Senior, AI & Data Science at Artefact in Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Job description

• Artefact is a next-generation data and AI consulting firm dedicated to accelerating the adoption of data and AI to create measurable business impact across the full enterprise value chain.We sit at the intersection of consulting, data science, AI technologies, data engineering, and digital transformation. We do not just advise — we build, implement, and deliver results our clients can measure. Our teams bring together consultants, data scientists, data engineers, AI engineers, analysts, and digital experts to solve complex business challenges with pragmatic, production-ready solutions.
• As Artefact continues to grow in the US, we are building a team of entrepreneurial data and AI talent who can help clients move beyond experimentation and into scalable, governed, value-generating AI adoption.

Responsibilities

• Artefact is looking for a Senior AI & Data Scientist: a scientist who owns models end to end, from problem framing through production.
• You will work across the full modeling spectrum — forecasting, classification, clustering, and causal analysis on one engagement; fine-tuning experiments and LLM evaluation on the next. You will own your models: the data behind them, the methodology, the deployment, and the story told to the client. You will also help junior scientists grow.
• Translate business and marketing challenges into analytical use cases with clear hypotheses and success metrics.
• Develop statistical and machine learning models: regression, forecasting, classification, clustering, and causal inference.
• Select techniques based on business context, constraints, and data availability — and be able to justify the choice.
• Ship production-ready solutions: training, deployment, monitoring, and ongoing refinement.
• Run fine-tuning experiments: dataset curation, SFT, LoRA/PEFT, and rigorous evaluation of results against baselines.
• Build evaluation suites for LLM systems: benchmarks, LLM-as-judge patterns, and regression tests.
• Work with embeddings and retrieval where they affect answer quality.
• Contribute to model selection decisions: prompting vs. RAG vs. fine-tuning, cost vs. quality vs. latency.
• Build data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and quality assurance across diverse data sources.
• Create clear visualizations and dashboards that support data storytelling and decision making.
• Present findings to client stakeholders, translating methodology into business language.
• Mentor junior data scientists and use AI-assisted tools (Claude Code, Gemini CLI) to raise the whole team's pace.

Requirements

• 3–5 years of relevant data science experience with a substantial quantitative skill set.
• Strong knowledge of statistics and ML algorithms, with at least one proven experience developing and deploying models.
• Proficiency in Python (scikit-learn, XGBoost; PyTorch a strong plus) and solid SQL.
• Hands-on experience with LLMs: evaluation, RAG, or fine-tuning experiments (professional or substantial personal projects).
• Specialization in at least one major AI platform ecosystem — Google (Gemini, Vertex AI), Anthropic (Claude), or OpenAI — and familiarity with a cloud platform (GCP, Azure, or AWS).
• Comfort with AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code, Gemini CLI, or Cursor.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: you can present methodology and results to non-technical audiences.
• Master's degree (or higher) in statistics/mathematics, engineering, computer science, economics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Causal inference, time series, or advanced statistics experience.
• Hugging Face Transformers, LoRA/PEFT, or open-weight model experience.
• MLOps exposure: model versioning, pipelines, monitoring.
• Cloud certifications, especially Google Cloud Professional Machine Learning Engineer.

Skills

Required

• SQL
• Statistics and ML algorithms
• LLM evaluation, RAG, or fine-tuning
• Cloud platforms: GCP, Azure, or AWS

Preferred

• Causal inference
• Time series analysis
• Advanced statistics
• Hugging Face Transformers
• LoRA/PEFT
• Open-weight models

Benefits

• In addition to our values-driven culture, we offer a range of benefits and programs designed to support our employees' growth and well-being, including:
• Learning and Development: Work alongside a multidisciplinary team of AI, data, and consulting experts who are committed to continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and professional growth.
• Hybrid Flexibility: Our hybrid work model gives you the flexibility to balance collaboration, client needs, and personal commitments.
• Comprehensive Benefits: We offer a competitive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k) plan with company matching, and paid parental leave.
• Time to Recharge: We believe sustainable performance matters. That's why we offer unlimited paid time off, giving you the flexibility to take the time you need.
• Growth Opportunities: As a rapidly growing organization, you'll have the opportunity to expand your skills, take on new challenges, and help shape the future of the company.