# Principal Data Scientist

**Company**: Mastercard
**Location**: Toronto, Canada (Ethoca)
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $154,000 - $247,000 CAD
**Category**: Data Science
**Industry**: Finance

**Apply**: https://mastercard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CorporateCareers/job/Toronto-Canada-Ethoca/Principal-Data-Scientist_R-281296?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_ba03c386-fb1

## Description

Mastercard is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead the development and delivery of advanced AI and machine learning solutions for Mastercard's Ethoca product.

The successful candidate will combine technical depth with strong cross-functional skills to drive measurable business impact.

**Responsibilities:**

- Design and execute the data science vision and roadmap for the product enhancement, aligning technical initiatives with business priorities and product strategy.

- Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing data science team, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and collaboration.

- Partner with product, engineering, and business leaders to shape requirements and deliver data-driven capabilities that improve customer experience and reduce disputes.

- Build and scale AI/ML models that enrich merchant data, enhance transaction clarity, and reduce chargeback/dispute rates.

- Guide the design and implementation of solutions that leverage generative AI, multi-agent systems, NLP, and computer vision to enhance purchase experiences.

- Monitor and continuously improve deployed models to ensure accuracy, reliability, and compliance in a regulated financial environment.

- Provide hands-on technical leadership in model development, deployment, and governance across cloud environments (Azure, Snowflake, Spark).

- Ensure compliance with Mastercard's data governance, security, and privacy requirements.

- Review and oversee code, models, and engineering components developed by the team to maintain enterprise-grade standards.

- Drive exploration of cutting-edge technologies, including generative AI and agentic frameworks, to strengthen the product offering and Mastercard technical competence.

- Represent Mastercard's AI leadership through patents, publications, conference presentations, and academic partnerships.

- Incubate prototypes and proofs-of-concept to evaluate new methods before scaling into production.

**Requirements:**

- Proven experience leading data science teams and delivering enterprise-scale AI/ML solutions.

- Deep expertise in supervised, unsupervised, and generative AI methods, with strong understanding of their mathematical foundations.

- Hands-on background in NLP, information extraction, or computer vision or multi-modal AI applied to real-world business challenges.

- Strong track record of translating complex data problems into scalable, measurable business outcomes.

- Proficiency in Python, ML frameworks (Scikit-learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow), SQL, Spark, and Azure ML/Snowflake.

- Experience working in highly regulated industries, with an emphasis on data governance and compliance.

- Skilled at engaging with senior stakeholders, presenting technical results to diverse audiences, and driving alignment across functions.

- Master's degree required; PhD preferred.

**Nice to Have:**

- Experience in payments, FinTech, or consumer transaction data.

- Prior patents or publications in AI/ML.

- Demonstrated success applying GenAI or multi-agent systems in production environments.

**Pay Ranges:**

Toronto, Canada: $154,000 - $247,000 CAD

## Skills

### Required
- Python
- Scikit-learn
- PyTorch
- TensorFlow
- SQL
- Spark
- Azure ML
- Snowflake
- NLP
- computer vision
- generative AI
- multi-agent systems

### Nice to have
- GenAI
- payments
- FinTech
- consumer transaction data

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Source: [Apply at mastercard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com](https://mastercard.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CorporateCareers/job/Toronto-Canada-Ethoca/Principal-Data-Scientist_R-281296?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)