Role: Decision Scientist

In this 3-4 month contract engagement, we're looking for an experienced data scientist to tackle complex, high-visibility problems for one of our clients, a multi-state restaurant chain. You will leverage advanced analytics to drive the development and optimization and support key organizational initiatives.

Responsibilities:

Leadership & Team Development

• Drive engagement, development, and performance of team members.

• Mentor and coach data analysts and decision scientists in best practices, methodology, and privacy/security standards.

Data Preparation & Management

• Extract, synthesize, and clean data from multiple sources, including Azure Data Lake, SQL Server, Oracle, and other legacy systems.

• Conduct exploratory data analysis, aggregate data, and ensure privacy-compliant handling of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-party customer data.

• Guide the team in preparing unfamiliar or complex datasets for analysis.

Data Visualization & Communication

• Produce standard and custom reports, charts, graphs, and dashboards from structured data sources.

• Translate complex data into actionable insights and effectively communicate findings to non-technical stakeholders.

• Mentor the team on best practices for visualization, storytelling, and privacy-compliant reporting.

Data Manipulation & Modeling

• Procure and reshape large-scale, complex datasets for analysis across cloud (AWS, Azure) and on-premise systems.

• Identify anomalies, data issues, and work cross-functionally to resolve them.

• Apply statistical and predictive modeling techniques (regression, clustering, survival analysis, anomaly detection, factor analysis, etc.) to drive business decisions.

• Coach team members on code, methodology selection, and model development.

Business Understanding & Insights Operationalization

• Develop deep understanding of business problems and key metrics.

• Partner with stakeholders to identify core questions and design optimal solutions.

• Operationalize insights by integrating analytics into business processes and driving KPI-focused improvements.

• Lead analytics refresh exercises and model/rule tuning processes.

Leadership & Evangelism

• Collaborate across organizational levels to evangelize advanced analytics and decision sciences.

• Foster a culture of curiosity, rigor, and passion for analytics across the team.

We'd love to hear from candidates with:

• Education: BA/BS in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, Psychology, Quantitative Social Science, or similar.

• Technical Skills:

  • Strong proficiency in SQL, SAS, Python, or R

  • Skilled in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint)

  • Solid understanding of statistics (descriptive, regression, etc.)

  • Experience with cloud data platforms (Azure, AWS) and BI tools (Tableau, Power BI)

• Professional Attributes:

  • Ability to handle and maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information

  • Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills