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