What does a senior data scientist do?

Updated January 8, 2025

8 min read

Quoted expert

Gabriel Foust

A senior data scientist is responsible for overseeing the work of the junior data scientist and providing advanced expertise in mathematical and statistical concepts for the analytics and data department. You will perform various tasks, including outlining the work requirements, monitoring the performance of junior data scientists, and assigning tasks to them. Other typical duties include preparing non-technical reports detailing the limitations and successes of projects, providing recommendations on how insights might be utilized to inform business strategy, and keeping up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in data science.

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Senior data scientist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior data scientist resumes:

Administrate SharePoint database access; manage classified documents and applications.
Configure and manage JobScope ERP system for a make-to-order/make-to-stock design and manufacturing environment.
Administer business intelligence systems and done business data analysis, visualization and reporting.
Develop MapReduce jobs in java for data cleaning and preprocessing.
Integrate internal and external data via API for cross platform marketing campaign evaluations.
Diagnose denial of service attacks and improve security using AWS security groups and network ACLs.
Work on AWS S3 buckets and intra cluster file transfer between PNDA and s3 securely.
Work on split architecture involving HDFS and HBASE on different clusters and running inter cluster operations.
Work with software developers to deploy web services loading Latitude/longitude data by interfacing with ESRI API.
Design the data integration jobs for position base and delimitate data files and XML data files.
Experience in deployment of Cassandra cluster in cloud, premises and data storage and their disaster recovery.
Utilize SAS to mine, clean and analyze data in order to glean insights that have business applications.
Conduct complex statistical analyses such as t-test, ANOVA, correlation, regression, clustering and generate predictive/forecasting models.
Establish new architecture to be more robust and integrate to capture data from more departments and other AOL affiliates.
Create HBase tables to load large sets of structure, semi-structure and unstructure data coming from a variety of data sources.

Senior data scientist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 14% of Senior Data Scientists are proficient in Python, Data Science, and Visualization. They’re also known for soft skills such as Logical thinking, Math skills, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Senior Data Scientists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Python, 14%
Re-engineered Edmonton Forecast Model w/ Python.
Data Science, 11%
Presented findings & provided high-level recommendations based on Data Science to executives and VP's.
Visualization, 5%
Transformed underlying analytical file and diagnostic reports for use by visualization software with non-programmer users.
Java, 5%
Developed MapReduce jobs in java for data cleaning and preprocessing.
Data Analysis, 4%
Utilized data analysis and machine learning techniques for Fraud detection, marketing and optimization.
Hadoop, 4%
Understand the business requirement and actively involved in evaluating the Hadoop system.

"python," "data science," and "visualization" are among the most common skills that senior data scientists use at work. You can find even more senior data scientist responsibilities below, including:

Logical thinking. The most essential soft skill for a senior data scientist to carry out their responsibilities is logical thinking. This skill is important for the role because "computer algorithms rely on logic." Additionally, a senior data scientist resume shows how their duties depend on logical thinking: "created predictive models for customer churn, segmentation, technological adoption and deep insight into valued customers. "

Math skills. Another essential skill to perform senior data scientist duties is math skills. Senior data scientists responsibilities require that "computer and information research scientists must have knowledge of advanced math and other technical topics that are critical in computing." Senior data scientists also use math skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "created a popularity sort using bayesian statistics implemented in hadoop. "

Detail oriented. This is an important skill for senior data scientists to perform their duties. For an example of how senior data scientist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "computer and information research scientists must pay close attention to their work, because a small programming error can cause an entire project to fail." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a senior data scientist: "created high level etl design document and assisted etl developers in the detail design and development of etl maps using informatica. ".

