Data Scientist

Data Scientist Location: Newark, NJ (Hybrid – 3 days onsite) Engagement: Contract-to-Hire Client: Major Financial Firm We are seeking a Data Scientist to join a high-impact Data Science team focused on building advanced analytics capabilities across the organization. This role offers the opportunity to work alongside engineers, actuaries, and business stakeholders to develop data-driven solutions that directly influence underwriting, marketing, and customer experience strategies. This is a hands-on role requiring strong analytical expertise, business acumen, and the ability to translate complex data into meaningful business outcomes. Key Responsibilities • Develop and deploy advanced data science solutions aligned with business and technical requirements • Perform end-to-end model development including data analysis, feature engineering, model training, testing, and deployment • Research and apply new algorithms, modeling techniques, and data science methodologies • Write production-level code and collaborate with machine learning engineers to deploy models into production • Partner with data engineers to build scalable data pipelines and with software engineers to integrate solutions into business platforms • Work closely with business stakeholders to develop models for underwriting, marketing analytics, and other strategic use cases • Design and execute experiments, including A/B testing, to validate model performance and business impact • Manage and coordinate with external vendors supporting data science initiatives Required Qualifications • Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field • Strong experience solving complex analytical problems and working with large datasets • Hands-on experience with model development lifecycle (MDLC), including deployment and monitoring • Proficiency in Python, SQL, and/or R; experience with Java or Scala is a plus • Experience with data acquisition and transformation using APIs, SQL, and NoSQL technologies • Solid understanding of statistics, probability, and machine learning techniques • Experience with A/B testing, experimentation, and hypothesis-driven analysis • Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work across technical and business teams Preferred Qualifications • Experience in financial services or insurance, particularly underwriting or claims data • Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and tools such as SageMaker or MLFlow • Experience with NLP and unstructured data analysis • Knowledge of data governance, data modeling, and database design • Experience working in agile environments and cross-functional teams Why Join You’ll be part of a collaborative and forward-thinking team where your work directly impacts business outcomes. This is an opportunity to grow your technical and leadership capabilities while contributing to a strategic initiative within a well-established organization.