Data Scientist

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Why Bixal?

Bixal is a consulting company headquartered in Fairfax, VA, working alongside governments and organizations to help them deliver better services and experiences to the communities they serve. Using evidence-based knowledge and technology, Bixal empowers clients to deliver on their missions more effectively by fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Our Values

• People-First: Emphasizing the importance of people in all aspects of work.
• Collaboration and Transparency: Valuing teamwork and open communication.
• Growth Mindset: Encouraging innovation and continuous improvement.
• Creating Lasting Impact: Focusing on meaningful outcomes and positive change.

About The Role

We are seeking a Data Scientist to lead the design, development, and operationalization of AI/ML models and data science solutions within our client’s busiest operations. You will serve as a valued technical and collaborative resource on a cross-functional team modernizing global consular services through secure, data-driven innovation. This role requires experience in machine learning, AI infrastructure, statistical modeling, and MLOps—combined with the ability to guide product direction, ensuring compliance with federal governance frameworks, and mentoring junior team members. You will help drive the development of mission-critical predictive analytics and AI solutions across a high-security, cloud-native DevSecOps environment.

This is a full-time position contingent on contract award, with a defined performance period of one year with four one-year option periods. You’ll have the opportunity to join a project that directly supports Bixal’s mission of improving how government serves people. While the project has a defined timeline, we believe in open communication and proactive career support. You’ll be kept informed of contract status — and we’ll be here to help you grow into what’s next, whether within this project or beyond it.

Compensation

The salary range for this role is $95,000 – $105,000. In the spirit of transparency, most offers tend to land near the midpoint of the range. We make compensation decisions thoughtfully, considering your experience, the skills you bring, and our commitment to internal equity. Fairness and transparency are core to how we operate.

Responsibilities

AI/ML Strategy & Technical Leadership

• Lead the full lifecycle of AI/ML model development, including problem framing, data exploration, feature engineering, model training, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
• Architect and implement scalable, secure, and reproducible MLOps workflows (e.g., CI/CD for ML, automated retraining, model versioning, rollback strategies).
• Define model evaluation protocols, risk thresholds, and success metrics in alignment with mission priorities and compliance standards.
• Design and operationalize high-value use cases in NLP, predictive analytics, time series forecasting, anomaly detection, and AI-enabled automation.
• Serve as a senior technical advisor to product managers, platform engineers, data architects, and federal stakeholders on advanced analytics and AI best practices.

AI Governance & Compliance

• Lead the implementation of responsible AI frameworks, including bias detection and mitigation, fairness assessments, transparency, and explainability.
• Ensure compliance with security, privacy, and ethical guidelines in accordance with FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST 800-53, and the Department’s AI governance protocols.
• Support the ATO process for AI/ML products by documenting models, data flows, performance benchmarks, and risk management strategies.

Data Engineering & Infrastructure

• Collaborate with data engineering teams to design scalable data pipelines (ETL/ELT) that power AI applications using tools like Spark, Airflow, and cloud-native solutions (e.g., AWS Glue, Azure Data Factory).
• Optimize data ingestion and preprocessing for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured datasets from enterprise consular systems and external sources.
• Work in a cloud-native architecture using Kubernetes, containerized services, and infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g., Terraform, Helm).

Mentorship & Collaboration

• Mentor and guide junior data scientists, analysts, and engineers in advanced statistical methods, best practices, and tools.
• Collaborate with UX designers and business analysts to ensure models are integrated into user-facing products in intuitive and actionable ways.
• Lead technical deep dives and design sessions with stakeholders across product, security, and data governance functions.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Impact

• Develop dashboards, KPIs, and model performance metrics to track business and operational impact of deployed solutions.
• Perform root cause analyses of model failures and lead incident response and mitigation planning for AI-related issues.
• Other relevant duties as assigned and qualified/trained to perform

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field plus at least four (4) years of relevant experience or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience.
• Advanced experience in data science roles, including leading end-to-end development and deployment of production ML systems.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Python, SQL, and distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Dask).
• Proven experience implementing MLOps pipelines using tools like MLflow, Kubeflow, SageMaker, or Azure ML.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and CI/CD workflows (e.g., GitLab, Jenkins).
• Proven understanding of model governance, risk assessment, model interpretability (SHAP, LIME), and compliance with Section 508 and WCAG.
• Demonstrated ability to interface with senior government officials, write technical documentation, and lead strategic discussions.
• Have an active Secret Facility Security Clearance

Nice To Have Skills And Experience

• Prior experience supporting federal agencies (especially State Department, DHS, or DoD) in mission-critical data science and AI efforts.
• Expertise in secure multi-tenant data environments, data access auditing, and enterprise reporting platforms.
• Experience with open-source analytics tools, API development for model serving, and integration of AI into enterprise systems.
• Published work in AI/ML, conference presentations, or contributions to open-source projects.
• Certifications such as AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty, Google Professional ML Engineer, or Certified AI Ethics Professional (CAIEP).

How We Support Our Team

• Flex hours
• 401K with matching incentive
• Parental Leave
• Medical/dental/vision benefits
• Flex Spending Account
• Company provided short-term disability and life insurance
• Commuter benefits
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 11 Paid holidays

Our company is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and business needs.

We leverage technology, communications, data, and human-centered design to help governments and leading organizations be more efficient, effective, and impactful.