# Lead - POC Data Science

**Company:** [Sardine](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/sardine)
**Location:** Remote
**Role:** Data Science
**Salary:** $200k – $280k/yr
**Experience:** 10+ years
**Skills:** Python, SQL, Spark, Kafka, Feature Stores, Anomaly Detection, Classification, Graph Analytics, Sigma, Tableau, Metabase, Flink
**Posted:** 2026-06-05

> Lead a PoC data science team delivering fraud-prevention ML models and client-facing proof-of-concept projects for enterprise financial institutions. Player-coach role combining people leadership, hands-on modeling, and direct client engagement.

## Job Description

## What you'll be doing
- Lead and develop a team of IC data scientists — set direction, unblock work, run 1:1s, and grow each person's scope and impact
- Own POC/POV delivery — partner directly with enterprise customers to demonstrate fraud-loss reduction and platform ROI, from first data pull through to stakeholder readout
- Stay hands-on in the technical work — build or review ML models, conduct in-depth fraud analyses, and ship production-grade solutions alongside your team
- Define and track performance metrics — design dashboards and reporting frameworks to measure the effectiveness of risk strategies across clients
- Translate client problems into data solutions — act as a senior point of contact for fraud challenges, turning complex findings into clear recommendations
- Partner cross-functionally with Engineering, Product, and GTM to scope work, influence the roadmap, and ensure fraud solutions and models get instrumented and scaled correctly
- Drive experimentation — support A/B testing to safely validate new strategies before full rollout
- Raise the bar on craft — mentor IC data scientists on modeling rigor, storytelling with data, and client communication

## What you'll need
- 10+ years of experience in fraud/risk data science and analytics with demonstrated impact in fraud, payments, or fintech
- 3+ years in a people leadership role (team lead, manager, or tech lead with direct reports) — you've coached data scientists and helped them grow
- Strong hands-on technical skills — Python and SQL are essential; Spark, Kafka, or feature stores are a plus
- Experience delivering POC/POV engagements with measurable customer outcomes
- Proven track record with applied ML in fraud or risk — anomaly detection, classification, and graph analytics in production
- Expertise in BI and dashboarding — Sigma, Tableau, Metabase, or equivalent
- Strong communication and stakeholder management — able to translate complex model outputs for both technical and non-technical audiences, including clients and execs
- Bias toward action and ownership — you don't wait to be unblocked

## Nice to have
- Familiarity with real-time decision infrastructure (Flink, Kafka, feature stores)
- Background in a high-growth fintech, payments, or financial institution

## Similar roles

- [Lead Data Scientist, Product](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/0de46b81-2663-4545-96d0-f61e22f750a7) - Descript - San Francisco, CA - $200k – $250k/yr
- [Senior Data Scientist, Content + Social](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/571d4794-b092-45b9-937f-b7a9b54442f0) - Suno - New York, NY - $200k – $250k/yr
- [Senior Data Scientist](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/d2764aff-3b6c-43cf-a744-dc8c239aae07) - Posh - New York, NY - $200k – $220k/yr
- [Senior Data Scientist](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/6baeb162-c148-4674-be52-3831db6916f4) - Rundoo - Remote - $201k – $248k/yr
- [Senior Data Scientist](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/c6be1235-2958-442d-994f-f56fd873f1aa) - Plaid - San Francisco, CA - $191k – $263k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/cb5e818a-97bb-464d-9526-53aba01c48b9
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/cb5e818a-97bb-464d-9526-53aba01c48b9