Forward Deployed Data Scientist Expert

Job Description

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

What you'll build

In this role, you design, develop, and apply advanced data science, statistical, and machine learning methods to solve complex, business critical problems. Embedded directly within customer environments and fast-moving delivery teams you translate strategic and operational challenges into rigorous analytical solutions to solve complex real world business problems at speed. You work closely with customers to deliver scalable, enterprise grade outcomes that drive measurable business value for customers and SAP.

You are accountable for the quality, impact, and delivery of complex analytical initiatives. Acting as a subject‑matter expert, you provide clear guidance, manage ambiguity, and ensure data‑driven solutions are robust, reliable, and aligned with business objectives.

In this role, you will:

• Transform complex business challenges into data‑driven intelligence by identifying high‑value problems, framing them analytically, and engineering robust features and insights.
• Design, develop, train and implement mathematical models, algorithms, and data mining or machine learning solutions to solve complex business problems.
• Apply advanced techniques across exploratory analysis, statistical modeling, experimentation, forecasting, segmentation, anomaly detection, causal analysis, and machine learning.
• Integrate analytical and machine learning solutions into products, prototypes, or business processes, ensuring enterprise‑grade scalability and robustness.
• Define success metrics, quantify business impact, and translate analytical results into clear, actionable recommendations for decision‑makers.
• Lead or manage complex analytical workstreams or projects, including deliverables, milestones, risks, and escalations, as appropriate.
• Communicate insights, trade‑offs, and recommendations effectively to cross‑functional teams and customer stakeholders, influencing decisions through evidence and expertise.
• Work in an embedded, customer‑facing setup, collaborating closely with customer teams on‑site or in the customer environment to deeply understand their data, applications, and business context, and to co‑develop and deliver impactful data‑ and AI‑driven solutions.

What you bring:

• Expert‑level proficiency in data science and machine learning, with strong command of Python and SQL and the ability to design, validate, and optimize end‑to‑end analytical and ML solutions.
• Ability to operate effectively in an Agentic AI context, contributing to the design, application, and responsible use of AI agents within complex business processes.
• Deep applied knowledge of statistics and experimentation, including hypothesis testing, experimental design, causal inference, and uncertainty interpretation.
• Proven experience applying a wide range of machine learning techniques (e.g. classification, forecasting, clustering, recommendation systems, anomaly detection, balancing accuracy, robustness, interpretability, and usability at scale.
• Strong capability to translate ambiguous business questions into measurable analytical problems and connect model outputs to commercial, operational, or strategic decisions.
• Experience delivering production‑ready analytics and ML systems using modern data platforms, with a strong focus on data quality, governance, and reusability.
• Advanced communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders through clear data narratives and executive‑ready insights.
• Build end-to-end data pipelines and ETL/ELT processes
• Strong expertise in data modelling, orchestration, and integration across systems
• Proficient in Python and SQL
• Experience with big data frameworks (PySpark) and Databricks
• Use of data orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow)
• Hands-on with SAP HANA and enterprise data platforms
• Work with columnar/lakehouse formats (Parquet, Delta Lake)
• Implement real-time data streaming (Kafka or equivalent)
• Ensure data quality, governance, and compliance (PII, data ethics)
• Apply CI/CD, Docker, and Git in data engineering workflows

Where you belong:

You will be part of a growing AI and industry expert team dedicated to serving customers across the region (Americas, Europe, Asia). We are building a collaborative, high-impact environment that brings together deep AI expertise, strong industry knowledge, and regional understanding to help customers innovate, transform, and lead in their markets.

This team thrives on working together to turn complex business challenges into practical, scalable solutions. You will find an environment that values curiosity, ownership, and continuous learning, where new ideas are encouraged and real-world impact matters. This is a place for people who enjoy building something new. You will thrive here if you are customer-centric, motivated by meaningful outcomes, and comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-evolving AI landscape.

We work closely with decision-makers, challenge assumptions with data, and give data scientists room to influence strategy—not just produce analysis. We value sharp thinking, business curiosity, and clear communication.

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency: SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted annual combined range for this position is 198200-420000(USD). The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 453954 | Work Area: Software-Design and Development | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid