Data scientist job description: template and real figures
A template for hiring a data scientist, with what employers in today’s 373 open postings for this work ask for and offer. Copy it, fill in the brackets, then post the job free.
- Open postings today
- 373
- Experience asked, median
- 5 years
- Postings that state pay
- 63%
- Median advertised pay
- $221K
- Open to remote work
- 25%
Data Scientist [Company] · [City, or Remote and the countries it is open to] · [Full-time] About us [Two sentences: what the company does, for whom, and one number that shows where it is now.] About the role Our Data Scientist finds patterns in data and builds models that predict what will happen. You will report to [manager’s title] and work with [team]. What you will do - [The most important result of the first year, with a number] - Statistics: [what this means in your team] - Experiment design: [what this means in your team] - Machine learning: [what this means in your team] - [One more duty that is specific to this job] What we are looking for - [5]+ years of experience as a data scientist - Experience with Python - Experience with SQL - Experience with Machine Learning - Experience with LLM - [One or two must-haves that are specific to this job] Pay and benefits - Pay range: $[lowest] – $[highest] a year, [plus equity or bonus if any] - Parental leave - Equity - Unlimited PTO - [Paid time off, health cover and the rest of your benefits] How to apply [What to send, the interview steps and how long they take. Name the date you will reply by.]
What today’s data scientist postings say
| Experience asked | Median 5 years; the middle half ask 3–7 years (226 postings name a number) |
|---|---|
| Pay advertised | $188K – $270K for the middle half; median $221K (211 postings with a yearly US-dollar range) |
| Skills named most | Python (89%), SQL (81%), Machine Learning (55%), LLM (25%) |
| Benefits named most | Parental leave (27%), Equity (20%), Unlimited PTO (6%) |
| Most common level | Senior (34% of postings) |
| Titles employers use | Senior Data Scientist, Data Scientist, Staff Data Scientist, Data Science Manager, Staff Data Scientist, Ads, Curriculum Manager - Data Science and AI |
Counted from the 373 open postings for this work on Nov 14, 2026, read from employers’ own careers pages. Recounted on every update.
Questions about hiring a data scientist
- What should a data scientist job description include?
- What the person will achieve in the first year, the duties, the must-have experience, the pay range and how the hiring steps work. For this work, today’s postings name Python, SQL, Machine Learning most often.
- Should a data scientist job posting show the salary?
- Yes, if you can: 63% of today’s 373 open data scientist postings here do. A range filters out people who would turn the offer down, and several US states and EU countries now require it.
- How many years of experience should I ask for?
- The median in today’s data scientist postings is 5 years. Ask for what the work needs: every extra year you require shrinks the pool of applicants.
Everything about data scientist work
See also: 373 open data scientist jobs · data scientist pay · how to hire a data scientist · all job description templates