Senior Data Scientist

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services. We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists. The work we do matters.

About the job

At Skylight, data scientists transform complex data into insights that drive better public services.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching one of the most ambitious transformations in government — and this is a rare chance to be part of it. You’ll join a high-impact team of product managers, researchers, designers, engineers, and security experts working side-by-side with HHS leadership to modernize the systems people rely on to access healthcare, strengthen cybersecurity that protects personal data, launch digital services used by tens of millions every day, and integrate data and AI responsibly into daily work across the department so teams at every level can make smarter, safer decisions.

As a data scientist on this project, you’ll design and deploy production-ready analytics and machine learning solutions, apply responsible AI practices, and translate complex findings into insights that drive decisions. Just as importantly, you’ll prepare federal teams to sustain these improvements by sharing knowledge and practices that last — from training and enablement to reusable tools like templates, playbooks, and decision records.

What you’ll do

• Identify high-value questions, design experiments, and deliver production-ready analytics and machine learning solutions with clear measures of impact
• Build reliable workflows for data preparation, feature engineering, evaluation, and monitoring, partnering with data engineers to integrate models into pipelines and applications
• Apply responsible AI practices — including privacy, security, fairness, and explainability — and document choices with model cards and decision records
• Translate findings into actionable decisions through narratives, dashboards, and accessible visualizations
• Help federal teams sustain improvements by delivering training and enablement, and by leaving behind reusable resources such as templates, playbooks, and decision records

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Experience designing, validating, and deploying statistical or machine learning models in production with measurable outcomes
• Strong coding and analytical skills (e.g., Python or R, SQL), with experience in version control, testing, and reproducible workflows
• Understanding of data privacy, security, and compliance requirements for sensitive data, and how to integrate controls into delivery
• Ability to communicate complex ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Commitment to equipping federal teams with documentation, training, and mentoring to sustain improvements
• Ability to work successfully in a professional services environment
• Passion for creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that align with Skylight’s core values

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Familiarity with experiment design and evaluation — including drift monitoring, retraining approaches, and method selection
• Experience operationalizing analytics and machine learning on modern cloud platforms (e.g., Amazon Web Services [AWS] or Microsoft Azure), including MLOps practices
• Background with natural language processing, large language models, or retrieval-augmented systems in enterprise settings
• Exposure to regulated environments and governance — for example, Authority to Operate (ATO), the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Experience in civic tech, government, or other highly regulated environments
• Experience working effectively on hybrid or distributed teams
• Ability to spend time on-site at HHS in Washington, DC — either by being based locally or by traveling periodically for in-person collaboration

Don’t meet 100% of the criteria but think you can do the job? We’d love to chat anyway! We’re on a mission to build diverse teams, and studies have shown that women and marginalized folks are less likely to apply to jobs if they don’t check every box.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories. Some federal contracts require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
• You may be required to complete a company background check successfully.
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute.

Position type

This is a full-time, exempt position.

Location

This is a remote-friendly role. You can be based anywhere in the U.S. Candidates in the Washington, DC area, or those willing to travel there periodically for in-person collaboration, are especially encouraged to apply.

Care package

Salary

We want to give you the most competitive salary possible. After all, you deserve it! To that end, we use the results of our interview process to determine what salary is most appropriate given your current level of seniority. For a Data Scientist at Skylight, the current salary ranges are as follows:

• Associate Data Scientist: $90,000–$125,000
• Data Scientist I: $120,000–$140,000
• Data Scientist II: $135,000–$160,000
• Senior Data Scientist: $150,000–$185,000
• Staff Data Scientist: $170,000–$203,000
• Principal Data Scientist: $180,000–$230,000

Benefits

Your well-being is important to us, so we focus on supporting you in a variety of ways:

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid time-off-policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Business development / sales bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Dollar-for-dollar charity donation matching, up to $500 per year
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good

Interview tips

We want you to have a great interview experience with us! Here are some tips to help you prepare for a successful interview:

• Visit ourjoin page to learn more about how our interview process works.
• Check out ourCareer Pathways framework to learn more about the different roles within Skylight and the skills needed to do them.
• If you’d like to request reasonable accommodations during the application or interviewing process, please contact our recruiting team at [email protected].

We participate in E-Verify and upon hire, will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you’re authorized to work in the U.S.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable law.