Data Scientist - OCTAVE : Data & Advanced Analytics Centre of Excellence

John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) is Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate in the Colombo Stock Exchange. From managing hotels and resorts in Sri Lanka and the Maldives to providing port, marine fuel and logistics services to IT solutions, manufacturing of food and beverages to running a chain of supermarkets, tea broking to stock broking, life insurance and banking to real estate, we have made our presence felt in  virtually every major sphere of the economy.

Our business built over 150 years touches nearly every major sector of the economy. We generate a significant quantum of data, and we intend to use it to build the future of our businesses. Our Digital and Analytics insights can positively disrupt life for all Sri Lankans and our commitment to passion and excellence will help to deliver superior value to customers, our people, and the community.

Octave is at the core of data-driven strategic and operational decision-making at JKH. We solve some of the most complex challenges across multiple industry verticals by developing advanced machine learning and AI solutions—positively impacting the lives of millions of Sri Lankans. In addition to our work within JKH, we also collaborate with local and international clients to support their AI and data analytics transformations. At Octave, you’ll be part of a world-class team of data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI researchers, guided by senior technical leaders with PhDs in AI-related fields and experience at leading global tech companies.

Role description

The Data Scientist will work as a core member of advanced analytics project delivery teams within Octave. This person will be responsible for conducting simple to complex statistical analyses using large datasets. They will be involved in building and improving advanced statistical and machine learning models. They will also work closely with an integrated analytics team including data engineers, machine learning engineers, business intelligence engineers and delivery associates.

Key responsibilities

• Perform advanced statistical analyses to extract actionable insights, identify trends, and evaluate business performance.
• Design and implement predictive and descriptive models using supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques.
• Design and implement experimental and non-experimental methods to measure the impact and value of model-driven intervention.
• Collaborate with data scientists, data engineers, business intelligence engineers, and analytics delivery associates to develop, test, and deploy end-to-end analytical solutions.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of models, codebases, assumptions, and workflows to ensure reproducibility and transparency.
• Participate in collaborative development practices, including code reviews, knowledge sharing, and structured problem-solving sessions.
• Clearly communicate analytical findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning by researching industry best practices, contributing to shared knowledge, and driving innovation in problem-solving approaches.

Required skills

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics  or a related field.
• Proficiency in Python programming.
• A sound understanding of statistics and probability theory fundamentals.
• Familiarity with machine learning methods and popular data science libraries (e.g., NumPy, scikit-learn) is a strong plus.

Managerial skills

• Ability to work well in agile environments in diverse teams with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong drive to learn and good organizational skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex analytical and technical content.

Mindset & behaviour

• High energy and passionate individual who can work closely with other team members.
• Excited about trying new solutions outside standard methodologies.
• Willing to adopt an iterative approach; experimental mindset to drive innovation.

John Keells Group is an equal-opportunity employer, and we invite applications from all suitably qualified individuals to join our team. By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal information for recruitment purposes and acknowledge that reference checks may be conducted.

By applying, you consent to the processing of your personal information for recruitment purposes and acknowledge that reference checks may be conducted.