Senior/Staff Data Scientist (ACF)

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.
At Skylight, data scientists organize, synthesize, visualize, and analyze data to help government stakeholders and product teams make informed decisions. They apply a variety of analytical models to find meaningful insights in both structured and unstructured data, and they communicate these insights in an easily digestible format.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is expanding surge support and capacity for its new Data Capacity and Digital Services organization within the Office of Administration, through the option year of our Task Order 1 contract. The team works with enterprise-serving organizations like ACF Tech and the Office of Grants Management to help programs deliver on ACF’s mission, including priorities focused on reducing grantee burden; reducing waste, fraud, and abuse; You’ll help answer hard questions with data. This role also flexes into lightweight engineering: when a problem calls for a small tool or automation built with AI, DataBricks, or Power Apps rather than a model, you build it.

Alongside delivery, we do a lot of technical consulting and capacity building, so people who take initiative and are comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity tend to do best here.
While the scope of this role is likely to evolve over time, the majority of this work may not focus directly on predictive analytics or statistical analysis. Rather, the majority of your work would be focused on data ingestion, data storage and processing, and data visualization.
Organize data and build data pipelines, using tools like Palantir Foundry and PowerBI
Build AI agents, integrating them into workflows, validating outputs
Visualize grant and program data using Tableau and PowerBI
Analyze large amounts of structured and unstructured information, including grants and program data, to discover trends and patterns
Build lightweight tools, prototypes, and automations with platforms like Credal and Power Apps when a quick solution beats a long one
Propose solutions and strategies for business challenges, and select the right tools, frameworks, and languages for the job, with a preference for open-source, and low/no-code solutions
Communicate findings through data visualization that leadership can act on
Build predictive models and machine-learning algorithms, at times, and
Collaborate with others as part of a cross-functional team that includes user experience researchers and designers, product managers, engineers, and other functional specialists
Can think about and use data strategically to identify the right questions to ask, communicate ideas, surface opportunities to create business value and drive decisions
Familiar with modern data engineering, including techniques for cleaning and preprocessing data from a variety of sources
Ability to analyze a data set using the appropriate analytical method and can design, prototype, and build statistical models that are credible, effective, and accessible
Ability to preserve privacy and security when performing data analysis
Can articulately communicate your data, models, and findings to technical and non-technical audiences
Ability to use the appropriate visualization tools to highlight actionable insights, trends, and recommendations from data
Champion leading practices within data science to your team and others
Ability to flex into lightweight engineering, building small tools and automations with low-code and AI platforms such as Credal, DataBricks and Microsoft Power Apps
Experience and interest in policy, public health, or human services
Experience with grants management data and large, unstructured data sets
Familiarity with Palantir Foundry and/or Databricks
Experience delivering AI-forward technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings
A track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams
An existing clearance isn’t required to apply, but as a government contractor, anyone hired into this role must be able to obtain a Tier 2 public trust background investigation.
Logistics
This is a full-time, exempt position.
This is a fully remote position.
Travel
This role may require travel one to two times a year based on client or contract needs.
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
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
Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
Business development / sales bonuses
Referral bonuses
Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
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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.