Data science technology helps organizations extract never-seen-before insights from raw data to assist them with data-driven decision-making. Organizations can use it to enhance their productivity, minimize their cost, enhance customer service experience, forecast market trends, and so on.
This extraction of meaningful and actionable insights from huge amounts of data through well-established data science projects involves the work of a lot of data science professionals including data analysts, data engineers, data architects, and more. Senior Data Scientists have an important role, who look after the entire end-to-end data science process.
Every data science enthusiast or student aspiring to make a career in data science must aim for this senior-level data science job role. But before that, they must be aware of what they do, what their roles and responsibilities are, how much they earn, and understand what the future career prospects of senior data scientist job role is.
In this article, we will help you answer all these questions so that you can make informed decisions and plan your career accordingly.
Who is a Senior Data Scientist?
Senior data scientists, as the name suggests, are senior-level data science professionals who use data and assist their organizations make informed business decisions. They direct and lead entry-level and mid-level data scientists in various data science projects.
As a senior data scientist, you must be proficient in essential data science skills including a complete understanding of your business or industry, the business problem you are trying to solve with the help of data and data science, and what the end result of your data science projects are going to be.
For the success (or failure) of data science projects, often the senior data scientists are held responsible directly.
Let’s compare briefly:
· An entry-level data scientist has a stronghold of fundamental data science concepts and they perform tasks assigned to them by senior data scientists. Basic business/industry knowledge is optional, but recommended.
· A mid-level data scientist is expected to have a strong understanding of various data science tools and techniques required to complete a data science project. A certain amount of hands-on experience is required to become a mid-level data scientist.
· A senior data scientist has exceptional knowledge of data science techniques and their drawbacks. They lead the projects, make decisions, strategize the process, and communicate with the entire data science teams taking into account the technical as well as non-technical aspects that can influence the project.
How much do Senior Data Scientist Earn?
Now, let us explore the salaries of senior data scientists considering various factors.
The annual average salary of senior data scientists in the US is $122,959 (Source: Salary.com) with the salary typically ranging between $111,179 to $136,434.
Source: https://www.salary.com/research/salary/listing/data-scientist-senior-salary
But this salary is not what every senior data scientist gets. The salary can vary depending upon several factors such as:
1. Location
Location plays an important role in determining the salary of all professionals. While the salary of senior data scientists in every country ought to be different, even different states in the US also pay these professionals differently.
In the US, the top-paying cities for Senior Data Scientists include:
- Seattle, WA - $172,849
- Los Angeles, CA - $171,720
- San Francisco, CA - $169,270
- New York, NY - $164,209
- Boston, MA - $160,045
Source: Indeed (salaries are per annum)
2. Experience
Experience is another important factor. The more the experience in years, the higher the salary.
The graph below shows how the average senior data scientist salary varies based on their experience.
Here, we can clearly see the difference in salaries of senior data scientists in India.
3. Education
Similarly, education can also be a determining factor when comes to earning a higher salary. If you have a master’s degree or a PhD in data science and related fields, then you can command higher salaries.
Do you know, according to the USDSI® research team, certified data science professionals can earn up to 40% higher salaries than non-certified professionals?
So, if you are looking to boost your data science career, then you must aim to earn the best data science certification such as Certified Senior Data Scientist (CSDS™) from USDSI®. This will help you gain the latest in-demand data science skills required to succeed as a senior data scientist as well as validate your experience and expertise to increase your credibility in the data science industry.
Summing up!
Senior data scientists are an important part of an efficient data science project. Their roles are indispensable in getting insights from raw data and assisting organizations in data-driven decision-making. With the right skills, qualifications, and certifications, you can negotiate and command higher salaries. Remember, they are responsible for the success and failure of any data science project. Therefore, to move forward in your career as a senior data scientist, you must have enough experience, a strong knowledge of data science tools and techniques, and a very strong understanding of the business or industry you are working in. Register for USDSI’s CSDS™ certification and enhance your technical understanding of data science.
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