[Hiring] Principal Data Scientist @RHODES FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC

Role Description

The Principal Data Scientist is a senior technical leader who drives advanced machine learning and data science initiatives across the organization. This role combines hands-on technical expertise with strategic influence. The Principal Data Scientist owns end-to-end delivery of complex ML projects, presents recommendations to leadership, leads technical discussions, and serves as the recognized authority on modeling approaches. The role partners cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Finance, and Marketing to define and solve high-impact business problems, with particular focus on fraud detection, customer intelligence, and risk modeling.

Core Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of strategic, high-impact data science projects from problem definition through production deployment, monitoring, and optimization.
• Develop and deploy advanced machine learning models for fraud detection, risk assessment, anomaly detection, customer segmentation, and churn prediction.
• Lead fraud detection initiatives, designing detection algorithms, collaborating with compliance and investigation teams, and continuously improving model performance.
• Evaluate and apply emerging AI and machine learning technologies to enhance product capabilities and competitive advantage.
• Define and document best practices for model development, testing, and deployment.
• Design and build scalable data pipelines, feature engineering frameworks, and reusable modeling infrastructure.
• Monitor model performance, data quality, and business outcomes in production.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Finance, and Marketing teams to define analytical requirements and deliver recommendations.
• Present complex analytical findings and strategic recommendations to executive leadership and business stakeholders.
• Ensure all models and analytical processes comply with regulatory, privacy, security, and governance requirements.
• Stay current on emerging data science, ML, and AI trends.
• Contribute to documentation, best practices, architectural decisions, and reusable code libraries.

Your Impact in This Role

• Successful deployment and adoption of advanced ML models that generate measurable business impact.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and execute high-impact strategic initiatives independently.
• Clear, confident communication and presentation of complex technical concepts to executives and stakeholders.
• Improved data science processes, tooling, and infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Master's or PhD degree in a quantitative field or equivalent 8+ years of hands-on industry experience.
• Demonstrated success leading multiple end-to-end machine learning projects.
• Proven track record of self-initiated, high-impact projects executed with full ownership.

Requirements

• Very high proficiency in multiple machine learning methods: supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and deep learning.
• Advanced expertise in SQL and Python; strong software engineering fundamentals.
• Strong proficiency in AI technologies, including experience with large language models and generative AI systems.
• Strong experience with modern ML operations (MLOps) and cloud platforms.
• Strong understanding of statistical analysis, experimentation design, and causal inference methodologies.
• Experience building real-time or near-real-time scoring systems and production ML pipelines.
• Excellent communication skills and strong presentation skills.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in financial services, tax preparation, SaaS, fintech, or e-commerce industries.
• Hands-on experience building fraud detection, anomaly detection, or risk modeling systems.

Physical & Work Environment Requirements

• This is a fully remote role (US-based only).
• Occasional travel within US is required for team collaboration and business meetings.
• Work is performed in a standard office environment with remote flexibility.
• Must be able to work at a computer for extended periods.

Benefits

• Flexible remote and/or hybrid work options when possible.
• Generous PTO bank, in addition to Paid Holidays.
• Insurance: Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance offerings.
• 401K with 150% match on up to 3% contribution.
• Performance-based bonus and salary review process.
• Other offerings: Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Long-term and Short-term disability, Education Assistance, company-paid parking, on-site fitness facility, and a company store.

Apply today

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