Senior/Staff Data Scientist (ACF)

Description

The company is a digital consultancy that uses design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

It is part of a wider push to change how government at every level meets the needs of families, patients, and others in a digital age.

The team is growing and is made up of public interest technologists.

Data scientists here turn raw data into answers for government stakeholders and product teams, applying analytical models to structured and unstructured data and presenting results in clear, easy-to-read formats.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is adding surge support and capacity to its new Data Capacity and Digital Services organization in the Office of Administration. The work runs under the option year of Task Order 1.

The team supports enterprise groups such as ACF Tech and the Office of Grants Management, with goals that include reducing grantee burden, cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, and modernizing legacy systems.

You will use data to answer difficult questions. The role also includes light engineering: when a problem needs a small tool or automation built with AI, DataBricks, or Power Apps rather than a model, you build that.

Expect consulting-style work. You will meet senior leaders directly, and much of the work is not scoped in advance. Work does not come off a ticket queue. Alongside delivery, the company does technical consulting and capacity building, so initiative and comfort with uncertainty and ambiguity help.

The scope may change over time, but most of the work is likely to involve data ingestion, storage and processing, and visualization rather than predictive analytics or statistical analysis.

The hiring process includes a preliminary screen, a skills interview, a behavioral interview, and a reverse interview where you meet your potential team. It usually takes four conversations over two to three weeks.

Responsibilities

• Work with executive and program stakeholders to define the right questions, then find the answers yourself, even when the request is vague or the audience is hard to win over.
• Organize data and build data pipelines using Palantir Foundry and PowerBI.
• Build AI agents, add them to workflows, and check their outputs.
• Create visualizations of grant and program data in Tableau and PowerBI.
• Analyze large volumes of structured and unstructured data, including grants and program data, to find trends and patterns.
• Develop lightweight tools, prototypes, and automations on platforms such as Credal and Power Apps when a quick fix is better than a lengthy build.
• Recommend solutions and strategies for business problems, choosing the tools, frameworks, and languages for each job, favoring open-source and low-code or no-code options.
• Present findings in visuals that leadership can act on.
• At times, build predictive models and machine-learning algorithms.
• Work in a cross-functional team with UX researchers, designers, product managers, engineers, and other specialists.

Requirements

• Think strategically about data: identify the right questions, explain your ideas, spot chances to create business value, and support decisions.
• Understand modern data engineering, including cleaning and preprocessing data from varied sources.
• Choose the right analytical method for a dataset, and design, prototype, and build statistical models that are sound, effective, and easy to use.
• Protect privacy and security during data analysis.
• Explain your data, models, and findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Select visualization tools that bring out actionable insights, trends, and recommendations.
• Promote data science best practices within your team and beyond.
• Flex into light engineering, building small tools and automations on low-code and AI platforms such as Credal, DataBricks, and Microsoft Power Apps.
• Have worked on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, operations) using iterative delivery.
• Share the company's core values in your mindset and way of working.
• Nice to have: experience or interest in policy, public health, or human services.
• Nice to have: experience with grants management data and large unstructured datasets.
• Nice to have: familiarity with Palantir Foundry and/or Databricks.
• Nice to have: experience delivering AI-forward technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings.
• Nice to have: a record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams.
• Do not meet every qualification? You can still apply. The company considers people from a range of backgrounds and experiences.
• Some roles sit on federal contracts that accept additional years of experience in place of a degree.
• All work must be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• An existing security clearance is not required to apply, but anyone hired must be able to obtain a Tier 2 public trust background investigation as a government contractor.

Conditions

This is a fully remote, full-time, exempt position.

Travel may be required one to two times a year, depending on client or contract needs.

Pay is set from your interview results and your seniority level. Current salary ranges for data scientists are: Associate Data Scientist $90,000 to $125,000; Data Scientist I $120,000 to $140,000; Data Scientist II $135,000 to $160,000; Senior Data Scientist $150,000 to $185,000; Staff Data Scientist $170,000 to $203,000; Principal Data Scientist $180,000 to $230,000.

Reasonable accommodations are available during the application and interview process; contact the recruiting team to request one.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Life and AD&D insurance.
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, and health savings account.
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of salary, with no vesting period.
• Flexible paid time off, generally around 25 days per year, plus 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid time off for eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents.
• Performance rewards: annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options.
• Business development and sales bonuses.
• Referral bonuses.
• An annual $2,000 allowance for professional development.
• An annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases.
• An annual swag budget of $100 for company merchandise such as hoodies and hats.
• A flexible, remote-friendly work environment.