myExperience and technical knowledge play an important role in defining a junior or senior data scientist, but what are the business expectations for these levels in terms of job scope?
Although many resources and job descriptions discuss the technical responsibilities associated with each level (or the time spent managing them), there is a notable lack of clarity when it comes to the broader business expectations for data scientists at different levels of seniority.
In this article, I’ll shed light on the scope of job expectations for junior, mid-level, and senior data scientists, a framework that has proven invaluable in my management role and could be useful to you too if:
- You’re developing a formal data science practice and wondering what roles and levels you need; I think this could help.
- You are a data science practitioner hoping to advance to the next level (or argue to your boss that you already are); this should help too.
So, let’s dive in!
tEntry-level data scientist is typically for recent graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in data science/applied statistics/Big Data or an experienced data analyst who has recently obtained data science certifications.
The Junior/Associate Data Scientist focuses on clear tasks instead of complete projects. Often, analytics or models are designed by your manager or a senior data scientist, who also sets the project timelines and cadence of deliverables.
A Junior/Associate Data Scientist understands data well and leverages it to perform analysis or modeling in response to well-defined tasks.
A junior/associate data scientist performs well-defined data science tasks with some guidance from a manager or senior data scientist.
Junior/Associate Data Scientist Expectations:
- Develop predictive models, run advanced analytics with guidance from Senior Data Scientist/Manager.
- Plans are in place for the next few weeks.
- Translates insights into business recommendations with guidance from the senior data manager/scientist.
- Presents findings/technical work to peers and manager.
- Understands and establishes relationships with nearby cross-functional business areas and direct stakeholders.
- Learn organizational tools, processes and procedures.
