Sr Data Scientist

The data science center leads the development and implementation of machine learning and AI solutions that improve university operations and student outcomes. This role will focus on building, deploying, and scaling predictive and generative AI capabilities—including large language model (LLM) applications—to support strategic initiatives across marketing, admission, student advising, and academic affairs. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong business partnership skills and a passion for applying cutting‑edge AI technologies in a higher education environment.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design, develop, validate, and deploy machine learning models to improve operational efficiency, decision‑making, and student success outcomes.
• Build predictive models and intelligent decision‑support tools for use cases such as enrollment marketing, student advising, course engagement, persistence, and retention.
• Develop and implement LLM‑powered solutions by leveraging popular LLM APIs for university stakeholders.
• Evaluate emerging AI and machine learning technologies and recommend practical adoption strategies aligned with university goals, governance, and responsible AI principles.
• Partner with leaders and subject‑matter experts across marketing, advising, academic affairs, teaching and learning, and student success to identify high‑impact opportunities for analytics and automation.
• Translate complex business problems into data science solutions, including experimentation, feature engineering, model development, and performance monitoring.
• Collaborate with IT teams to product ionize models, integrate solutions into workflows, and maintain scalable, reliable data products.
• Communicate insights, model results, and recommendations clearly to technical and non‑technical audiences through presentations, dashboards, and written documentation.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in data science, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• 2‑3 years experience as a data scientist or analyst.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing machine learning models in production environments.
• Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and common machine learning frameworks and libraries.
• Experience with end‑to‑end model lifecycle management, including data preparation, feature engineering, training, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
• Hands‑on experience with LLMs, natural language processing, prompt design, evaluation, and/or generative AI applications.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms and modern data science tooling for scalable model development and deployment.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and communication skills, with the ability to influence decisions through data‑driven insights.
• Ability to work cross‑functionally and manage multiple priorities in a collaborative environment.

The hiring salary range for this position is $85,000 - $95,000. The hiring salary range above represents the University’s good faith estimate at the time of posting.

Excelsior University offers competitive compensation and a generous benefits package that includes paid time off, retirement, and excellent health insurance.

Excelsior University is an equal opportunity employer committed to ensuring all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to any legally protected characteristic.