✦ Luna Orbit — Data & Analytics

Principal Associate, Data Scientist

at Discover Financial Services

📍 McLean, VA Unknown 💰 $161K – $184K USD / year Posted April 02, 2026
Salary $161K – $184K USD / year
Type Full-Time
Experience senior
Exp. Years 3+ years
Education Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or related) or an equivalent level
Category Data & Analytics

Data Scientist role focused on developing behavior models for balance sheet portfolios and applying quantitative methods across the analytics team. The role emphasizes AWS-based data science, model development, and clear communication with risk and regulators.

  • Develop econometric time-series models for the balance sheet
  • Apply quantitative methods to improve business performance
  • Communicate models to management, model risk, and regulators
  • Maintain high-quality documentation
  • Collaborate with analytics team to advance deposit modeling framework

Strong modeling and ML background with AWS and open-source tools; hands-on experience with Python, SQL, and ML techniques including time series, clustering, and deep learning.

The ideal candidate is a senior data scientist with 3+ years of Python, 3+ years of ML, 3+ years of SQL, and at least 1 year AWS experience, capable of building behavior models for balance sheet portfolios and communicating with regulators and the model risk office.

Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative field plus 5 years experience OR Master's Degree in quantitative field plus 3 years experience OR PhD in quantitative fieldAt least 1 year of experience working with AWSAt least 3 years of PythonAt least 3 years of machine learningAt least 3 years of SQL
Master's Degree in STEM with 3 years data analytics or PhD in STEMExperience with AWSExperience with data analytics and open-source tools
Econometric time-series modelsbehavior modelsdeposit modelingstatistical modelingPythonSQLAWSAmazon Web Servicesmachine learningtime seriesclusteringclassificationdeep learning
Econometric time-series modelsBehavior modelingOpen-source languagesPythonAWSSQLStatistical modelingClusteringClassificationTime seriesDeep learning
communicationdocumentationteam collaborationproblem solvingstakeholder management
Industry Banking
Job Function Develop and deploy quantitative models for banking analytics and risk.
Visa Sponsorship Yes
Principal AssociateData Scientistdata scienceAWSAmazon Web ServicesPythonSQLMachine LearningTime SeriesEconometricStatistical ModelingBehavior modelsDeposit modelingOpen-source languagesCloud computingManagementModel riskDocumentationRegulatorsRegulatory office

Lack of quantitative degree, No AWS experience, No Python/ML/SQL experience

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