Data Scientist Job Description

The job description of a data scientist continues to evolve with technology but involves communicating data findings to both technology leaders and business managers to help an organization meet a business challenge. The data scientist explores information from not just one source, but from multiple sources in order to gain maximum insight that can give the company a competitive advantage.

Position Description

A data scientist spends long hours collecting and analyzing data to spot trends and help a company face the challenges of an evolving customer base and changing marketplace.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities of a Data Scientist

Identifies unique opportunities to collect new data.
Designs new processes and builds large, complex data sets.
Strategizes new uses for data and its interaction with data design.
Locates new data sources, analyzes statistics and implements quality procedures.
Performs data studies of new and diverse data sources.
Finds new uses for existing data sources.
Conducts statistical modeling and experiment design.
Discovers “stories” told by the data and presents them to other scientists and business managers.
Tests and validates predictive models.
Builds web prototypes and performs data visualization.
Conducts scalable data research on and off the cloud.
Implements automated processes for efficiently producing scale models.
Designs, modifies and builds new data processes.
Generates algorithms and creates computer models.
Collaborates with database engineers and other scientists.
Implements new or enhanced software designed to access and handle data more efficiently.
Trains the data management team on new or updated procedures.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Possesses a working knowledge of statistics, programming and predictive modeling.
Demonstrates excellent code writing abilities.
Has strong critical thinking skills and the ability to relate them to the products or services the company is producing.
Displays understanding of and ability to use programming languages like Python and SQL (Structured Query Language).
Shows strong knowledge of basic and advanced prediction models.
Possesses a combination of creative abilities and business knowledge.
Has data mining knowledge that spans a range of disciplines.
Displays superior technical coding abilities.
Possesses strong exploratory analysis skills.
Demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as the ability to bridge the gap between data science and business management.
Has the ability to think and research creatively.
Displays exceptional organizational skills and is detail oriented.
Possesses a mastery of statistics, machine learning, algorithms and advanced mathematics.

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Master’s degree in business analytics or an advanced computer programming field.
Doctorate degree in statistics or physics.
Previous experience working in data mining or natural language processing.

Work Environment

Works normal business hours of 8:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. Monday through Friday, but may work longer hours when faced with a project deadline.
Has opportunities to work at home on a regular basis.
Spends long hours looking at computer screens or reports and reviewing data.
Spends time in board rooms or auditoriums performing presentations associated with data research and conclusions.

Salary

Salaries for data scientists range from $80,000 to $150,000 depending on experience, level of education and knowledge of languages and programs.