{"id":3129663,"url":"https://alion.io/job/southern-principal-data-scientist","title":"Principal Data Scientist","company":{"id":2607898,"name":"Southern","domain":"southern.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/southern-com","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Oracle","truth_index":null},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Atlanta, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":117000,"max_usd":231000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":415},"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Anomaly Detection","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Databricks","optional":false},{"name":"Embeddings","optional":false},{"name":"Fine-tuning","optional":false},{"name":"LLM Guardrails","optional":false},{"name":"LLMOps","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"pySpark","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"RAG","optional":false},{"name":"Spark","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-22T22:00:40Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-10-24T14:47:25Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"JOB SUMMARY\nThe Principal Data Scientist for Enterprise Data & Customer Analytics provides senior technical leadership in the design, development, deployment, and responsible use of advanced analytics, machine learning, and generative AI solutions. This role transforms complex enterprise and customer data into actionable intelligence, production-ready models, and reusable analytical capabilities that improve customer experiences, business decisions, and operational outcomes.\nThe position combines deep data science and software engineering expertise with business acumen, intellectual curiosity, and enterprise influence. The Principal Data Scientist works across business and technology teams to identify high-value opportunities, establish technical standards, guide model development, and communicate complex findings in a clear and decision-oriented manner.\nJOB REQUIREMENTS\nEducation and Experience\nMaster's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a closely related quantitative field is required. \nMust have a minimum of 6 years of experience working with large, diverse, and sensitive datasets and translating analytical results into measurable business value.\nExtensive progressive experience applying data science, machine learning, advanced analytics, or artificial intelligence to complex business problems, including experience serving as a senior technical lead or principal-level individual contributor.\nDemonstrated experience developing, validating, deploying, monitoring, and improving analytical and machine learning models in enterprise environments.\nExperience in the energy, utility, customer analytics, or other highly regulated industry is preferred.\nTechnical Knowledge and Skills\nAdvanced proficiency in Python and PySpark for data preparation, exploratory analysis, feature engineering, statistical analysis, machine learning, and production-scale model development.\nStrong hands-on knowledge of Databricks, including collaborative development, distributed computing with Apache Spark, ML lifecycle practices, model tracking, governed data access, and deployment patterns.\nAdvanced knowledge of statistical methods, experimental design, causal reasoning, predictive modeling, forecasting, classification, clustering, anomaly detection, and model evaluation.\nDemonstrated knowledge of supervised and unsupervised learning, natural language processing, neural networks, ensemble methods, recommendation techniques, and other modern machine learning approaches.\nStrong knowledge of large language models, including prompt design, model interaction patterns, retrieval-augmented generation, embeddings, vector search, evaluation, grounding, guardrails, and responsible AI considerations.\nExperience developing or adapting models through techniques such as fine-tuning, parameter-efficient tuning, feature engineering, hyperparameter optimization, and systematic experimentation.\nAbility to design reliable model evaluation approaches for predictive and generative AI solutions, including quality, accuracy, bias, explainability, safety, drift, performance, and business-impact measures.\nStrong SQL and data engineering skills, including experience integrating structured and unstructured data across enterprise platforms and building repeatable analytical pipelines.\nKnowledge of cloud-based data and AI platforms, software development practices, version control, automated testing, APIs, CI/CD, and MLOps or LLMOps practices.\nAbility to debug and troubleshoot complex data, code, model, and performance issues across the analytical lifecycle.\nWorking knowledge of data governance, data privacy, security, model risk, ethical AI, and the appropriate handling of customer and enterprise data.\nLeadership and Business Skills\nAbility to identify and shape high-value data science and AI opportunities in partnership with customer, operational, product, and technology stakeholders.\nStrong consulting, facilitation, and communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts into meaningful business insight for audiences at all levels of the organization.\nDemonstrated ability to provide technical direction, establish standards, influence without direct authority, and mentor data scientists, data engineers, analysts, and business partners.\nAbility to balance innovation with production reliability, governance, customer impact, cost, and long-term maintainability.\nSelf-directed, results-oriented, and able to manage multiple complex assignments with limited technical guidance.\nCommitment to continuous learning and awareness of emerging data science, machine learning, and generative AI trends.\nMAJOR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES\nPartner with Enterprise Data & Customer Analytics leaders and business stakeholders to identify, prioritize, and refine use cases that improve customer experiences, operational performance, decision-making, and enterprise value.