Senior Data Scientist or Principal Data Scientist

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Senior Data Scientist or Principal Data Scientist

Salary

See Position Description

Location

Minneapolis, MN

Job Type

Full-Time

Job Number

2025-00095

Division

Metro Transit

Department

Strategic Initiatives

Opening Date

06/10/2025

Closing Date

6/25/2025 11:59 PM Central

Description

Benefits

Questions

WHO WE ARE

We are the Metropolitan Council , the regional government for the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area. We plan 30 years ahead for the future of the metropolitan area and provide regional transportation, wastewater, and housing services. More information about us on our website. (https://metrocouncil.org/About-Us/The-Council-Who-We-Are.aspx)

We are committed to supporting a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

The Metropolitan Council's Metro Transit Division is one of the country's largest transit systems, employs more than 3,000 people, and provides ridership through an integrated network of buses, light rail and commuter trains, as well as a resource for those who carpool, vanpool, walk or bike in the Twin Cities.

How your work would contribute to our organization and the Twin Cities region:

Metro TransitData Scientists(series of positions ranging from Associate Data Scientist to Principal Data Scientist) collaborate with Metro Transit business units and IS/IT teams by designing and implementing data pipelines in Databricks used to drive insight and establish business intelligence data sources. Currently, Metro Transit is posting for Senior Data Scientist and Principal Data Scientist.

What you would do in this job

Senior Data Scientist Major Duties :

Perform statistical modeling and analysis to identify patterns and trends to support insights for transit operations and planning.

Performs lead and advanced performance data analysis research to identify the best transit industry practices and to inform modeling techniques.

Evaluate systems for data capture: collect, clean, and prepare data for statistical analysis, create and maintain databases, and organize data and results of analytics projects.

Develop and deploy interactive tools, combining knowledge of business processes, software development techniques and database management.

Principal Data Scientist Major Duties:

Lead and manage data engineering for business partners in order to increase accessibility and quality of transit data.

Lead analysis (including advanced statistical modeling) and business intelligence reporting that supports the division's strategic plan.

Lead project teams to inform operations' best practices, council policies, or procedures. Develop specific, actionable recommendations based on knowledge of existing practice, data sources and appropriate analytical tools.

Provide work direction for data scientists and analysts, identify resources and roles for sustained monitoring of best practices, policy outcomes or procedural changes.

Stay up to date on best practices related to data development, analysis, modeling, and how data can impact business processes. Share agency successes widely and bring ideas and best practices from peer agencies into our organizational @context.

Develop Metro Transit data products, plots and dashboards in partnership with Information Services and Communications to present complex findings to internal and public stakeholders.

What education and experience are required for this job (minimum qualifications)

Senior Data Scientist/Non-Represented/ Grade H

Any of the following combinations of completed education (in Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, Analytics, Data Science or other related highly quantitative field ) and experience (in demographic and socioeconomic research that includes creating, summarizing, and analyzing data; and advanced data analysis and statistics, including development and deployment of regression, machine learning models, econometric modeling, and the manipulation of datasets, one year of which is leading research projects ):

Bachelor's degree and four years of experience

Master's degree and two years of experience

Doctorate (PhD) degree

Principal Data Scientist/ Non-Represented / Grade I

Any of the following combinations of completed education (in Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, Analytics, Data Science or other related highly quantitative field ) and experience (a dvanced data analysis and statistics, including experience in the development and deployment of regression, machine learning models, econometric modeling, and the manipulation of datasets, including leading data and analytics projects, including defining project goals, scopes, and project design);

Bachelor's degree and five years of experience

Master's degree and three years of experience

Doctorate (PhD) degree and one year of experience

What additional skills and experience would be helpful in this job (desired qualifications):

Proficient in R or Python and Git and GitHub , experience using GitHub for collaboration

Experience with Apache Spark and PySpark and Databricks

Experience developing web-based interactive visualization tools (e.g., R Shiny, D3, Tableau)

Experience writing SQL and extracting data from databases.

Experience working with demographic, socioeconomic, and spatial data.

At the Principal Data Scientist Level: experience as a project manager or lead.

Experience working with diverse populations of internal and external customers.

What knowledge, skills and abilities you should have within the first six months on the job:

Knowledge:

Knowledge of statistical analysis techniques (regression analysis, survival analysis, time series modeling, etc.)

Knowledge of academic and industry research methods

Knowledge of database systems design and maintenance

Knowledge of bus and rail transit systems operations, principles and practices.

Knowledge of machine learning models (random forests, support vector machines, neural networks, etc.)

Knowledge of interactive visualization and modeling tool development

Knowledge of project management standard processes

Skills:

Written and communication skills, sufficient to communicate challenges or findings related to data in plain language

Intermediate skill in applied mathematics and statistics

Intermediate skill in Microsoft Excel

Advanced level skills in a statistical analysis software package (SPSS, SAS, STATA, R, etc.)

Intermediate skills in database design

Skilled in data engineering with structured, unstructured and semi structured data

Abilities:

Ability to train and coach on technical skills and concepts

Ability to work effectively with other departments, divisions and disciplines in order to develop data science projects to answer crucial business questions

Ability to read and understand complex academic and technical papers

Ability to write summary reports, technical papers and literature reviews

Ability to utilize statistical analysis to analyze data, identify trends, and determine root causes of failures

Ability to guide and lead full analytics project management life-cycle ranging from defining business objectives to communicating, deploying and training business user on analytic solutions.

