Senior Data Scientist - NLP/LLM Specialist

We imagine the new. Inspire the next. And use the power of our creativity to help build up those around us.

At Allison, we provide a limitless environment where you can build, create, and grow. Our openly collaborative and highly supportive culture is free from bureaucracy and red tape. With over 1,000 innovators from diverse backgrounds, we break new ground for world-class clients across 50 global markets and dozens of industries. We believe in creating a space where everyone can freely express their opinions, share their ideas and dreams for the future, and be themselves.

We foster an inclusive culture that attracts builders from all backgrounds who can envision new solutions and create outcomes that move our clients' businesses forward, while helping everyone on the team learn and grow together. Our shared ideal of the builder's mindset is limitless and available to everyone, and we push the boundaries to create new and innovative solutions for our clients and ourselves.

We create lasting impact and relationships, and our culture fosters meaningful connections and friendships that last beyond the workplace. If you're ready to join a team that pushes you to be your best, supports you every step of the way, and celebrates your successes, welcome to Allison.

About the Job

We are seeking an exceptional Senior Data Scientist with deep expertise in Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models to join our consulting practice. You'll work directly with Fortune 500 clients to solve complex business challenges using state-of-the-art AI technologies across diverse industries.

Ideal Candidate Profile

You combine academic rigor with practical engineering skills and exceptional client communication abilities. You will work end-to-end from project initiation through client delivery, comfortable both building sophisticated algorithms and presenting findings directly to clients. You excel at automating repetitive tasks and developing reusable frameworks that scale across multiple engagements. You should be comfortable implementing cutting-edge research while translating complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies. Strong presentation skills and the ability to build trust with senior executives are essential.

• Lead client workshops and discovery sessions to identify NLP opportunities
• Develop and present technical proposals to C-level executives
• Manage multiple client projects simultaneously while maintaining quality and timelines
• Design and implement novel NLP solutions for complex business problems
• Architect scalable solutions for processing and analyzing large text corpora
• Build custom language models tailored to each client's unique industry challenges
• Automate repetitive analytical tasks and develop reusable algorithmic frameworks
• Mentor junior data scientists and provide technical guidance on NLP projects
• Develop automated content analysis, document processing, and customer insight systems
• Create scalable text analytics platforms that drive measurable business outcomes
• Work across retail, finance, healthcare, and media sectors
• Translate complex AI capabilities into clear business value propositions

Technical Environment

• Languages: Python (primary), R, SQL, potentially C++ for optimization
• ML Frameworks: PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face Transformers
• Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Docker, cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure)
• Tools: MLflow, Weights & Biases, Apache Airflow, Spark, Vector databases

Required

• PhD in Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Statistics, Mathematics, Economics, Econometrics, or related quantitative field
• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in data science, machine learning, or related roles
• Advanced NLP expertise: Deep understanding of transformer architectures, attention mechanisms, and modern NLP techniques
• Large Language Model proficiency: Hands-on experience with LLM fine-tuning, prompt engineering, RLHF, and deployment at scale
• Programming mastery: Expert-level Python, with strong knowledge of PyTorch/TensorFlow, Hugging Face ecosystem
• MLOps & Infrastructure: Experience with model deployment, monitoring, and scaling in production environments
• Experience writing production code and ensuring well-managed software delivery
• Experience with foundation models (GPT, BERT, T5, LLaMA, etc.)
• Knowledge of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems
• Understanding of model compression techniques (quantization, distillation, pruning)
• Experience with evaluation metrics and benchmarking for language models

Preferred

• Experience in consulting or client-facing technical roles
• Knowledge of specialized domains (healthcare NLP, legal AI, financial text analysis)
• Cloud platform expertise (AWS SageMaker, Google Cloud AI, Azure ML)
• Open-source contributions to major ML/NLP libraries

• Hybrid work environment with home and office schedule (2+ days in office per week) and work from anywhere weeks
• Comprehensive health benefits (healthcare, vision, dental, pet, home, and auto insurance)
• Generous time off policies (unlimited paid time off, wellness days, national holidays, summer Fridays)
• Four-week sabbatical every five consecutive years of employment
• Exceptional parental leave benefits
• Global mentorship and networking programs
• Monthly cell phone reimbursement
• 401k savings and employee stock purchase plan
• Volunteer hours (20 hours annually) for designated non-profit partner and personal choice
• Globally driven inclusive initiatives (Employee Advocacy Groups, equity committee)
• Career growth opportunities, such as Allison University (multi-day customized trainings for each level)

Our mission is to create a positive and entrepreneurial environment where talented people thrive on creativity. We celebrate inclusivity and are committed to providing an inclusive environment for our employees. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and are committed to building an agency where everyone is welcome, and every voice is heard. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

In order to comply with equal pay and salary transparency laws in various locations, we believe the target range of base compensation in all locations within the United States for this role is $155k-$240k. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and location. 

In addition to medical, dental and vision coverage, we offer a generous unlimited PTO plan, 401k program and comprehensive benefits plan. Additional perks and benefits include a month-long sabbatical, active employee advocacy groups, globally driven inclusivity initiatives, wellness days, summer Fridays and learning and development programs for our employees.

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