\nDevelop production-quality solutions using Databricks, Python, PySpark, SQL, and related cloud technologies, ensuring that analytical work is scalable, reusable, testable, documented, and supportable.\nDesign and evaluate solutions that interact with large language models, including prompt-based applications, retrieval-augmented generation, grounded question answering, summarization, classification, and agentic or workflow-oriented patterns where appropriate.\nEstablish rigorous experimentation and evaluation methods to validate assumptions, compare alternatives, quantify model performance, and determine whether solutions are ready for production use.\nDefine and promote data science, MLOps, LLMOps, responsible AI, model documentation, and monitoring standards in alignment with enterprise architecture, governance, privacy, security, and risk requirements.\nMonitor model and solution performance, identify drift or degradation, perform root-cause analysis, and recommend retraining, redesign, retirement, or other corrective actions.\nCollaborate with data engineers, architects, analysts, application teams, cybersecurity, governance teams, and business stakeholders to ensure required data and platforms are trusted, accessible, secure, and fit for purpose.\nCreate reusable code, features, frameworks, reference patterns, evaluation assets, and documentation that accelerate future analytics and AI delivery.\nCommunicate methods, findings, limitations, risks, and recommendations through executive presentations, business reports, technical documentation, white papers, and demonstrations.\nProvide technical leadership and mentorship to data science and analytics practitioners through design reviews, code reviews, paired problem-solving, training, and communities of practice.\nEvaluate emerging methods, tools, and research; conduct targeted prototypes; and recommend adoption when capabilities demonstrate clear business relevance and responsible use.\nBuild internal and external partnerships to share practices, monitor industry developments, and strengthen the organization's data science and AI capabilities.\nDECISION-MAKING AND TASK COMPLEXITY\nThis role operates with a high degree of technical autonomy and is expected to make significant decisions regarding analytical methods, model design, experimentation, evaluation, and implementation. Assignments are varied, ambiguous, and highly complex, often requiring original problem-solving, advanced quantitative methods, and coordination across multiple business and technology areas. The role seeks leadership alignment for material business, risk, funding, or policy decisions and follows all applicable company standards and controls.\nWORK DIRECTION AND TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP\nThis is a principal-level individual contributor role. The position may provide work direction and technical leadership to cross-functional teams, project resources, consultants, and less-experienced practitioners. Responsibilities may include setting technical approaches, reviewing analytical designs and code, mentoring others, and guiding delivery quality. Unless separately assigned, the role does not have direct authority for hiring, termination, performance appraisal, or discipline.\nCORE BEHAVIORAL ATTRIBUTES\nThe successful candidate will demonstrate understanding and application of the Southern Company behaviors: Unquestionable Trust, Superior Performance, and Total Commitment.\nActs ethically and protects customer, employee, and company data.\nDelivers results with accountability, sound judgment, and attention to quality.\nThinks strategically and maintains an enterprise perspective when designing sustainable solutions.\nInnovates responsibly and tests assumptions with evidence.\nBuilds constructive partnerships and works effectively across business and technology teams.\nCommunicates candidly, clearly, and respectfully.\nDevelops others through coaching, knowledge sharing, and technical mentorship.\nAdapts to changing priorities and acts with appropriate speed and decisiveness.\nDemonstrates commitment to continuous learning, inclusion, and safe work practices.\nPREFERRED DIFFERENTIATORS\nExperience delivering customer analytics use cases such as segmentation, propensity, personalization, forecasting, customer journey analysis, service optimization, or next-best-action recommendations.\nExperience combining enterprise data products with advanced analytics and generative AI capabilities.\nPublished research, patents, conference presentations, open-source contributions, or recognized thought leadership in data science, machine learning, or artificial intelligence.\nExperience establishing reusable analytical frameworks, technical standards, or enterprise communities of practice.","description_format":"text","description_chars":9730,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Continuous learning"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Energy & Utilities","Power Grid"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-23T03:15:41Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":15,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/southern-principal-data-scientist","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/southern-principal-data-scientist.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T17:16:31Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":25040,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":2607898},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=2607898"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsouthern-principal-data-scientist"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsouthern-principal-data-scientist"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsouthern-principal-data-scientist"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/southern-principal-data-scientist\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsouthern-principal-data-scientist"}]}