Senior Data Scientist

Senior Data ScientistLocation: Europe onlyWork setup: 100% remoteContract: 12-month renewable freelance contractTime-zone requirement: 8 hours of overlap with UTC+1Language: Fluent English About AndelaAndela exists to connect brilliance and opportunity. Since 2014, we have been dedicated to breaking down global barriers and accelerating the future of work for both technologists and organizations around the world. For technologists, Andela offers competitive long-term career opportunities with leading organizations, access to a global community of professionals, and educational opportunities with leading technology providers. At Andela, we're deeply passionate about creating long-lasting and transformative growth opportunities for all, and doing it in an E.P.I.C. way! We're excited to continue building our global team with incredible people like you. After successfully completing Andela's technical assessment and interview process, you'll join our Talent Network, giving you access to this opportunity as well as future roles that match your expertise. Our roles are typically filled quickly, so if you're considering applying, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible. About the companyOur client is developing an AI-powered operating system for the fresh food supply chain, beginning with ordering and inventory optimization for fresh-food departments.The platform is already used by major grocery retailers across Germany and France, helping them reduce food waste while improving product availability. You will join a small, senior Data Science team working on one of the most complex forecasting and optimization problems in retail. The challengeForecasting demand for fresh food involves substantial uncertainty. Products have limited and variable shelf lives, product identifiers and supplier information may change, transaction data can be incomplete, and inventory records are often affected by shrinkage, unrecorded waste, and scanning errors. Every ordering decision requires balancing waste against product availability, with an immediate operational impact at store level. What you’ll doDevelop and improve distributional and probabilistic forecasting models, including model architecture, calibration, and coverage.Monitor forecast-quality metrics, investigate performance degradation, and identify areas where current approaches need improvement.Make meaningful contributions to inventory simulation and ordering-policy frameworks, taking improvements through to production.Conduct regular backtesting and model evaluations to measure business and operational impact.Improve end-to-end pipeline quality, from source-data integrity to forecasts and live order recommendations.Shape technical and methodological decisions within your area of expertise.Write readable, well-tested, production-quality Python code and maintain high standards for testability and code review.Use agentic AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or similar tools to work efficiently while maintaining engineering quality.Collaborate with Engineering and Customer Success teams to translate store-level findings into product and model improvements.Explain complex mathematical concepts and recommendations in ways that product teams and store operators can act on. What we’re looking forExperience building production systems that make decisions under uncertainty and have real operational consequences, beyond research prototypes.Deep expertise in at least one of the following:Probabilistic or distributional forecastingStochastic inventory simulationOperations research and ordering-policy designSolid working knowledge across the other areas.Strong familiarity with distributional and probabilistic forecasting methods, such as quantile regression, LightGBM with distributional outputs, GAMLSS-type models, conformal prediction, or comparable approaches.Solid knowledge of stochastic inventory theory, newsvendor models, ordering policies, and service-level optimization.Experience evaluating, backtesting, and monitoring machine learning models in production.Strong Python and SQL skills applied to large, messy, real-world datasets.Experience writing production-grade, maintainable, and testable code.MSc or PhD in Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, Operations Research, Computer Science, or another quantitative discipline.Experience with GCP services such as BigQuery, Cloud Run, or Vertex AI.Familiarity with dbt and workflow orchestration tools such as Airflow or Cloud Composer.Knowledge of Git, containerization, CI/CD, and modern software engineering practices.Regular hands-on use of agentic AI development tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, or similar.Fluent English and strong communication skills.Current residency in Europe and availability for eight working hours aligned with UTC+1. Beneficial experienceSupply chain optimization, demand planning, inventory management, or perishables.Grocery retail or fresh-food domain knowledge.Previous experience in a startup or scale-up environment.Professional proficiency in German or French. At Andela, we know our strengths lie in our diverse community whose talents, perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences we proudly celebrate. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone is treated with respect and has equal opportunity to grow and succeed.