Software Engineering - Lead Data Scientist

FICO (NYSE: FICO) is a leading global analytics software company, helping businesses in 100+ countries make better decisions. Join our world-class team today and fulfill your career potential! The Opportunity The myFICO (Scores B2C) engineering team is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to build and run machine learning and Generative AI solutions in our consumer applications.

This lead-level software engineering role builds the data pipelines that prepare large datasets for modeling, develops ML models and puts them into production with monitoring and retraining, and measures business impact through experimentation. You will also set ML engineering best practices for the team. What You’ll Contribute Build and maintain Python data pipelines that ingest, clean, and transform large datasets into reliable, analysis-ready data and ML features. Profile and validate data, and put quality checks in place so models and analyses can be trusted.

Develop machine learning models, such as propensity, churn, segmentation, and forecasting, from problem framing through evaluation. Deploy models to production in AWS for batch and real-time scoring, monitor performance and drift, and automate retraining. Design, evaluate, and improve LLM prompts, and integrate Generative AI capabilities into existing applications. Design and analyze A/B tests to measure business impact, and explain results to product and marketing partners. Lead design discussions and code reviews, mentor engineers and analysts, and set ML engineering best practices.

Partner with database engineering, product management, and InfoSec to build secure, compliant solutions that handle sensitive consumer data responsibly. Use AI coding assistants and agentic workflows, such as Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot, to accelerate delivery while reviewing and refining their output. What We’re Seeking Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, or a related field, with demonstrated experience in data science, machine learning engineering, or applied AI, including models running in production.

Strong Python for data engineering and ML (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, PySpark), with comfort working in Jupyter notebooks. Proven experience building data pipelines and processing large datasets with Spark, Redshift, or similar technologies, plus expert SQL skills for complex queries on large datasets. Hands-on experience with ML frameworks such as XGBoost, TensorFlow, or PyTorch.

Experience operationalizing ML models, including deployment, monitoring, retraining, and CI/CD (SageMaker, MLflow, Docker, or similar), and running data and ML workloads in AWS (S3, Glue, Lambda, Bedrock, or similar). Experience with LLMs (Claude, OpenAI GPT, or similar), including prompt design, evaluation, and deploying Generative AI solutions in production. Strong grounding in statistics, experimental design, and hypothesis testing. Production ownership, including code review, release management, and mentoring, with the ability to explain technical results to non-technical partners.

Experience with RAG workflows, vector stores, MCP server integrations, LLM fine-tuning, workflow orchestration (Airflow, Step Functions), or regulated consumer data such as credit and financial services is a plus. Our Offer to You An inclusive culture strongly reflecting our core values: Act Like an Owner, Delight Our Customers and Earn the Respect of Others. The opportunity to make an impact and develop professionally by leveraging your unique strengths and participating in valuable learning experiences.

Highly competitive compensation, benefits and rewards programs that encourage you to bring your best every day and be recognized for doing so. An engaging, people-first work environment offering work/life balance, employee resource groups, and social events to promote interaction and camaraderie. Why Make a Move to FICO? At FICO, you can develop your career with a leading organization in one of the fastest-growing fields in technology today – Big Data analytics.

You’ll play a part in our commitment to help businesses use data to improve every choice they make, using advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, optimization, and much more. FICO makes a real difference in the way businesses operate worldwide: • Credit Scoring — FICO® Scores are used by 90 of the top 100 US lenders. • Fraud Detection and Security — 4 billion payment cards globally are protected by FICO fraud systems. • Lending — 3/4 of US mortgages are approved using the FICO Score.

Global trends toward digital transformation have created tremendous demand for FICO’s solutions, placing us among the world’s top 100 software companies by revenue. We help many of the world’s largest banks, insurers, retailers, telecommunications providers and other firms reach a new level of success. Our success is dependent on really talented people – just like you – who thrive on the collaboration and innovation that’s nurtured by a diverse and inclusive environment. We’ll provide the support you need, while ensuring you have the freedom to develop your skills and grow your career.

Join FICO and help change the way business thinks! Learn more about how you can fulfil your potential at www.fico.com/Careers FICO promotes a culture of inclusion and seeks to attract a diverse set of candidates for each job opportunity. We are an equal employment opportunity employer and we’re proud to offer employment and advancement opportunities to all candidates without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Research has shown that women and candidates from underrepresented communities may not apply for an opportunity if they don’t meet all stated qualifications. While our qualifications are clearly related to role success, each candidate’s profile is unique and strengths in certain skill and/or experience areas can be equally effective. If you believe you have many, but not necessarily all, of the stated qualifications we encourage you to apply.

Information submitted with your application is subject to the FICO Privacy policy at https://www.fico.com/en/privacy-policy FICO powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, FICO has been the trusted backbone of financial decisioning for more than seven decades. We empower businesses worldwide with applied intelligence and advanced analytics to transform complex data into fair, explainable, and actionable decisions — enabling smarter outcomes, stronger customer relationships, and sustainable growth.

FICO clients include more than half of the top 100 banks in the world, more than 600 personal and commercial line insurers in North America and Europe, 400+ retailers and general merchandisers, all of the 100 largest U.S. credit card issuers, and more. FICO is a global leader in analytics software, empowering businesses to make smarter, faster decisions through cutting-edge data science, machine learning, and AI. Creators of the iconic FICO® Score — the standard in credit decisioning — and recognized in both the Forrester Wave™ and Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for its decision intelligence.

FICO delivers a powerful platform built on Applied Intelligence, combining advanced analytics with explainable AI to drive transparency, reduce risk, and enable hyper-personalized customer experiences at scale. Trusted by organizations across financial services, insurance, payments, and beyond, FICO turns data into decisions that matter.