Lead Data Scientist

Why UKG: At UKG, the work you do matters. The code you ship, the decisions you make, and the care you show a customer all add up to real impact. Today, tens of millions of workers start and end their days with our workforce operating platform. Helping people get paid, grow in their careers, and shape the future of their industries. That’s what we do. We never stop learning. We never stop challenging the norm. We push for better, and we celebrate the wins along the way. Here, you’ll get flexibility that’s real, benefits you can count on, and a team that succeeds together. Because at UKG, your work matters—and so do you. About the Role We’re looking for a Lead Data Scientist to help transform customer contact data into clear, actionable insights that reduce customer pain, improve experience, and inform product and operational priorities. In this role, you’ll lead the development of a Customer Pain Index and related analytics that explain why customers are contacting us, what issues hurt most, and where to focus to reduce volume and effort. You’ll also leverage these insights to build a Predictive Escalation Model that identifies issues and accounts at risk of escalation before they occur. You’ll work closely with CX, Product, and Engineering partners to turn insight into action. This is a hands‑on senior IC role with strong ownership and influence, focused on delivering practical, business‑impacting analytics rather than pure research. ________________________________________ What You’ll Do • Lead development of customer contact and pain based analytics (dashboards, models, deep dive insights) • Identify top drivers of customer contacts, repeat issues, escalations, and effort • Build and evolve a Predictive Escalation Model using contact patterns, resolution signals, and sentiment indicators • Quantify customer pain using contact volume, resolution, and sentiment signals • Link call drivers directly to products, features, or journeys • Enable outcomes such as contact reduction, improved FCR, and faster resolution • Present clear, actionable insights to senior CX and Product stakeholders • Provide technical guidance and quality review for other data scientists ________________________________________ What We’re Looking For Core Experience • 6-8+ years of experience in Data Science, Advanced Analytics, or Applied Machine Learning • Proven ability to translate analytical work into clear business decisions, recommendations, and action • Experience working closely with Product, Engineering, CX, or client stakeholders • Comfortable operating as a senior individual contributor with ownership and influence • Experience collaborating within a broader analytics or data science organization • This role values technical leadership and outcome ownership over formal people management Technical Skills • Advanced proficiency in Python and SQL • Strong experience with data science libraries and frameworks (e.g., pandas, scikit‑learn) • Experience with classification, clustering, forecasting, and prioritization problems • Experience working with large, messy, real‑world datasets common in operational or customer‑facing systems • Familiarity with at least one cloud data platform (GCP, Azure, or AWS), through hands‑on development or close collaboration with data engineering teams • Experience visualizing insights using Power BI, Tableau, Looker, or similar tools Analytical & Scientific Skills • Strong grounding in statistics, experimentation, hypothesis testing, and model evaluation • Ability to perform deep error analysis and align modeling decisions to business impact • Pragmatic mindset that balances scientific rigor with delivery and usability ________________________________________ Nice to Have • Experience with customer experience or contact center analytics • NLP or text analytics (call drivers, case notes, customer feedback) • Experience in SaaS or enterprise product environments ________________________________________ Why This Role Matters Your work will directly influence customer effort, satisfaction, cost to serve, and product decisions, helping leaders understand where customers struggle most—and how to fix it. Company Overview: UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge. Learn more at ukg.com. UKG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including the recruitment process. Disability Accommodation in the Application and Interview Process For individuals with disabilities that need additional assistance at any point in the application and interview process, please email UKGCareers@ukg.com