Data Scientist II - QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Are you ready to tackle complex and challenging problems alongside a team of curious and ambitious leaders? If so, this is the opportunity for you! As a Data Scientist II, your role will involve collaborating with clients and interdisciplinary teams to address their needs through advanced analytics and AI solutions. You will optimize code and solve intricate business challenges across various industries. Your contributions will drive significant change by identifying patterns in data and delivering innovative solutions that keep clients competitive and transform their operations. In this role, you can expect to: Build a digital twin of a defense supply chain to enhance military hardware availability. Implement agentic AI for improved customer service outcomes for a global travel company. Optimize the scheduling and funding of a multi-billion-dollar capital project to accelerate delivery. Your work will encompass a mix of critical industries (such as Defense, Aerospace, Utilities, Oil and Gas), alongside opportunities in other sectors. On a daily basis, you will address complex challenges in collaboration with senior data scientists, engineers, designers, and domain experts. Key responsibilities include: Translating business questions into analytical approaches and selecting appropriate techniques for each scenario. Conducting exploratory data analysis. Designing, implementing, and evaluating models—from traditional machine learning to deep learning and LLMs—using rigorous metrics and A/B testing. You will build production-grade RAG pipelines and assess LLM output for accuracy. Deploying models via APIs or batch pipelines, writing unit tests, and establishing monitoring dashboards to track performance and drift. Documenting assumptions, communicating results clearly, and collaborating with engineers to integrate solutions into user-facing applications. Building models that are accurate, explainable, and free from bias. Optimizing inference latency and cost through parameter-efficient tuning, quantization, and accelerated serving stacks. Contributing to internal tools, participating in R&D projects, and presenting at leading conferences like NIPS and ICML. Located in one of our U.S. offices, you will closely collaborate with a global team of data scientists, data engineers, machine-learning engineers, designers, and product managers. Your growth is a priority for us. We are committed to helping you drive impactful change and develop your skills. You will thrive in a high-performance culture that encourages resilience and initiative. Our learning environment, structured programs, and mentorship will fuel your professional development. By joining us, you will experience: Continuous learning: Our culture thrives on feedback to foster your growth and help you own your journey. A voice that matters: We value your innovative ideas and practical solutions from day one, as diverse perspectives are crucial for achieving the best outcomes. Global community: Work with colleagues from over 65 countries and benefit from varied backgrounds and expertise. World-class benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package for your well-being and that of your family. Qualifications and Skills: U.S. Citizenship is required. Bachelor's degree in computer science with 2+ years of experience, or Master’s/PhD in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or electrical engineering. Professional experience in machine learning and data mining techniques applied to large datasets. Development experience focused on machine learning using SQL and Python's data science stack. Familiarity with Spark/PySpark, containerization with Docker and Kubernetes, and major cloud technologies is a plus. Experience with GenAI including parameter-efficient tuning and LLM evaluation is advantageous. Strong time management skills to succeed in a complex and largely autonomous environment. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Willingness to travel. McKinsey & Company is an Equal Opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. U.S.-specific applicants: Salary range is estimated at $146,600 - $150,000 USD. Join us and contribute to meaningful change!

Created: 2026-03-04