Scientific Games: Scientific Games is the global leader in lottery games, sports betting and technology, and the partner of choice for government lotteries. From cutting-edge backend systems to exciting entertainment experiences and trailblazing retail and digital solutions, we elevate play every day. We push game designs to the next level and are pioneers in data analytics and iLottery. Built on a foundation of trusted partnerships, Scientific Games combines relentless innovation, legendary performance, and unwavering security to responsibly propel the global lottery industry ever forward.

We are looking for a founding Staff Data Scientist to help build the decision science function from the ground up and translate our long-term product and decisioning vision into scalable production systems. As an early senior technical leader, you will work closely with the Principal Data Scientist, Staff peers, and Senior Data Scientists to define the modeling standards, decision science patterns, and execution playbooks that will become the backbone of the organization. This role sits at the intersection of technical depth, platform leverage, and strategic execution. This position will start remotely and transition to a hybrid role. Candidates must be local to Toronto, ON.

Lead the design and delivery of high-impact decision science systems across forecasting, constrained optimization, experimentation, and batch and real-time recommendation systems

Partner with the Principal Data Scientist to establish modeling standards, experimentation guardrails, validation frameworks, and deployment playbooks for the founding DS organization

Drive the design of multi-stage recommendation and ranking architectures, including retrieval, pre-ranking, ranking, and re-ranking





Mentor Senior and mid-level Data Scientists while raising technical rigor across statistical thinking, causal inference, optimization, and experimentation

Shape the evolution of reusable DS workflows that integrate cleanly with the self-service ML platform being built by the founding MLE team

Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Operations Research, Economics, or another related STEM field

Experience: 6+ years post-Master's experience or 4+ years post-PhD experience in data science, decision science, econometrics, or applied machine learning

Proven experience leading ambiguous, high-impact data science initiatives from framing through production business impact

Strong experience in at least three of: forecasting, optimization, experimentation, recommendation systems, pricing, portfolio science, or causal inference

Experience mentoring Data Scientists and shaping technical standards beyond individual project delivery

Technical Skills: Strong Python proficiency across pandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch, and TensorFlow

Strong SQL and large-scale data experience

Hands-on experience building batch and real-time recommendation or decision systems

Familiarity with multi-stage cascading ranking architectures and decision APIs

Leadership: Ability to translate long-term product vision into executable decision science roadmaps

Strong technical mentorship and review discipline





Experience as a founding or early senior hire in a new DS organization

Hands-on portfolio optimization, payout optimization, assortment optimization, or mathematical programming

Experience with personalization, gaming, retail, marketplace, or digital consumer decision systems

Experience working with self-service experimentation and ML platforms

Familiarity with Databricks, PySpark, MLflow, and cloud-native deployment workflows

Solid product intuition for balancing revenue, margin, player engagement, and responsible gaming constraints

SG is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants due to race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

Legendary performance. All built on a foundation of trusted partnerships. This is what it takes to be a global leader in lottery games, sports betting and technology. At Scientific Games, we elevate play every day. From cutting-edge backend systems to exciting entertainment experiences and trailblazing retail and digital solutions, we care about the details that drive profits for lottery beneficiary programs. And with the power of data analytics, we can predict what they'll want to play tomorrow. Because it's not just a game. And Scientific Games is the partner of choice for these growing markets. Because when it comes to digital, trust is everything. But we're endlessly innovating, always evolving and firmly committed to responsible gaming. It's the future of Scientific Games. The driver of today's favorite lottery games and most advanced technologies, and sustainability for tomorrow.

📌 Assistant Data-Scientist - Machine Learning H/F (Toronto)
🏢 Les Produits Scientific Games Canada
📍 Toronto