A senior data scientist's role is to oversee and offer their experience and expertise, whenever necessary, to other medium and junior data scientists. They are also in charge of directing the flow of data, research, and digital construction within the team, data mining, and creating, maintaining, and improving new data-related software, projects, and programs.
Senior Data Scientists have a vast set of necessary skills, such as programming, statistics, mathematics, analysis, and economics. Depending on the industry within which the employing company works, they may also have to specialize in other things, such as SQL, deep learning (DL) and machine learning (ML) models, e-commerce, marketing, business, and data pipelines.
Generally, the employer will also ask for a Bachelor's in Data Science, Computer Science, or a similar field of study and at least a few years of experience. Some may even look for candidates with a Master's degree in any of these subjects.
What is a Senior Data Scientist?
What Does a Senior Data Scientist Do
There are certain skills that many senior data scientists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed logical thinking, math skills and detail oriented.
How To Become a Senior Data Scientist
If you're interested in becoming a senior data scientist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 40.4% of senior data scientists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 35.0% of senior data scientists have master's degrees. Even though most senior data scientists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Average Salary for a Senior Data Scientist
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Senior Data Scientists
1. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
2. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
3. Emory University
Atlanta, GA • Private
4. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, MA • Private
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
6. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
9. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
10. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Top Skills For a Senior Data Scientist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.3% of senior data scientists listed python on their resume, but soft skills such as logical thinking and math skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Data Scientist Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Data Scientist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Data Scientist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Senior Data Scientist Demographics
Senior Data Scientist Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among senior data scientists, 13.5% of them are women, while 86.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among senior data scientists is White, which makes up 66.1% of all senior data scientists.
- The most common foreign language among senior data scientists is Mandarin at 27.3%.
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Best States For a Senior Data Scientist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior data scientist. The best states for people in this position are Washington, California, Oregon, and Idaho. Senior data scientists make the most in Washington with an average salary of $139,695. Whereas in California and Oregon, they would average $136,608 and $129,222, respectively. While senior data scientists would only make an average of $114,456 in Idaho, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Oregon
$129,222
Avg. Salary
2. California
$136,608
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$139,695
Avg. Salary
How Do Senior Data Scientist Rate Their Jobs?
Top Senior Data Scientist Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ senior data scientists and discovered their number of senior data scientist opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Walmart was the best, especially with an average salary of $142,011. LinkedIn follows up with an average salary of $140,837, and then comes Aetna with an average of $119,620. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a senior data scientist. The employers include Microsoft, Amgen, and Booz Allen Hamilton
Most Common Employers For Senior Data Scientist
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netflix | $180,052 | $86.56 | 92 |
| 2 | $161,232 | $77.52 | 40 | |
| 3 | Instacart | $155,044 | $74.54 | 35 |
| 4 | Microsoft | $150,611 | $72.41 | 152 |
| 5 | Uber Technologies | $143,825 | $69.15 | 55 |
| 6 | Walmart | $142,011 | $68.27 | 338 |
| 7 | $140,837 | $67.71 | 207 | |
| 8 | Nike | $139,787 | $67.21 | 39 |
| 9 | Boston Consulting Group | $138,796 | $66.73 | 78 |
| 10 | Nielsen Holdings | $135,103 | $64.95 | 49 |