Principal Data Scientist (m/f/d)

The Data Science team partners with groups across the company and leverages state-of-the-art technology to offer solutions that set AutoScout24 apart. In this role, you’ll collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and business teams to design, build, and scale AI solutions that set us apart in the industry. You’ll bring deep technical expertise, a passion for innovation, and a strong product mindset to develop ML products that solve real-world problems and deliver measurable business value.

Our ideal candidate is an experienced data science leader who thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment that combines the stability of an industry leader with the agility of a startup culture. You are curious, proactive, and committed to continuous learning, especially in emerging areas like Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).

You should be comfortable engaging with all levels of the organization, from peers to executives, and possess the ability to distill complex information into clear, actionable strategies that drive business decisions and create value.

At AutoScout24, we appreciate different lifestyles and cultural backgrounds . We welcome diversity as a strength . Our organization is, e.g. made up of more than 50+ different nationalities , all working together inclusively and respectfully.

The role is Hybrid (2 days a week office attendance)

What You’ll Do:

• Shape the strategic direction and vision of Data Science across the organization by identifying transformative AI/ML opportunities and championing the team’s evolving role in a rapidly advancing GenAI landscape.
• Lead the design and deployment of predictive and generative AI models that power personalization, pricing, search, and optimization in marketplace and fintech domains.
• Collaborate with product leaders to align ML initiatives with strategic business goals and drive product innovation through data-driven experimentation and modeling.
• Architect scalable ML infrastructure and automated workflows using cloud-native tools (e.g., AWS, EC2, Kubernetes) to support efficient model training, deployment, and analytics across diverse datasets.
• Ensure long-term performance and compliance of production AI models though robust governance and monitoring.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to data scientists, shaping an innovative team culture and fostering high-performance and continuous learning.
• Serve as a cross-functional technical leader, shaping company-wide technical initiatives beyond data science. Partner with engineering, product, and platform teams to influence architecture, innovation agendas, and technical standards across the organization.
• Act as a senior technical advisor, leading resolution of complex modeling issues and acting as the escalation point for critical incidents.
• Lead the exploration and strategic application of GenAI, identifying high-impact use cases and guiding their integration across products and platforms.

What You Should Bring:

• Advanced academic credentials in a quantitative field such as Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or related discipline
• 10+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, or applied AI, with a strong portfolio of high-impact projects in production
• Expert-level programming skills in Python and SQL, and fluency with leading ML/AI frameworks (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Direct experience with GenAI/LLM technologies, including tools like Hugging Face, LangChain, OpenAI APIs, vector databases, and fine-tuning methods
• Deep knowledge of machine learning algorithms (supervised, unsupervised, deep learning), including model evaluation, explainability, and selection for business-critical use cases
• Strong hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS), containerization (Docker), and orchestration (Jenkins, Airflow)
• Proven capability in MLOps, including CI/CD pipelines, model monitoring, versioning, and automated retraining
• Experience deploying and serving models through APIs (e.g., Flask, FastAPI) in both real-time and batch-processing environments
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, able to translate complex concepts into actionable insights for non-technical audiences
• Demonstrated success mentoring teams, guiding technical strategy, and advocating for best practices in experimentation, reproducibility, and ethical AI
• Experience working in agile product development environments (Scrum/Kanban); experience influencing product roadmaps is a strong plus

How we empower you to turn ideas into reality and have fun doing it:

• A team and company environment that gives you lots of opportunities to innovate and shape our business and culture. A highly competitive compensation package and a range of personal benefits such as discounts from our partners
• Targeted trainings, workshops, coaching, and support services that help you grow at AutoScout24 – and in life
• Cutting-edge laptops (Apple or Windows) and other personal tech equipment that you can also use privately; our super-friendly Employee Tech team will ensure that your tech needs are always taken care of
• Modern, cloud-native tooling and infrastructure (including AWS, Docker, and GitHub Actions) that enable fast, scalable experimentation and deployment
• JobRad and Urban Sports Club
• Regular virtual and in-person team and company events to have fun, share, and celebrate successes (including hackathons, Christmas parties, and the Oktoberfest)
• 30 vacation days a year, flexible working hours, and hybrid work
• A dog-friendly office; we love our four-legged friends, so feel free to bring yours with you

If this appeals to you but you are in doubt about how exactly your skills match our requirements – we value personality, ambition and an open mind. Don’t hesitate to get in touch and present your personal strengths to us. We look forward to hearing from you!