Senior Data Scientist at Steampunk
McLean, VA
$120,000–$180,000from the description
Jun 29, 2026
McLean, VA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior individual contributor role focused on building and deploying machine learning models end-to-end — from problem framing and feature engineering through operationalization and monitoring — in support of U.S. federal government clients. The position involves leading project workstreams, mentoring junior data scientists, and working across engineering, product, and mission-focused teams. Candidates with a strong background in Python-based ML, statistical modeling, and cloud platforms are the target audience.
Senior level · 5+ years · National · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $122,874 (middle half $87,544–$162,374). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
No specific work location or metro area is stated in the posting; the CBSA fields are left blank. The role is in the federal contracting space (Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health, DoD sectors), which may imply a DC-area presence, but no location is confirmed.
The degree requirement is effectively None: the JD explicitly accepts 'no degree and 9 years of experience' as an alternative path, making a formal degree non-mandatory.
The clearance requirement is framed as 'ability to hold a position of public trust with the U.S. government' — this is a suitability/background-check requirement, not a formal security clearance (Confidential/Secret/TS), so the clearance requirement is set to None.
Total years minimum is set to 5, reflecting the lowest qualifying path (Bachelor's + 5 years). The role also hard-requires 4+ years specifically in ML/advanced analytics, captured on the relevant skills.
Cloud platform familiarity (AWS/Azure/GCP) and ML environment experience (Databricks/SageMaker/Azure ML Studio) are listed under the required qualifications section with 'familiarity with' language, but they appear in the hard-requirements block alongside other firm gates. They are treated as required, with named alternatives captured accordingly.
Certifications (AWS ML Specialty, Azure Data Scientist Associate, Google Professional Data Engineer, Databricks Machine Learning Professional) are explicitly labeled 'Preferred' in the posting.
Read the full posting
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