Senior Strategy Data Scientist

Senior Strategy Data Scientist

CPAL

Dallas, TX · Full-time

Senior Strategy Data Scientists at CPAL take on questions that rarely arrive with clean data, a settled methodology, or even a well-formed problem statement. You'll work out what decision needs to be made, what evidence would actually be useful, and how to deliver value without overengineering the solution.

CPAL, the Child Poverty Action Lab, operates as an unofficial research and development lab for Dallas, using data to rethink public systems and equip neighborhood-level partners, all in service of one mission: cutting childhood poverty in Dallas by 50 percent within a single generation. This role sits on CPAL's Strategic Analytics team, reporting to the Head of Strategic Analytics, on a small, senior team built to combine analytical rigor, practical judgment, and AI-enabled ways of working as a strategic thinking partner for CPAL's program teams. You'll work across housing, economic mobility, maternal health, education, and public safety, conducting analysis end to end: combining messy data, selecting the right method, testing findings, and documenting sources, assumptions, and limitations so the next related question is cheaper to answer.

You fit if you've got 3 to 5 years of applied analytical work, typically at a top-tier strategy, boutique data science, or analytical consulting firm, or an equivalent trajectory with unusual early responsibility, running analytics for a high-growth startup or agency. You're coming from a strong quantitative foundation, a STEM degree, an applied quantitative social science background in economics, urban science, spatial analytics, operations research, or causal inference and program evaluation, or comparable demonstrated capability. You're professionally fluent in Python with working SQL, and you can read and adapt existing R. What separates a strong candidate here is methodological judgment paired with consultant-style pragmatism, picking the approach that fits the question, the evidence, the timeline, and the stakes, plus daily working fluency with AI-assisted analytical tools you can back up with real examples.

To apply for this role, you must create an account on provn.co and submit all required application artifacts. Resume only applications may be considered, but candidates who complete a full application are reviewed with priority.

How hiring works here

Referrals are king for getting an interview. But what if you don't have a referral? Applying with Provn is designed to help you get more interviews. Instead of sending a cold resume into an ATS and waiting, you will complete a challenge built by CPAL and submit a short video walking through your approach. No time limit. No timers. No restrictions on AI usage. Show how you build with AI.

Why that works in your favor:

- You show how you actually build and ship with coding agents, instead of hoping a resume communicates your skill clearly.

- Your judgment with AI becomes visible, which no "proficient with AI coding agents" resume bullet can prove.

- One challenge puts you in front of the Strategic Analytics team, scored on the work. Priority without a referral!

The hiring manager reviews every completed submission, and strongest candidates go straight to an interview round. No referral needed. Performance over pedigree. Proof over polish.

For this role, the challenge is a significant part of your candidacy. If you have been looking for a foot in the door, a chance to show what you can do, if you have ever felt like all you needed was ten minutes with the hiring manager to prove yourself, this is that opportunity.

Compensation is competitive and dependent on experience. This is a rare seat: a small, senior analytics team with direct access to program leaders and public-agency partners, where your analysis reaches decision-makers instead of a dashboard backlog, and AI-native ways of working are actively supported.

This role is based in Dallas, with a Dallas-preferred, flexible-for-the-right-candidate posture: remote-first candidates are considered, with occasional on-site time in Dallas. CPAL is open to sponsoring candidates for this role.

Applications close September 14, 2026.