
Lead Data Scientist
Role summary
Bristlecone is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to be the primary technical engine for their supply chain demand forecasting and root cause analysis platform. This is a hands-on, senior individual contributor role requiring significant ownership. You will implement, validate, and maintain the full ML pipeline, working closely with a US-based Senior Manager. The role demands expert-level Python skills for ML engineering in production environments, deep experience with ensemble methods, proficiency in probabilistic forecasting and quantile regression, strong statistical analysis capabilities, and SQL proficiency. Familiarity with version control and experiment reproducibility is also required. A Master's or PhD in a quantitative field is preferred, or a Bachelor's with equivalent experience.
About Company ::
Bristlecone is a supply chain and business analytics advisor, serving customers across a wide range of industries. Rated by Gartner as among the top ten system integrators in the supply chain space, we are uniquely positioned to solve contemporary business problems, with supply chain and analytics focus as our advantage. We have been a trusted partner and advisor to many leading, globally recognized companies such as Applied Materials, Exxon Mobil, Flextronics, LSI Logic, Mahindra, Motorola, Nestle, Palm, Qatar Petroleum, Ranbaxy, Unilever and Whirlpool and many others
About the Role
We are hiring a Lead Data Scientist to be the primary technical engine of our supply chain demand forecasting and root cause analysis platform. This is a hands-on senior individual contributor role with significant ownership — you will implement, validate, and maintain the full ML pipeline, working closely with the US-based Senior Manager.
Required Qualifications
Experience
- 9–12 years of hands-on experience in data science or machine learning — with a strong emphasis on Python-based ML engineering in production environments
- 3+ years of experience with time-series forecasting or supply chain analytics in a commercial context
- Demonstrated experience building end-to-end ML pipelines from raw tabular data through model output and reporting — not just notebook prototyping
- Experience working in cross-functional teams with stakeholders across business, IT, and analytics; ideally in a consulting or professional services environment
- Track record of delivering high-quality, well-documented, reviewable code in a team setting
Technical Skills
- Expert-level Python: scikit-learn, pandas, numpy, scipy, joblib — able to write production-grade, optimised code for large datasets
- Deep hands-on experience with ensemble methods: gradient boosting (GBM, XGBoost, LightGBM) and Random Forest — including hyperparameter tuning and performance diagnostics
- Proficiency in quantile regression and probabilistic forecasting: building tree-level percentile prediction intervals, measuring PI coverage (Winkler score, pinball loss), and detecting quantile crossing violations
- Strong statistical skills: KS 2-sample tests, ACF/PACF analysis, change-point detection, IQR outlier detection, Pearson/Spearman correlation
- Proficiency with SQL for data extraction, transformation, and validation
- Familiarity with version control (Git), experiment reproducibility (SEED management, config-driven pipelines), and collaborative development workflows
Education
- Master's degree or PhD in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, Operations Research, or a related quantitative field
- Bachelor's degree with equivalent industry experience in a quantitative discipline considered
Privacy Notice Declarations for California based candidates/Jobs:: https://www.bristlecone.com/life-at-bristlecone/#careers
Similar roles
Senior Data ScientistAviva Canada · Toronto, Ontario, Canada · Hybrid- Sr. Data ScientistBurtch Works · Reading, Pennsylvania, United States · Onsite
Data ScientistMANTECH · Ashburn, Virginia, United States · Hybrid
Junior Data ScientistApplied Research Associates, Inc · Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States · Onsite- Data ScientistBrooksource · Houston, Texas, United States · Onsite