We’re a mission-driven team working within government, but not like government—agile, innovative, and focused on real outcomes. Serving the California Department of Health Care Services, we’re helping transform behavioral health care for one-third of Californians—tackling issues like suicide, addiction, and homelessness. We value transparency, accountability, and self-directed teams, and we’re passionate about building modern, responsive digital solutions that drive lasting impact. Join us to help shape how behavioral health outcomes are measured, explore the role of AI in policy, and modernize our data science tech stack—all while doing meaningful work with people who care deeply about what they do and enjoy doing it together.

Location: Remote (United States). Must be able to work PST hours.

As a Senior Principal Data Scientist, you will play a pivotal role in redefining how the organization leverages data science to achieve its mission. This role requires a strategic leader who can translate complex business objectives into actionable analytical solutions, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and deliver hands-on contributions to high-priority projects. You will work closely with company leadership, internal data scientists, and data engineering teams to shape cutting-edge technology and analytics capabilities, while mentoring and elevating team expertise to establish a center of excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Partnership: Engage with company leadership and stakeholders to understand business objectives, clarify ambiguous requirements, and translate desired outcomes into robust data science solutions.
• Solution Design: Architect and implement advanced analytical models, leveraging new technology capabilities to address complex challenges and drive measurable impact.
• Hands-On Execution: Lead and contribute directly to high-priority data science projects, including predictive modeling, machine learning, and statistical analysis, in a bandwidth-constrained environment.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with data engineering and internal data science teams to ensure seamless integration of data pipelines, tools, and models into production environments.
• Stakeholder Enablement: Educate and empower stakeholders with limited data science exposure, helping them articulate needs and understand the potential of advanced analytics.
• Center of Excellence Development: Drive the long-term vision for a data science center of excellence by establishing best practices, mentoring junior data scientists, and fostering a culture of innovation and technical rigor.
• Tooling & Process Improvement: Identify and implement improvements to data science tooling, workflows, and processes to overcome historical underinvestment and enhance team efficiency.

Required Qualifications

Education: Advanced degree (Ph.D. or Master’s) in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field.

Experience:

• 8+ years of experience in data science, with at least 3 years in a senior or principal role leading complex, high-impact projects.
• Proven track record of translating ambiguous business needs into successful data science solutions in a stakeholder-facing role.
• Extensive hands-on experience with advanced analytics, including machine learning, statistical modeling, and big data frameworks (e.g., Python, R, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Spark).
• Experience collaborating with data engineering teams to deploy models and integrate with modern data platforms.
• Prior work in highly regulated or complex industries is a plus but not required.

Technical Skills:

• Proficiency in programming (Python, R, SQL) and data science libraries (e.g., pandas, scikit-learn, NumPy).
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern data engineering tools (e.g., Airflow, Databricks).
• Strong understanding of data visualization and storytelling tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) to communicate insights effectively.

Soft Skills:

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to distill complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders.
• Strategic mindset with a talent for identifying opportunities and driving organizational change.
• Collaborative team player comfortable mentoring others and thriving in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment.

Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives, mentor junior team members, and build organizational capability in data science.