Data Scientist

Title: Data Scientist

Location: Dallas

Duration: Direct Hire

The Senior Data Scientist supports the development, maintenance, and enhancement of analytics and predictive modeling for small business lending. This role requires practical, production-focused experience with real-world datasets and a strong balance of technical execution, business impact, and ownership mentality.

This is not a research-oriented role. The ideal candidate is highly hands-on and comfortable performing deep data cleaning, feature engineering, data manipulation, and model development in fast-paced production environments.

The Senior Data Scientist partners closely with Credit, Risk, and Engineering teams to build and maintain production-ready credit risk and fraud detection models that support lending decisions. This individual is responsible for preparing complex datasets, developing predictive models, and delivering accurate, high-quality analytical outputs that inform underwriting and portfolio strategy.

Success in this role requires strong AI-driven thinking, attention to detail, proactive problem-solving, and the ability to independently drive projects from exploration through deployment and ongoing monitoring.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Develop and maintain production-ready credit risk, fraud detection, and predictive models that support small business lending decisions.
• Clean, transform, and prepare large, complex datasets for modeling and analysis.
• Work with diverse data sources including business credit bureau data, bank transaction data, financial statements, and alternative datasets.
• Apply AI-driven approaches to improve modeling efficiency, automate workflows, and enhance model performance.
• Deliver high-quality analytical outputs that directly support underwriting and credit strategy.
• Proactively identify data, process, or modeling issues and recommend actionable solutions.
• Take ownership of data science initiatives from exploration and development through deployment and monitoring.
• Create clear documentation, reporting, and model governance materials to support audits and cross-functional collaboration.
• Collaborate effectively with Credit, Risk, Product, and Engineering stakeholders to deliver scalable analytical solutions.

Your Areas of Knowledge and Expertise

• Master’s degree in a quantitative field such as Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in data science, quantitative modeling, or credit risk analytics.
• Experience within fintech, lending, banking, or small business credit environments.
• Experience working with SMB lending products such as term loans, lines of credit, or merchant cash advances.
• Strong experience working with credit bureau data, banking transaction data, and financial statement data.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and common machine learning frameworks.
• Demonstrated ability to perform deep data cleaning, feature engineering, and dataset construction.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to produce accurate, high-quality work efficiently.
• Results-oriented approach with a focus on driving measurable business impact.
• Proven ability to work independently, take ownership, and execute end-to-end projects.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to collaborate across technical and business teams.
• Experience with Claude Code or AI-assisted development tools is a plus.