Principal Data Scientist

Forward Financing•Boston, MA

1d•$208,000 - $286,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Forward Financing is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to set the technical vision for data science at Forward Financing and drive our highest-impact, most ambiguous initiatives from concept to production. As the most senior individual contributor on the team, you will shape the multi-year data science roadmap, define how models are built and deployed across the organization, and serve as a trusted technical advisor to senior leadership. You will operate at the intersection of deep technical execution and strategic business partnership, delivering advanced analytical solutions with measurable impact across all business domains.

Requirements

Deep experience in building and deploying credit risk models, especially underwriting models, in the fintech, lending or financial services industry
10+ years of hands-on model development and deployment experience using advanced statistical and machine learning techniques such as generalized linear models, gradient boosting and deep learning
Proven track record of leading high-impact data science initiatives from ambiguity to production, with demonstrated business results
Experience with real-time models, decisioning engines, and production-grade machine learning pipelines is preferred.
Expert in Python, SQL and Git
Experience designing, deploying models within a cloud platform (e.g., AWS, SageMaker), including architectural decision-making
Experience with workflow orchestration tools, such as Metaflow is preferred
Strong foundation in statistics and machine learning
Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction across teams and mentor senior technical talent
Excellent project management and communication skills, including experience presenting to executive audiences
Strong critical thinking and problem-solving ability
Bachelor's degree in Financial/Applied Math, Operations Research, Economics, and/or Statistics. Masters/PhD is a plus.

Nice To Haves

cloud data warehouses (e.g. Snowflake, Databricks)
Arize
Metaflow
Sagemaker
decision engines (e.g. Taktile)
feature stores (e.g. Tecton)

Responsibilities

Lead the design, development, and deployment of the company's most complex and highest-stakes statistical and machine learning models, particularly in ambiguous problem spaces with no established playbook
Drive end-to-end delivery of flagship data science initiatives, from problem framing and model design through deployment, monitoring, and ongoing iteration
Lead the technical strategy and architecture for Forward's modeling ecosystem, including credit risk, pricing and loss forecasting, ensuring solutions are built for long-term scalability and business impact
Partner with senior leaders across Portfolio Strategy, Engineering, Product, Underwriting, Sales, and Collections to shape the data science roadmap, proactively identify high-value opportunities, and influence business strategy with data
Define and enforce organization-wide standards for model development, validation, code quality, and documentation; serve as the technical authority on design decisions
Mentor data scientists at all levels, including senior and lead team members, raising the technical bar and fostering a culture of rigorous, continuous learning
Communicate complex technical concepts, tradeoffs, and business implications to executives and non-technical stakeholders, and represent data science in strategic planning
Architect and evolve production machine learning pipelines and monitoring frameworks to ensure models are reliable, scalable, and continuously improving