Data Scientist

Nelnet is a diversified and innovative company committed to enriching lives through the power of service as a student loan servicer, professional services company, consumer loan originator and servicer, payments processor, renewable energy solutions, and K-12 and higher education expert. For over 40 years, Nelnet has been serving its customers, associates, and communities.

The perks of working at Nelnet go beyond our benefits package. When you join the Nelnet team, you're part of a community invested in the success of each individual. That support comes through in our work, as we are united by our mission of creating opportunities for people where they live, learn, and work.

Nelnet is seeking an innovative and technically skilled Data Scientist to join our high-performing Data Science team that works with several businesses in the Nelnet conglomerate. This role will play a pivotal part in driving data-first decision-making and operational excellence across the organization. You'll be at the forefront of building cutting-edge predictive models, designing custom algorithms, and leveraging emerging tools such as Large Language Models (LLMs) to solve complex financial problems and transform business processes.

As a Data Scientist, you will work on high-impact projects ranging from credit risk modeling and fraud detection, to RAG chatbots, agentic automation, and process optimization using AI. You’ll partner closely with business leaders, engineers, and analysts to deploy data products that directly shape strategic initiatives across Nelnet's diverse service offerings.

• Design and develop novel machine learning models tailored to financial applications such as risk assessment, borrower behavior prediction, churn modeling, and pricing strategy.

• Prototype and productionize LLM-powered tools and workflows for knowledge extraction, report generation, automated customer service, and internal efficiency gains.

• Partner with engineers to ingest, process, and refine structured and unstructured data from internal systems, cloud environments (AWS), APIs, and external vendors.

• Execute advanced statistical and quantitative analyses to uncover trends, test hypotheses, and provide strategic guidance.

• Identify and evaluate new data sources to enhance model performance and business insight.

• Translate complex technical findings into business-friendly presentations and visualizations (e.g., using Power BI or custom dashboards).

• Drive process automation by integrating programmatic solutions into workflows, minimizing manual touchpoints.

• Stay up-to-date on emerging AI/ML and LLM technologies, assessing their potential applicability to business needs.

• Mentor associate scientists and contribute to a culture of experimentation, collaboration, and data literacy.

At this time, we are unable to move forward with candidates that reside in these states:  Alabama, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.

Nelnet believes in a hybrid work environment that accommodates both in-office and remote work. This model promotes a positive work-life balance and culture, enabling in-person collaboration when possible while also providing benefits associated with remote work. The standard hybrid work schedule includes a 3/2 (in-office/work-from-home) split for associates that reside within 30 miles of an office. This is subject to change, based on manager discretion.

US Citizenship and the ability to obtain a 6C Federal security clearance are required for this role. Some travel may be required.

Annual Salary Hiring Range for this position is $80k - $105k

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree (required) in Data Science, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, or a related quantitative field.

Experience:

• 4+ years of experience in data science or applied analytics, preferably in financial services or a related regulated environment, or completion of a bachelor's/master's program related to Data Science.

• 2+ years of direct experience designing, developing, and deploying predictive models using Python and ML frameworks.

• Experience working with LLMs and NLP tools (e.g., OpenAI, Hugging Face, LangChain) strongly preferred.

• Hands-on experience with SQL, AWS, and Python libraries such as Pandas, scikit-learn, Keras, or TensorFlow.

• Proven success using ML models to drive impact in business settings (e.g.,