below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
90%
of similar roles. Most pay
$162,000–$223,825
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$276k
versus about
$193k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About USAA
USAA (United Services Automobile Association) is a San Antonio-based Fortune 500 financial services company founded in 1922, dedicated to providing insurance, banking, and investment solutions exclusively to U.S. military members, veterans, and their families.
USAA currently has
65 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$114,080–$218,030
across 42 roles with salary data.
The Director, Data Scientist leads a high-performing team of AI and data scientists to architect and scale next-generation AI capabilities. This role involves building reusable, horizontal AI platforms and solutions to drive enterprise-wide automation and strategic differentiation. Key responsibilities include directing the development of scalable LLM applications, RAG pipelines, and autonomous agent systems while optimizing the AI lifecycle from prompt engineering to inference cost-efficiency. The position requires expertise in LangChain, LlamaIndex, vector databases, fine-tuning, and multi-agent orchestration. The successful candidate will navigate complex technical challenges by establishing modern AI infrastructure, ensuring adherence to model risk management frameworks, and managing data governance. This role solves the business problem of transforming research into production-grade performance while mitigating risks like hallucinations and data leakage across disparate business units.
Architect and scale next-generation AI capabilities including Generative AI, LLMs, and autonomous agent ecosystems.
Lead a team of data scientists and engineers to build and deploy scalable LLM applications and RAG pipelines.
Develop modular, reusable horizontal AI platforms to solve complex challenges across disparate business units.
Advise executives on AI strategy, planning, and budgeting to drive competitive advantage and market differentiation.
Establish modern AI infrastructure, tooling pipelines, and deployment standards in partnership with Enterprise Architecture.
Ensure all AI models and workflows adhere to safety guidelines, data governance, and regulatory compliance.
Monitor and control AI operational risks such as hallucinations, data leakage, and autonomous agent drift.
Recruit, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of AI talent to meet organizational goals.
What we're looking for
8+ years of progressive experience in machine learning, advanced data science, and AI development with a focus on Generative AI, LLMs, or agentic systems.
An Advanced Degree (Master’s or PhD) in Computer Science, AI, Data Science, or a quantitative STEM field with 6+ years of relevant experience.
3+ years of direct people leadership experience building and managing high-performing technical teams.
Proven track record of architecting and delivering scalable, high-performance horizontal AI platforms or reusable capabilities.
Deep technical background in frameworks including LangChain, LlamaIndex, vector databases, fine-tuning, RAG architectures, and multi-agent orchestration.
Comprehensive understanding of AI governance, risk mitigation, model risk policies, and regulatory compliance for automated systems.
Exceptional executive communication skills to translate complex AI architectures and ROI metrics for non-technical stakeholders.
Must be able to work without immigration support (H-1B, TN, STEM OPT, etc.).
Python
AWS
Spark
H2O
Scala
R
Conda
Machine Learning
Deep Learning
Time Series
Clustering
Classification
Sentiment Analysis
Big Data
Relational Database
Python
AWS
Spark
H2O
Scala
R
Conda
Machine Learning
Deep Learning
Time Series
Clustering
Classification
Sentiment Analysis
Big Data
Relational Database
Machine Learning
Python
SQL
Java
Spark
Scala
R
scikit learn
TensorFlow
Data Visualization
Data Strategy
Data Governance
Optimization Models
Statistics
Econometrics
Model Validation