark).
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a dynamic team environment.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

Education & Certifications:

• Master’s or Doctorate in a quantitative discipline (Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Economics, or similar).
• Additional technical certifications in data science, cloud technologies, or machine learning are highly desirable.

Security Clearance

• Active DoW SECRET clearance required.

Salary: $150k+ to align with education and experience.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

For individuals who would like to request an accommodation, please visit https://bit.ly/2XqZoLM (CA) or https://bit.ly/3Eo922f (SC) or contact Human Resources. Ignite Digital Services will not make any posting or employment decision that does not comply with applicable laws relating to labor and employment, equal employment opportunity, employment eligibility requirements or related matters. Nor will Ignite Digital Services require, in a posting or otherwise, U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency in the U.S. as a condition of employment except as necessary to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or federal, state, or local government contract.