Best New Jobs in 2012: Data Scientist

Here is a good article from CNN Money: ( http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2012/11/01/best-new-jobs-in-america/3.html ) highlighting data scientists as one of the best new jobs in 2012. They project a 10 year growth rate of 18.7% with a median income of $98,600, noting that six-figure salaries are not uncommon.

From the article:

What They Do ....... “apply various tools and methods to find meaningful patterns and insights in large data sets.”

Skills.... “An affinity for numbers is key, as well as a command of computing, statistics, math and analytics”

Here are some current examples (highlights from actual posts via LinkedIn)of actual data scientist jobs:

Senior Data Scientist

EverBank - Jacksonville, FL (Jacksonville, Florida Area)

Essential Functions: Use advanced statistical techniques to develop assessments of consumer and business

Minimum Qualifications:

•          Experience using at least one of the following statistical software is required: Base SAS, SAS Enterprise Miner or R.
•           Experience with JMP a plus. Experiences in decision trees, clustering, missing data, Monte Carlo simulations is a plus.

Desired Qualifications: SAS Certification.

Senior Data Scientist

Jumptap - Greater Boston Area

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

•          Dig through our large data sets (cleaning them if necessary) and develop insights that   can  be used to improve our ad selection, delivery, and pricing
•             Develop algorithms to predict user behavior
•             Design and run experiments to compare algorithms and improve their effectiveness
•             Bring successful algorithms from proof of concept all the way to product delivery

Required Skills and Experience:

•             Masters or PhD Degree in Machine Learning, Operations Research, Applied Math, or other  similar fields
•             Good hacking skills
•             Experience with analysis tools such as R, Matlab, SAS, Weka, or related tools