Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

Job Title: Data Scientist

Location: Hybrid (Up to 4 days in office) 1790 Ash St SE, Washington, DC 2003
Clearance: Ability to Obtain Public Trust Clearance (U.S. Citizenship Required)
Position Type: Full-Time
Salary: $170,000 - $180,000

Position Overview

We are seeking a Data Scientist to support a federal agency. The Data Scientist will apply advanced analytics, machine learning, and responsible AI practices to guide strategic decision-making, evaluate domain data team products, and deliver mission-aligned solutions. The role emphasizes collaboration with engineers, automation specialists, and agency stakeholders to advance Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (DAAI) initiatives. This position offers the opportunity to work within a secure, enterprise-scale ecosystem (Collibra, Databricks, Enlighten BDP, Qlik) using cutting-edge AI/ML technologies to drive digital modernization and mission readiness.

Key Responsibilities

Analytics & Machine Learning

• Analyze structured and unstructured data from the agency’s Integrated Data Environment.
• Design, train, and validate predictive and prescriptive models using Python, R, and modern ML frameworks.
• Apply Responsible AI principles for bias mitigation, explainability, and auditability.
• Support enterprise-wide domain data team initiatives by translating strategies into data-driven solutions.
• Perform data quality assessments and implement validation/test cases to ensure reliability of model inputs and outputs.
• Conduct quality checks, anomaly detection, and compliance validation across ingestion pipelines.
• Ensure data tagging, classification, and accessibility align with mission requirements and compliance standards.

Generative & Applied AI

• Leverage AWS Bedrock and MLflow to operationalize foundation models and manage ML lifecycle performance.
• Develop NLP, forecasting, and anomaly detection solutions for operational use cases.
• Integrate models into agency systems through APIs and cloud-native platforms.

Collaboration & Reporting

• Translate analytic outputs into actionable insights, dashboards, and KPI applications in Qlik, leveraging its self-service BI capabilities to enable decision support.
• Support communication deliverables, strategic briefings, and stakeholder workshops with data-driven materials.
• Document workflows and results in Jupyter notebooks for transparency and reproducibility.

Governance & Compliance

• Ensure model and dataset governance through Collibra.
• Support security and compliance processes including FISMA, FedRAMP, Section 508, eMASS security assessments, and POA&M tracking.
• Contribute to A&A compliance activities to maintain enterprise Authority to Operate (ATO).

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, or related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in data science, applied machine learning, or AI/ML solution development.
• Proficiency in Python, R, SQL, and Jupyter notebooks, with expertise in data science libraries (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn).
• Experience with Databricks, MLflow, and Spark-based analytics.
• Strong ability to communicate complex technical insights to executive stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AWS Bedrock, Hugging Face, or comparable generative AI frameworks.
• Prior federal government or regulated industry support experience.
• Familiarity with Collibra and Enlighten BDP environments.
• Knowledge of responsible AI principles, model transparency, and data ethics.

Pay: $170,000.00 - $180,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Washington, DC 20032