Data Scientist- Senior
Date Posted: Jan 23, 2026
Requisition ID: 471443
Location:
Indianapolis, IN, US, 46204
Work for Indiana
Begin a fulfilling career with the State of Indiana by joining one of the largest employers in the state, offering a range of opportunities across 60+ agencies. At the state, you'll find competitive compensation, a robust benefits package and a commitment to work-life balance. Most importantly, you'll have the chance to make a real and measurable impact on the lives of Hoosiers across Indiana.
About the Indiana Department of Transportation:
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) provides a dynamic workplace that serves Indiana citizens, improves our state's quality of life, and enhances its economic opportunity. INDOT has a number of innovative programs and projects, including Public-Private Partnerships, Green Initiatives, and cutting-edge uses of materials and assets. As part of the State of Indiana, INDOT offers a competitive total compensation package, as well as outstanding work/life balance. Whether you are an established professional in the transportation field or just starting your career, INDOT has exciting and challenging opportunities for you.
Role Overview:
In this role you will ensure INDOT executives, INDOT employees, INDOT vendors, federal representatives, and other State of Indiana employees utilize INDOT data as well as possible. You will be responsible to execute highly effective customer engagement and the delivery of data products for agency customers. This position is a key part of customer engagement and data product delivery. This position also plays a key role in educating the customers and end-users on best practices for data interpretation and data product utilization.
Salary Statement:
The salary for this position traditionally starts at $79,118.00 but may be commensurate with education or work experience.
A Day in the Life:
The essential functions of this role are as follows:
Provides supervision, leadership, mentoring, and guidance to other Data Scientists and staff.
Engages with key business stakeholders on strategic projects and initiatives to understand their analytical and operational challenges and translate these needs into data solutions.
Assesses the structure, content, and quality of the data through examination of source systems and data samples.
Collaborates with other DS professionals, data engineers, and BI professionals around data/table structures to optimize architecture, ETL procedures, dashboards, and other self-service needs.
Prioritizes requirements and creates rapid proto@types and minimally viable products for end users.
Identifies opportunities to improve current processes or find efficiencies by applying industry best practices as a DS professional.
Mines and analyzes data from state databases to drive insights into problems and efficiency in processes while maintaining the standards of organizational excellence.
Interprets data and from multiple sources using a variety of analytical techniques, ranging from simple data aggregation to data mining, to more complex statistical methodologies.
Monitors the input for code repositories for code version control.
Provides end user education for interpretation of business data.
Tests and evaluates data solutions as it relates to upgrades to existing software.
Provides oversight of the maintenance and support for existing data solutions for the agency.
Records and communicates technical specifications to ensure that proper techniques and standards are incorporated into deliverables and understood by the end users.
The job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned at any time.
This position is exempt from overtime compensation for additional work hours which may be required to complete essential functions or other assigned work. Exempt employees may work more than 75 hours in a pay period without additional compensation and must report a minimum of 75 hours per pay period of work hours and/or paid leave taken to receive their base biweekly salary.
What You'll Need for Success:
The ideal candidate in this role should minimally have either
a Master's and 1-2+ years of experience, or
a Bachelor's Degree and 3-4+ years of experience, or
7-8+ years of experience applying the below, outlined knowledge, skills, and abilities in a similar role.
Related certifications and coursework may be considered for education or experience.
The ideal candidate should also have at least 1-2 years in a team lead, project lead, or supervisory capacity.
Strong leadership skills including strategic thinking, communication, and presentation skills.
Considerable knowledge using computer languages (R, Python, SQL, etc.) to manipulate and draw insights from large data sets as well develop software for automation.
Broad knowledge of advanced statistical techniques and concepts (regression, properties of distributions, statistical tests and proper usage, etc.) and experience with applications.
Broad knowledge of a variety of machine learning techniques (clustering, decision tree learning, artificial neural networks, etc.) and their real-world advantages and drawbacks.
Strong understanding of relational and dimensional databases, theories, principles, and practices.
Exceptional analytical, conceptual, and problem-solving abilities.
Strong written/oral communication and presentation skills.
Resourceful self-starter and highly motivated team player;
Able to perform well in a fast-paced environment.
Experience with data manipulation to include cleansing, standardizing, and transforming.
Experience in leading workshops or training sessions with a user community.
Experience generating and distributing visualizations to a broad range of audiences.
Effective communicator and someone who enjoys getting to understand nuances of a problem.
Ability to delegate work, set clear direction, and manage workflow.
Ability to effectively give feedback, provide guidance or corrective action, coach, and develop employee skillsets.
Ability to lead, encourage and influence others to perform.
Able to perform essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation.
Supervisory Responsibilities/Direct Reports:
This role may provide direct supervision for one or more staff members.
Benefits of Employment with the State of Indiana:
The State of Indiana offers a comprehensive benefit package for full-time employees which includes:
Three (3) medical plan options (including RX coverage) as well as vision and dental plans
Wellness Rewards Program: Complete wellness activities to earn gift card rewards
Health savings account, which includes bi-weekly state contribution
Deferred compensation 457(b) account (similar to 401(k) plan) with employer match
Two (2) fully-funded pension plan options
A robust, comprehensive program of leave policies covering a variety of employee needs, including but not limited to:
150 hours of paid New Parent Leave and up to eight weeks of paid Childbirth Recovery Leave for eligible mothers
Up to 15 hours of paid community service leave
Combined 180 hours of paid vacation, personal, and sick leave time off
12 paid holidays, 14 on election years
Education Reimbursement Program
Group life insurance
Referral Bonus program
Employee assistance program that allows for covered behavioral health visits
Qualified employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
Free Parking for most positions
Free LinkedIn Learning access
Equal Employment Opportunity:
The State of Indiana is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to recruiting, selecting, developing, and promoting employees based on individual ability and job performance. Reasonable accommodations may be available to enable individuals with disabilities to complete the application and interview process as well as perform the essential functions of a role. If you require reasonable accommodations to complete this application, you can request assistance by contacting the Indiana State Personnel Department at jobs@spd.IN.gov.
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