Competitive Data Scientist – Kaggle / Machine Learning / AI Evaluation

Competitive Data Scientist – Kaggle / Machine Learning / AI Evaluation

Location: Fully Remote

Engagement: Contract (~15 hours per week)

Advertised Compensation: USD $60–$120/hour

Schedule: Flexible – Choose your working hours and days

About the Opportunity

Ufinity Ventures is sharing an opportunity for experienced Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, Applied Mathematics Experts, and Competitive ML Practitioners to contribute to an advanced AI training and evaluation project.

We are particularly interested in professionals with demonstrable experience participating in Kaggle, DrivenData, Zindi, AIcrowd, Numerai, or other competitive Data Science and Machine Learning platforms .

Selected professionals will apply their expertise in mathematical reasoning, statistical modeling, machine learning, and programming to develop challenging technical tasks that test and improve next-generation AI systems.

The work goes beyond producing plausible answers. Each task must include a reproducible environment, a verified reference solution, and reliable evaluation mechanisms to distinguish correct solutions from incomplete or flawed approaches.

Key Responsibilities

• Design challenging Data Science, Machine Learning, and mathematical problem-solving tasks based on realistic technical scenarios.
• Build reproducible environments with appropriate datasets, dependencies, and configurations.
• Develop accurate, verifiable reference solutions using sound statistical and machine learning methodologies.
• Create robust tests and evaluation criteria to assess solution correctness and completeness.
• Run AI coding agents against technical tasks, investigate failures, and refine evaluation scenarios.
• Identify implementation errors, incorrect assumptions, data leakage, and methodological weaknesses.
• Evaluate the reliability, reproducibility, and accuracy of model-generated solutions.
• Apply mathematical reasoning and practical programming expertise to complex analytical problems.
• Document task requirements, solution methodologies, assumptions, and verification procedures clearly.
• Contribute expert insights that help improve AI systems’ analytical reasoning and technical problem-solving capabilities.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in competitive Data Science, Machine Learning, quantitative modeling, or relevant research competitions , including platforms such as Kaggle, DrivenData, Zindi, AIcrowd, Numerai, or similar.
• Strong understanding of Data Science, Machine Learning, mathematical reasoning, and quantitative problem-solving.
• Practical programming skills sufficient to implement, test, and verify technical solutions independently.
• Ability to understand and explain the methodologies used in analytical or ML solutions.
• Strong analytical thinking and ability to identify incorrect assumptions or flawed approaches.
• Ability to develop reproducible solutions and reliable evaluation methods.
• Strong technical documentation and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently in a remote, project-based environment.

Highly Valued Technical Skills

• Python Programming
• Machine Learning
• Statistical Modeling
• Mathematical Optimization
• Data Science Competitions
• Feature Engineering
• Model Evaluation
• Data Preprocessing
• Algorithms
• Testing & Debugging
• Reproducible ML Workflows
• Analytical Problem Solving

Strong Python programming experience , including testing, debugging, and working with unfamiliar code, is particularly valuable.

Competitive Data Science Experience

We particularly encourage applications from professionals who have participated in competitions on platforms such as:

• Kaggle
• DrivenData
• Zindi
• AIcrowd
• Numerai
• DataSource.ai
• CodaLab / Codabench

Candidates with publicly verifiable competition participation, completed projects, notebooks, or technical solutions are especially encouraged to apply.

Competition experience is important, but a particular Kaggle ranking, medal, or competition win is not specified as mandatory.

Who Should Apply?

This opportunity may be suitable for:

• Competitive Data Scientists
• Kaggle Competition Participants
• Machine Learning Engineers
• Applied ML Researchers
• Quantitative Modeling Specialists
• Applied Mathematicians
• Data Scientists with Competition Experience
• Python / ML Practitioners

Work Schedule

This is a **fully r…