Data Scientist Lead

Program Overview

About The Role

Peraton is seeking a Data Scientist Lead to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. This position will be located in Herndon, VA. The qualified applica nt will become part of Peraton's Department of State (DOS) Consular Systems Modernization (CSM) Program, for the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA). This initiative will modernize and consolidate the operational environment under a common technology framework to better support the services provided to CA’s customers.

As a Subject Matter Expert in data science, the ideal candidate will play a pivotal role in shaping data strategy, guiding architectural decisions, and advancing the development of enterprise-scale data analytics platforms, tools, and AI powered services. The Lead Data Scientist will support predictive analytics, model development and help inform architectural decisions for data science tools supporting an enterprise predictive analytics and business intelligence platform. Stellar communication skills, forward thinking, and the ability to lead a team will be pivotal. This role will serve as a technical leader, partnering with enterprise architects, cloud engineering teams, and product leadership to ensure scalable, secure, and sustainable solutions.

Roles and Responsibilities :

• Guide the development of data analytics products, AI services, and enterprise data science capabilities.
• Guide the development of AI-based self-service business intelligence solutions.
• Oversee the collection, cleaning, transformation, and analysis of large, complex datasets to identify patterns, trends, and actionable insights.
• Ensures cloud services are properly designed and deployed in accordance with industry and government standards and best practices.
• Develop and implement data-driven solutions by leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), including data preparation, deployment, model fine-tuning, and evaluation to create innovative applications.
• Work with cross-functional teams to integrate LLM capabilities into products, services, and decision-making processes.
• Ensures the team adheres to architectural governance, reduces technical debt, and promotes sustainable development practices.

DOSCSM

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree and 8 years’ of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading a team.
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
• Experience applying architectural governance, technical standards, cloud engineering best practices, and data science principles to build scalable, secure analytics solutions.
• Ability to lead the collection, cleaning, and analysis of large, complex datasets to identify patterns, trends, and actionable insights.
• Proven experience applying advanced statistical methods, machine learning techniques, and programming tools to develop predictive and prescriptive models that support data-driven decision-making.
• Strong capability to guide data strategy in support of product and organizational objectives, including optimizing operations and addressing complex analytical challenges.
• Experience collaborating with product and technical leadership to translate analytical insights into actionable recommendations and strategic initiatives.
• Ability to clearly communicate complex data findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders and provide leadership across a data analytics or product team.
• Experience in data science with a strong focus on deep learning and natural language processing.
• Proficiency in fine-tuning, training and deploying LLMs at scale.
• Experience developing data analytics and machine learning algorithms and performing statistical analysis.
• Experience using leading data science and machine learning platforms in the industry.
• Demonstrated ability programming in Python, R, and/or Scala.
• Must be able to obtain or have an Active Secret (or higher) clearance. Interim clearances acceptable.
• Must be a U.S. Citizen.

Preferred Qualifications :

• Master’s or PhD degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Physics or a related field (Computer Sciences).
• Previous experience as a Software Architect.
• Experience delivering data analytics and AI services in AI development environments.
• Background in cloud-based architecture and scalable data engineering ecosystems.
• Experience creating data analytics visualizations and dashboards using tools such as Tableau or R Shiny.
• Experience working within notebook environments such as Jupyter or Zeppelin.

SCA / Union / Intern Rate or Range

Details

Target Salary Range: $86,000 - $138,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

Benefits Statement: Peraton offers eligible employees a variety of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, health savings account, short/long term disability, EAP, parental leave, 401(k), paid time off (PTO) for vacation, and company paid holidays. A full listing of available benefits can be viewed at

Application Duration Statement: The application period for the job is estimated to be 30 days from the job posting date. However, this timeline may be shortened or extended depending on business needs and the availability of qualified candidates.

EEO: Equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veterans, or other characteristics protected by law.