Data Scientist
Acuity, Inc. seeks dynamic, self-motivated individuals with experience as a Data Scientist to support a federal client. The role involves providing data-driven business analysis to senior organizational leaders, specializing in natural language processing (NLP) and data preparation to identify challenges and opportunities for the client’s customers.
About the role
The Client requires experienced SQL and Python skills to transform structured and unstructured data into clear, actionable insights for decision-making related to production, resources, and personnel. Work may be performed independently or within a team environment.
Responsibilities
- Work closely with the Client’s data scientists and technical team to implement requirements, with priorities managed by the Client’s GTM.
- Conduct sophisticated analysis using deployed tools and natural language processing.
- Analyze large amounts of raw data, including text data, to provide business insights.
- Preprocess or clean structured and unstructured Client data, including text data.
- Design and implement advanced ETL code and table configurations for complex data sets.
- Use Structured Query Language (SQL) in the Client’s Oracle database to develop and organize relevant information with supporting analytics.
- Author analytic publications and produce ad-hoc reports, including data visualizations using the Client’s templates, independently or with a team.
- Stay current with the Client’s enterprise metadata collection tools.
- Implement the Client’s existing coordination process.
- Provide technical education to staff on an ad-hoc basis.
- Provide subject matter expertise in NLP to support the Client’s initiatives.
- Develop practical approaches for measuring performance, including types of measures, data collection, analysis, and presentation to senior leadership.
- Conduct advanced statistical analysis on personnel, intelligence, and performance metrics.
- Assist in selecting or developing appropriate methodologies for research.
- Analyze information and present research findings in a manner easily understood by the customer.
Requirements
- Demonstrated professional or academic experience performing NLP tasks, including selecting Python libraries, preprocessing, analysis, and model performance assessment.
- Experience using Python NLP packages such as Spacy, Gensim, or NLTK to analyze or process document collections.
- Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Keras.
- Experience with the HuggingFace Transformers library and hub.
- Experience creating machine learning models for text classification and topic modeling in Python using Scikit-learn or deep learning models.
- Experience using encoder-decoder and generative language models for NLP tasks.
- Ability to communicate methodological choices and model results effectively.
- Proficiency with SQL, including common table expressions, set operations, aggregated functions, and nested subqueries.
- Experience with version control systems such as GitHub and Jenkins.
- Experience leveraging GPUs for accelerated computing.
- Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph.
Preferred Skills
- Experience writing Python scripts to pull data from web-based APIs and relational databases.
- Experience with cloud computing development and architecture.
- Experience with front-end web development frameworks such as Flask.
- Experience developing applications for semantic search.
- Experience tuning LLMs on custom datasets and applying results to specific use cases.
- Proficiency with Tableau to produce visualizations and dashboards.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation.
- Health, dental, and vision coverage.
- 401(k) with company match.
- Up to $3,000 annually for training, certifications, and degree-seeking programs.
- Strong work-life balance and a people-first culture.
Pay
Salary range: $160,000 – $210,000 per year. Final compensation will be determined based on qualifications, experience, education, certifications, skills, geographic location, contract requirements, and applicable labor categories.
About Acuity
Acuity is a management and technology consulting firm supporting critical federal missions. The company combines industry partnerships and federal experience with innovative technical leadership to deliver solutions that drive meaningful outcomes. Recognized as a Best Places to Work (Washington Business Journal, 9+ years) and a Top Workplace (The Washington Post, 2022–2025).