What are the Data Scientist's missions?
The Data Scientist has several main responsibilities. First and foremost, and as the title suggests, the data scientist is a scientist, expected to put his or her data science to work for the company. Their role is to solve business problems through data analysis. They process, analyze and model data, then interpret the results.
The Data Scientist is responsible for determining the best way to meet business needs and the data required to implement them. The job defines the most appropriate analysis algorithms to meet different needs and develops descriptive and predictive models. They also need to keep a watchful eye on data analysis models and be able to share best practices with the rest of the team.
Finally, the Data Scientist may be tasked with collecting large volumes of unstructured data and transforming it into a usable format. However, they are often supported by the Data Engineer in this task.
The Data Scientist job description
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What are the Data Scientist's roles and responsibilities?
The Data Scientist has several main responsibilities.
His role is also to solve his company’s problems through data analysis. They process, analyze and model data, then interpret the results.
By identifying trends and patterns, the Data Scientist is able to detect the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. The company can then draw on the results of these analyses to make better decisions, or to create new services and products that meet consumer expectations.
What skills does a Data Scientist need?
Data Scientists are both mathematicians and computer experts. To analyze data, they use various programming languages such as Python and R.
Data Scientists are also experts in statistics. Unlike Data Analysts, they also exploit artificial intelligence techniques for data analysis, such as Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and text analysis.
A Data Scientist must also know how to interact with databases and other information storage solutions such as Data Warehouses or Data Lakes. In the age of the Cloud, they must also be familiar with the main platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud.
This professional is also capable of creating programs to automate the most repetitive tasks. The Data Scientist also has a talent for identifying problems and trends.
In order to share the results of their analyses with decision-makers and other company employees, the Data Scientist must also have good communication skills and a collaborative spirit. Data Visualization techniques enable them to present their findings graphically.
Bear in mind that each company will entrust different tasks to its Data Scientists. In some cases, the scientist will be supported by analysts and engineers. In others, they will have to do everything on their own, mastering cutting-edge techniques such as Machine Learning.
What are the Data Scientist's tools?
The Data Scientist is lucky in a sense, as they don’t need a lot of tools to do their job. Their main ally is code, and they might prefer programming languages such as Python or R, which have libraries that can do just about anything.
The Data Scientist usually edits their code on Jupyter notebooks, or on other Python development environments (IDEs) such as Pycharm. Some essential Python libraries are Matplotlib and Seaborn for visualization, Pandas and Numpy for data management and preprocessing, and Scikit-learn for implementing Machine Learning methods. The more experienced will work with Tensorflow and Pytorch to implement Deep Learning models.
Data Scientists can be satisfied with these tools for the vast majority of their work, but if they have to work with large amounts of data, or time-consuming calculations, there are a few tools that are well worth knowing. To name but a few, AWS Cloud Services such as Athena can be used for SQL queries, S3 for data storage, and EC2 for deploying virtual machines of varying performance.
What are the salaries and career prospects of a Data Scientist?
The Data Scientist profession offers a world of opportunities. According to a study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the number of job offers is set to increase by 16% per year between now and 2028.
Companies of all sizes and in all industries are actively seeking elite Data Scientists. This is true, for example, of technology giants such as Google, LinkedIn, and Amazon.
Today, Data Scientists are often entrusted with managerial responsibilities such as calculating returns on investment, financial planning, or budget management.
The salary of a Data Scientist is generally high, but it does depend on experience level, company type, and geographic location. In the USA, according to Burtchtworks, the average salary is $118,370 per year, or $171,755 per year for a senior profile.
In France, according to Payscale, the average salary is around €45,000. According to a more recent survey, conducted in July 2020 by DataScientest among 30 CAC40 companies, a beginner can earn between €35,000 and €55,000 a year. With some practical experience, they could earn between €45,000 and €60,000 a year.
Now you know what a Data Scientist does. If you want to acquire the skills required for this job, there are several options open to you.