Analytical skills. For certain senior data scientist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "analytical skills." The day-to-day duties of a senior data scientist rely on this skill, as "computer and information research scientists must be organized in their thinking and analyze the results of their research to formulate conclusions." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior data scientists do: "administered business intelligence systems and done business data analysis, visualization and reporting. "

Communication skills. Another common skill required for senior data scientist responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior data scientists all the time, as "computer and information research scientists must communicate well with programmers and managers and be able to clearly explain their conclusions to people with no technical background." An excerpt from a real senior data scientist resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior data scientist does: "provided consulting, strategic advice and insights in data strategy, big data analytics for a major banking and telecommunication client. "

See the full list of senior data scientist skills

The three companies that hire the most senior data scientists are:

Deloitte330 senior data scientists jobs
KPMG LLP298 senior data scientists jobs
Microsoft218 senior data scientists jobs

Choose from 10+ customizable senior data scientist resume templates

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Compare different senior data scientists

Senior data scientist vs. Research and development internship

When it comes to Research and Development Internship, the duties will vary according to the organization or company. Most of the time, the responsibilities will revolve around observing the industry, taking part in the research and analysis, lend a helping hand in experiments and surveys, explore theories and attempt to create a model of out it, present findings for evaluation, and develop more innovative designs and systems. Moreover, in the Research and Development Internship, it always helps to be critical in solving complex problems.

If we compare the average senior data scientist annual salary with that of a research and development internship, we find that research and development interns typically earn a $85,604 lower salary than senior data scientists make annually.Even though senior data scientists and research and development interns are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require python, java, and data analysis in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between senior data scientists and research and development internship. For instance, senior data scientist responsibilities require skills such as "data science," "visualization," "hadoop," and "predictive models." Whereas a research and development internship is skilled in "c #," "powerpoint," "html," and "css." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Research and development interns really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $41,635. Comparatively, senior data scientists tend to make the most money in the start-up industry with an average salary of $139,084.research and development interns tend to reach lower levels of education than senior data scientists. In fact, research and development interns are 21.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 22.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Senior data scientist vs. Data engineer

A data engineer is someone who makes data science possible. This IT job requires the search for data set trends and algorithm development to make raw data more beneficial to the enterprise. Data engineers are responsible for establishing and maintaining an environment that permits other data functions. The necessary skills for the job include in-depth knowledge of multiple programming languages and SQL database design. Among the other skills data engineers should develop include data warehousing and architecture, data mining and modeling, and statistical regression analysis.

A career as a data engineer brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a senior data scientist. In fact, data engineers salary is $14,418 lower than the salary of senior data scientists per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both senior data scientists and data engineers have skills such as "python," "visualization," and "java. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior data scientist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "data science," "hadoop," "predictive models," and "machine learning techniques." Meanwhile, a data engineer has duties that require skills in areas such as "cloud," "kafka," "data analytics," and "redshift." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, data engineers earn a lower salary than senior data scientists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, data engineers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $125,579. Whereas senior data scientists have higher pay in the start-up industry, with an average salary of $139,084.In general, data engineers achieve lower levels of education than senior data scientists. They're 12.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 22.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Learn more about senior data scientists vs data engineers.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior data scientists in the next 3-5 years?

Gabriel Foust

Computer Science instructor, Harding University

Cloud computing technologies are already standard in the field, and I expect they will become more dominant shortly. The ability of a company to purchase necessary computing power, instead of running their servers, brings many new computing opportunities, especially to smaller-sized businesses that couldn't afford it before.

Senior data scientist vs. Control system computer scientist

An average control system computer scientist eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of senior data scientists. The difference in salaries amounts to control system computer scientists earning a $35,050 lower average salary than senior data scientists.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior data scientist is likely to be skilled in "python," "data science," "visualization," and "java," while a typical control system computer scientist is skilled in "switches," "lan," "test equipment," and "encryption."

Control system computer scientists typically earn lower educational levels compared to senior data scientists. Specifically, they're 35.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 23.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior data scientist vs. Bioinformatics computer scientist

Bioinformatics computer scientists tend to earn a lower pay than senior data scientists by an average of $67,251 per year.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A senior data scientist uses "python," "data science," "visualization," and "java." Bioinformatics computer scientists are more likely to have duties that require skills in "computational biology," "ngs," "c," and "systems biology. "bioinformatics computer scientists reach lower levels of education compared to senior data scientists, in general. The difference is that they're 35.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 16.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of senior data scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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