Senior Data Scientist

About Qwerky AI

QWERKY AI is a human-centered artificial intelligence company focused on building practical and approachable AI tools for real-world use. Headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, with a distributed team across the U.S., QWERKY is led by a founding team of tech entrepreneurs with over a decade of experience. The company is dedicated to creating AI that enhances — rather than replaces — human intelligence. QWERKY AI is currently developing an AI platform to empower knowledge workers, creatives and small businesses.

Job Description

QWERKY AI seeks a highly experienced, strategic, and technically adept Senior Data Scientist to join our forward-thinking Research & Development team. In this pivotal role, you will lead the charge in solving our most complex challenges, architecting innovative data science solutions, and driving the strategic direction of our machine learning initiatives. The ideal candidate is a recognized expert with a distinguished track record of conceptualizing, developing, and deploying high-impact machine learning models that deliver substantial business value. You will be instrumental in shaping the future of AI at QWERKY AI, mentoring a talented team, and championing data-driven innovation across the organization.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of critical data science experiments, from ideation and strategic alignment with business goals to model development, deployment, and long-term performance optimization.
• Independently design and implement highly scalable and robust machine learning systems, advanced statistical models, and cutting-edge AI solutions for complex, often ambiguous, problems.
• Execute the technical vision and roadmap for key experiments, identifying new opportunities for innovation and strategic application of research and machine learning.
• Conduct sophisticated exploratory data analysis and research to uncover deep insights, validate hypotheses, and inform the development of novel algorithms and features.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to data scientists and analysts, fostering their growth and ensuring high standards of technical excellence and best practices.
• Champion data science best practices, including rigorous model validation, A/B testing frameworks, ML principles, and reproducible research.
• Collaborate closely with leadership, product managers, engineering leads, and key stakeholders to translate business needs into impactful data science strategies, experiments, and solutions.
• Effectively communicate complex technical findings, strategic recommendations, and project outcomes to diverse audiences, including leadership and external partners.
• Stay at the absolute forefront of the AI/ML field, actively researching, evaluating, and pioneering the adoption of state-of-the-art techniques, tools, and methodologies.
• Contribute to the company's intellectual property through publications, patents, or internal innovations.
• Influence and improve the data infrastructure and tooling to support advanced data science capabilities.

Required Skills

• Master's or PhD in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, or a related quantitative field. (PhD often preferred for Senior roles).
• Extensive, proven experience (typically 5+ years, or 3+ with a PhD) in a data science role, with a strong portfolio of successfully delivered, complex machine learning projects in production environments.
• Deep and broad expertise in statistical modeling, backpropogation, advanced machine learning algorithms (e.g., deep learning, NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, causal inference, Bayesian methods), and their theoretical underpinnings.
• Expert-level proficiency in Python for data science, mastery of core libraries (e.g., Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn), and experience with deep learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Demonstrated experiance in the full model development lifecycle: from ambiguous problem definition and data strategy to sophisticated feature engineering, model selection, rigorous validation, scalable deployment, and ongoing monitoring/iteration.
• Advanced proficiency in SQL and experience with various database technologies (relational, NoSQL, graph databases).
• Exceptional analytical, critical thinking, and strategic problem-solving skills can tackle ill-defined problems and drive to impactful solutions.
• Outstanding communication and presentation skills, with a proven ability to articulate complex technical concepts.
• Demonstrated experience in executing data science projects, mentoring team members, and contributing to technical design.
• A strong publication record in top-tier AI/ML conferences, patents, or journals is highly desirable.

Bonus Skills

• Experiance in MLOps practices and tools (e.g., MLflow, Kubeflow, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD for ML).
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), including their advanced ML services and infrastructure components.
• Proven ability to design and implement solutions for large-scale data processing using big data technologies (e.g., Spark, Dask, Kafka, distributed computing frameworks).
• Specialized expertise in one or more of the following: Natural Language Processing (NLP) at scale, advanced Computer Vision, Reinforcement Learning applications, Large Language Models (LLMs), Causal Inference, or Text to Speach Models (TTS).
• Advanced knowledge of C++ for building and optimizing high-performance ML inference engines or system components.
• Advanced knowledge of CUDA programming and GPU kernel optimization for machine learning workloads.
• Experience in software engineering best practices and contributing to production-grade codebases.
• Active contributions to major open-source data science or machine learning projects.

Pay / Benefits

• Salary or hourly rate
• Stock options plan (we are a private company, so this is not liquid) 
• If you are in the USA: healthcare, dental, vision, 401k 
• Unlimited time off policy
• Flexible working hours

Hiring Process

• Submit a resume to us for review.
• We will follow up with a technical screening (this will take approximately one hour)
• Following the successful completion of the technical screening, we will schedule an Onsite Interview
• The Onsite Interview to meet more of the team, it will consist of the following (total time three hours):
• • Technical Screenings (1-2)
  • System Design
  • Behavioral Interview
• We’ll reach out with an offer if you're a great fit. 
• Once accepted, you start working with us!