Additional information

Senior Data Scientist:

Union/Grade: Non-Represented /Grade H

Full salary range: $41.65 - $67.60 Hourly / $86,632.00 - $140,608.00 Annually

FLSA Status: Exempt

Safety Sensitive: No

Principal Data Scientist

Union/Grade: Non-Represented /Grade I

Full Salary Range: $45.05 - $73.11 Hourly / $93,704.00 - $152,068.80 Annually

FLSA Status: Exempt

Safety Sensitive: No

What your work environment would be:

You would perform your work in a standard office setting. Work may sometimes require travel between your primary work site and other sites.

What steps the recruitment process involves:

We review your minimum qualifications.

We request your Work Record Evaluation (ATU employees only).

We rate your education and experience.

We conduct a structured panel interview.

We conduct a selection interview.

Once you have successfully completed the steps above then; candidates will be notified of their application status through email only.

If you are new to the Metropolitan Council , you must pass a drug test (safety sensitive positions only), and a background check which verifies education, employment, and criminal history. A driving record check and/or physical may be conducted if applicable to the job. If you have a criminal conviction, you do not automatically fail. The Metropolitan Council considers felony, gross misdemeanor and misdemeanor convictions on a case-by-case basis, based on whether they are related to the job and whether the candidate has demonstrated adequate rehabilitation.

If you are already an employee of the Metropolitan Council , you must pass a drug test (if moving from a non-safety sensitive position to a safety sensitive position) and criminal background check if the job you're applying for is safety sensitive, is a supervisory or management job, is in the Finance, Information Services, Audit, or Human Resources departments, or has access to financial records, files/databases, cash, vouchers or transit fare cards. A driving record check and/or physical may be conducted if applicable to the position.

IMPORTANT: If you make a false statement or withhold information, you may be barred from job consideration.

The Metropolitan Council is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and veteran-friendly employer. The Council is committed to a workforce that reflects the diversity of the region and strongly encourages persons of color, members of the LGBTQ community, individuals with disabilities, women, and veterans to apply.

If you have a disability that requires an accommodation during the selection process, please email HR-CCHealth@metc.state.mn.us (HR-OCCHealth@metc.state.mn.us) .

We believe our employees are a key to our agency's success! In order to attract and retain high quality employees, the Council provides a highly competitive benefits package both in choice and coverage levels. Some highlights about our benefits are listed below:

Guaranteed monthly retirement income through Minnesota State Retirement System pension fund

Opportunity to save additional funds for retirement on a tax-deferred basis through a voluntary deferred compensation (457) plan

Two or more medical plans from which to choose, with employer contribution towards premiums over 80%

Dental insurance, life insurance and vision insurance

The following benefits are provided to all employees as part of working for the Council. You will have access to free:

Well@Work clinic

bus/rail pass valued at over $1200 per year

parking at many job locations

fitness centers at many job locations

Employee Assistance Program

extensive health and wellness programs and resources

Applicant Instructions: The supplemental questions listed below are to further evaluate your education and experience and to determine your eligibility for this position. Answer each question completely, and please do not @type "see resume" otherwise your application will be considered incomplete, and you will not receive further consideration for this position. The experience you indicate in your responses should also be consistent with the Work History section of this application. If you attach a resume and/or cover letter to your application, it will be reviewed at the education and experience review step. I have read and understand the above instructions regarding supplemental questions.

Yes

How did youfirsthear about this job opening?

CareerForce Center

Community Event/Organization

Employee Referral

Facebook

Glassdoor

Indeed

Job Fair

Metro Transit Bus Advertisement

Twitter

Website: governmentjobs.com

Website: metrocouncil.org

Website: metrotransit.org

Website: minnesotajobnetwork.com

Other

If you selected 'Other', please describe where you first heard about this job. if you selected 'Employee Referral' please enter the employee's first and last name, ID number (if known), and job title. Type N/A if not applicable.

Please select the option that indicates your completed education.

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Science

Master of Arts

Master of Science

PhD or other equivalent doctoral degree

None of the above

Please list your major(s) and minor(s).

Please describe your experience gathering, blending, and preparing data for analysis. Describe the tools with which you are comfortable (e.g., SQL), the @types of data you've prepared (e.g., structured, unstructured, semi-structured), methods you've used to ensure data quality, and any techniques you've used to prepare data for modeling (e.g., imputation, top/bottom coding, etc.). If this does not apply, @type "N/A."

Please tell us about any experience you have with data visualization or business intelligence reporting (e.g., R, RShiny, PowerBI etc.). Please describe the programming languages you used to develop the visualizations and reports. If this does not apply, @type "N/A."

Please tell us about any experience you have with data engineering, Git/GitHub or tools that support the development and management of enterprise data products. Please describe the tools you've used to develop data sources. If this does not apply, @type "N/A."

Please describe your experience collaborating in racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse, multicultural, and inclusive environments. If this does not apply, @type "N/A."

Required Question

Employer

Metropolitan Council

Address

390 Robert St. N.St. Paul, Minnesota, 55101

Website

https://metrocouncil.org

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Senior Data Scientist or Principal Data Scientist