Senior Data Scientist (Cleared)

We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist to support federal government trade, analytics, and mission transformation priorities by leading the design, development, validation, and deployment of advanced analytical solutions. This role will support complex mission and operational questions by applying machine learning, statistical modeling, data mining, entity resolution, risk modeling, network analysis, cohort analysis, and data visualization techniques across large and complex data environments. 

The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise in applied data science, strong experience leading analytical projects from ambiguous requirements through deployed products, and the ability to communicate complex analytical methods and findings to senior government stakeholders, technical teams, and mission users. This role requires a hands-on technical leader who can evaluate feasibility, guide project teams, develop analytical methods, validate models, and ensure analytical results are actionable, reliable, and mission-relevant. 

Location 

This role will primarily support work in the Washington, DC Metro area, with work expected at or near the client site in Ashburn, VA as required by the contract. Telework may be permitted only with prior government approval. 

Security Requirement 

Must be a U.S. Citizen with a recent DHS Public Trust, DoD Secret, or DoD Top Secret clearance, and must be able to obtain and maintain a CBP background investigation or other required government suitability determination. 

What You Will Do 

• Lead the technical direction of data science and analytical projects, including project planning, development schedules, task assignments, and delivery of deployed analytical products 

• Apply knowledge of current and emerging technologies, analytical methods, and data science practices to identify, design, and develop project plans and technical approaches 

• Conceptualize research problems, design and conduct analytical studies, interpret results, and translate findings into theoretical and practical applications for mission users 

• Develop analytical and computational techniques and methods for problem solving across complex, high-volume data environments 

• Create, test, and validate data mining methods, machine learning models, statistical models, and other advanced analytical solutions 

• Design and evaluate models for entity resolution, risk-based analysis, entity behavior over time, network analysis, cohort analysis, anomaly detection, and related business needs 

• Lead development teams using Agile methodologies from initial requirements analysis through development, testing, deployment, troubleshooting, and operational support 

• Evaluate and assess the feasibility of stakeholder requirements, including requirements that do not have a clearly identified solution 

• Communicate analysis techniques, model validation processes, assumptions, limitations, results, and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences 

• Advise senior project personnel and government stakeholders on technical matters, analytical approaches, data availability, model performance, and solution tradeoffs 

• Collaborate with project managers, data scientists, data analysts, data engineers, data architects, application developers, and UX/UI professionals to deliver end-to-end analytical capabilities 

• Support development of implementation roadmaps, data exploration reports, model prototype and evaluation reports, final code-reviewed models, and final model analysis reports 

• Develop and maintain project backlogs, technical tasks, development schedules, and issue-resolution plans based on project requirements 

• Support data-driven decision-making by transforming complex data into concise, actionable insights, visualizations, reports, and decision-support products 

• Stay current on emerging tools and techniques in machine learning, statistical modeling, artificial intelligence, graph analytics, and advanced analytics 

What This Role Requires

• U.S. Citizenship required due to federal contract requirements 

• Recent DHS Public Trust, DoD Secret, or DoD Top Secret clearance required 

• Ability to obtain and maintain a CBP background investigation or other required government suitability determination 

• Candidate must reside in the U.S. and be able to support onsite work in the Washington, DC Metro area, including Ashburn, VA, as needed 

• At least eight (8) years of direct experience in applied research directed to machine learning, data science, applied mathematics, statistics, computer science, operations research, or another closely related quantitative or mathematical discipline 

• Advanced degree, such as a Master’s or Ph.D., in Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Data Science, Computer Science, Operations Research, or another closely related quantitative or mathematical discipline 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience supporting DHS, CBP, or other federal law enforcement, trade, revenue, regulatory, or mission operations environments 

• Demonstrated ability to create and validate data mining methods, machine learning models, and delivery of analytical results through reporting and/or data visualization from requirements that do not have a clearly identified solution 

• Ability to advise the government on special subjects, evaluate and assess requirements feasibility as stated by stakeholders, and communicate analysis techniques, including testing and model validation processes 

• Ability to direct and/or create different data models, including entity resolution, risk-based models, entity behavior over time, network analysis, cohort analysis, and other models according to business needs and requirements 

• Ability to lead a development team using Agile development methodology from initial requirements analysis to a complete, deployed analytical product 

• Ability to forecast and create tasks for team members based on project requirements, maintain development schedules and backlogs, and support troubleshooting and issue resolution with team members as needed 

• Experience developing analytical solutions for fraud detection, trade evasion, revenue protection, import safety, forced labor, intellectual property rights, supply chain risk, or other enforcement and compliance use cases 

• Experience working with high-volume structured and unstructured data from disparate sources, including transactional, entity, network, operational, or case management data 

• Experience with machine learning approaches such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, classification, regression, clustering, anomaly detection, natural language processing, graph analytics, and predictive modeling 

• Experience with Python, R, SQL, Spark, Databricks, AWS, or similar data science and cloud analytics tools 

• Experience developing analytical prototypes and transitioning successful prototypes into operationally tested and deployed solutions 

• Experience with model validation, performance evaluation, explainability, documentation, and responsible use of AI/ML in federal environments 

• Experience building dashboards, visualizations, analytical reports, or self-service tools using Tableau, Power BI, QuickSight, or similar platforms 

• Experience with data quality assessment, feature engineering, exploratory data analysis, statistical testing, and methodology documentation 

• Experience working in Agile, Scrum, SAFe, or similar iterative delivery environments 

• Experience supporting executive briefings, technical demonstrations, stakeholder workshops, user engagement sessions, or communities of practice 

• Experience working in secure, compliant federal IT or data environments 

• Certifications in cloud, data science, AI/ML, Agile, or related technologies 

Professional Skills 

• Strong technical leadership skills with the ability to guide multidisciplinary analytical teams through ambiguous and complex problem spaces 

• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts, model assumptions, analytical findings, limitations, and recommendations to non-technical stakeholders 

• Ability to translate mission needs, stakeholder questions, and operational challenges into feasible analytical approaches and deployed data science products 

• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to evaluate multiple analytical methods and recommend practical, mission-aligned solutions 

• Detail-oriented with a focus on analytical rigor, model quality, data integrity, documentation, and reproducibility 

• Ability to manage competing priorities, evolving requirements, and multiple analytical workstreams in a fast-paced federal environment 

• Collaborative and proactive with the ability to work effectively with government stakeholders, project managers, analysts, engineers, architects, developers, and end users 

• Mission-focused with a commitment to delivering actionable, high-quality analytical solutions that improve government decision-making and operational outcomes 

We can only solve the world's toughest challenges by building a workplace that allows everyone to thrive. We are an equal opportunity employer. Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals. For more information, please read our EEO policy.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation, please email [email protected] and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.  

Read more about workplace discrimination rights or our benefit offerings which are included in the Transparency in (Benefits) Coverage Act.