Senior Data Scientist
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About the Position
Senior Data Scientist
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What Sets Us Apart?
Why Choose SmartWays?
- Partnering relationships
- Knowledge and experience exchange
- Reports needed for business decisions
- Listening to your needs
20+ people
in the team
6 years
of market experience
3000
satisfied clients
Role Overview
Who is a Senior Data Scientist and What Do They Do?
A Senior Data Scientist is a specialist who translates raw data into predictive models and business decisions generating measurable returns - from customer segmentation to recommendation systems and demand forecasting. They combine statistics, machine learning, and data engineering, independently leading projects from hypothesis to model deployment.
The demand for this role remains high in the Polish market - banks, e-commerce, telecoms, and SaaS companies compete for a narrow pool of candidates with 5+ years of practice. Recruitment for senior data scientists takes longer than for junior roles because the verification includes real portfolios of production models, not just knowledge of libraries. Well-conducted headhunting for senior data scientists allows you to reach passive candidates that you won't find through job postings.
Key Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities of a Senior Data Scientist
- Designing and training ML models (regression, classification, clustering, NLP, time series)
- Formulating business hypotheses with product owners and stakeholders
- Feature engineering and data preparation and cleaning (Python, SQL, Spark)
- Deploying models to production in collaboration with the MLOps team (Docker, CI/CD, drift monitoring)
- Designing and analyzing A/B tests and statistical experiments
- Building data pipelines and automating model retraining
- Communicating results to management in a business-friendly manner (dashboards, recommendations)
- Mentoring junior and mid-level data scientists and code review notebooks and scripts
- Selecting success metrics and validating models for overfitting and bias
- Maintaining standards for experiment documentation and reproducibility
Required Skills and Experience
Required Competencies and Experience
| Competency | Required Level | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Python (ML) | Expert | pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, PyTorch or TensorFlow |
| Statistics and ML | Expert | Hypothesis testing, regularization, ensemble, cross-validation |
| SQL | Advanced | Window functions, query optimization, CTE |
| MLOps | Mid-Advanced | Docker, MLflow, drift monitoring, CI/CD for models |
| Cloud | Advanced | AWS SageMaker / GCP Vertex AI / Azure ML |
| Big Data | Mid-Advanced | Spark, distributed processing, Databricks |
| Experience | 5+ years | Including at least 2 models deployed in production |
| Business Communication | Advanced | Data storytelling, presentations for C-level |
| English Language | B2/C1 | Documentation, collaboration with international teams |
| Domain Knowledge | Bonus | Fintech, e-commerce, telco, or healthcare |
Salary and Market Range 2026
A Senior Data Scientist in Poland earns 22,000–35,000 PLN gross/month on an employment contract, and on a B2B contract, rates reach 180–250 PLN/h. The final amount is influenced by:
- Location - Warsaw and remote work for foreign companies are in the upper range
- Industry - Fintech and AI-driven products pay 10–20% above average
- Specialization - NLP/LLM and deep learning skills boost rates
- Production experience - number of real models deployed, not POCs
- Certifications - AWS ML Specialty, GCP Professional Data Engineer, Databricks
The standard benefits package includes private medical care, a training budget (5,000–10,000 PLN/year for conferences and courses), a sports card, premium-class equipment, and flexible working hours and hybrid or fully remote model. Increasingly, additional vacation days and a budget for compute for experiments are also appearing.
How Smartways.io Recruits Senior Data Scientists
We conduct recruitment through direct search, reaching passive candidates who do not apply for job postings. The process is transparent and phased:
- Kick-off and role mapping - we establish the profile, stack, and range (1–2 days)
- Market search and selection - we identify and contact candidates (5–7 days)
- Technical and motivational screening - verification of model portfolios (5–7 days)
- Shortlist presentation - 3–5 verified profiles with a recommendation (2–3 days)
- Support in interviews and offer - coordination, negotiations, closing (5–7 days)
The overall timeline from kick-off to offer acceptance is usually 3–4 weeks. We work on a success fee model and offer a guarantee for the hired candidate, which limits the risk of unsuccessful recruitment.
FAQ – Common Questions About the Senior Data Scientist Position
How Long Does the Recruitment of a Senior Data Scientist Take?
Standardly 3–4 weeks from kick-off to offer acceptance. For narrow niche stacks (e.g., LLM fine-tuning), it may extend to 5–6 weeks due to the limited candidate pool.
How Does a Senior Data Scientist Differ from a Data Engineer?
A Data Scientist builds predictive models and formulates business hypotheses, while a Data Engineer designs and maintains infrastructure and pipelines delivering data. The roles are complementary - a senior data scientist must, however, understand engineering enough to deploy a model to production.
What Range Should You Offer to Attract the Best Candidates?
For a truly experienced senior, aim for the upper end of the range, i.e., 30,000–35,000 PLN gross/month or 220–250 PLN/h on a B2B. An underbid offer lengthens the process and eliminates passive candidates.
Does a Senior Data Scientist Work Remotely?
The vast majority of offers are remote or hybrid. Fully remote work is standard in this role and often determines the candidate's acceptance of the offer.
Do You Need Other IT Specialists for the Data Team?
Often yes - a mature data team combines Data Scientists with supporting roles, such as a senior DBA for database management or a performance tester for validating the performance of services serving models. We help build the entire team.
How Do You Verify a Candidate's Technical Skills?
Screening includes discussing real production projects, reviewing the portfolio (GitHub, publications), a practical task or live coding, and verifying understanding of metrics and model validation. We check practice, not just theory.
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Position: Senior Data Scientist
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About the Company SmartWays Recruitment offers bespoke and scalable recruitment solutions tailored to the evolving needs of businesses across various industries. The company focuses on recruitment within EMEA markets but delivers projects globally. Their services include direct search, contracting, body leasing, executive search, recruitment process outsourcing, and HR on-demand services. Products, Services & Tech Stack Core Solutions: Direct Search Contracting Body Leasing Executive Search Recruitment Process Outsourcing HR on-demand Project Scope & Target Clients Client Base: IT Finance Sales Purchasing Other industries Engineering Scale: Projects for large corporations, small businesses, and start-ups.