Lead Data Scientist

Description

Summary: Seeking a Lead Data Scientist with expertise in LLMs and Python to design AI-powered chatbot solutions and lead a team in building a shopping assistant chatbot. Highlights: 1. Design AI-powered chatbot solutions for specialized use cases. 2. Lead a team in building and refining a shopping assistant chatbot. 3. Apply Responsible AI and compliance principles to secure ethical alignment. We are looking for a **Lead Data Scientist** with strong expertise in Large Language Models (LLMs) and Python to design AI\-powered chatbot solutions for specialized use cases. The ideal candidate brings a solid foundation in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Conversational AI, along with hands\-on experience in hallucination prevention, Responsible AI and compliance, and data analysis. **Responsibilities** * Team up with cross\-functional groups spanning product, analytics, and engineering to build and refine a shopping assistant chatbot * Craft and enhance prompt engineering strategies to elevate chatbot interactions * Build LLM\-based agents that connect with APIs, databases, and external tools through function calling * Safeguard chatbot reliability and prevent hallucinations by applying model evaluation techniques * Use A/B testing frameworks to measure and steadily improve chatbot performance * Apply Responsible AI and compliance principles to secure ethical and regulatory alignment * Perform exploratory data analysis to uncover insights and prepare structured requirements for the data engineering team * Advise cloud engineering teams on the infrastructure needs behind AI\-powered chatbot solutions **Requirements** * No less than 5 years of hands\-on professional experience in data science * At least 1 year of experience in people management or team leadership, covering a team of 5 or more FTEs * Deep expertise in LLMs, including work with OpenAI APIs on Azure * Strong Python capabilities for integrating and optimizing AI workflows * Practical background in creating AI agents that use function calling to interact with external tools and databases * Familiarity with hallucination prevention techniques for ensuring chatbot accuracy and reliability * Solid grasp of Responsible AI and compliance best practices, including ethical AI guidelines * Experience in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Conversational AI development * English at B2 level or higher, with strong written and spoken communication skills **Nice to have** * Applied experience with A/B testing and experimentation in close partnership with analytics teams * Ability to shape and roll out a testing strategy that leverages key performance metrics for chatbots * Proficiency in exploratory data analysis (EDA) to extract insights from data * Skill in defining and communicating data requirements to the data engineering team * Awareness of cloud services, either through hands\-on experience or the capability to specify requirements for cloud engineering teams **We offer** * International projects with top brands * Work with global teams of highly skilled, diverse peers * Healthcare benefits * Employee financial programs * Paid time off and sick leave * Upskilling, reskilling and certification courses * Unlimited access to the LinkedIn Learning library and 22,000\+ courses * Global career opportunities * Volunteer and community involvement opportunities * EPAM Employee Groups * Award\-winning culture recognized by Glassdoor, Newsweek and LinkedIn