| I'm in a similar position myself. 5+ years in Data Science roles, and I've realized I'm less interested in the "generating insights" part of data science and more in building systems and architecture that support this type analytical work. This is what I've found in thinking about moving into a different type of role. Some of the following is based on what I've seen colleagues do. If you're interested in staying technical: Machine Learning Engineer, Software Engineer, consulting, and certain types of Pre and PostSales. A lot of people who work in "Data Science Engineering" aren't coding ML algorithms or doing linear algebra. What they are doing is building the systems that support data science processes and workflows. These are the systems that help to create repeatable insights for broader use, and not just one off scripts. Having a data science background + development skills goes well together for this. If you're interested in staying in Data Science and/or Engineering, but not having your technical work as a deliverable: Product Manager, Data Science Manager, Engineering Manager If you're interested in getting deep into modeling: Statistician, Operations Research, and some AI roles. If you're interested mostly in talking about Data Science and being focused on the business side of things: Sales, Sales oriented Chief Data Scientist, Business Development If you're interested in talking about data science and doing some technical work: Data Science Instructor, Data Science Product Evangelist, PreSales (depends on role). High Level Technical Support is an option as well. Not many people can diagnose a bug where some error in a algorithm is resulting in a faulty design matrix, or find a condition that results in a divide by zero error in a complex mathematical function, etc. You have to understand the theory behind a lot of the algorithms for this. Also, something I've learned. When I interview for roles now I'm VERY honest that I want a significant portion of my job to be coding and serious technical work (I enjoy building a nice Tableau/Spotfire Dashboard, but I don't consider that to be very technical). I don't have a software engineering background so it makes it harder for me to find a job, but I'm also more likely to end up in a job where I'm a fit. I've found these types of blended jobs are out there, but you have to hunt for them and be patient. |