Senior Data Scientist

As a global key player in yeasts and fermentation, Lesaffre designs, manufactures and markets innovative solutions for Baking, Food taste & pleasure, Health care and Biotechnology.

Family group born in northern France in 1853, now a multi-national and a multicultural company, Lesaffre is committed to working with confidence to better nourish and protect the planet.

In close collaboration with its clients and partners, Lesaffre employs people in more than 50 countries.

Lesaffre achieves a turnover of 3 billion euros.

Within its global transformation, the Digital, Data & Tech (DD&T) department drives Lesaffre's digital and data journey across four strategic pillars:

• Smart Operations (industrial efficiency & sustainability)
• Augmented R&D (accelerated innovation through data & AI)
• Customer Centricity (personalized and data-driven customer engagement)
• Empowered Enterprise (AI copilots and decision support)

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will be a key contributor to Lesaffre's AI transformation, designing, developing, and deploying advanced AI models to solve complex business challenges across industrial, R&D, and commercial activities.

You will work within an agile squad alongside Product Managers, Data Engineers, and MLOps specialists to deliver reliable, scalable, and impactful AI solutions.

You will act as a technical expert, ensuring that models are built with quality, explainability, and measurable business value.

Your main missions will be :

1. Design and Delivery of AI Solutions

• Lead the end-to-end development of Data Science models, from scoping to production.
• Build predictive, prescriptive, and generative AI models to improve operational performance, quality, and decision-making.
• Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Data Engineers, and business experts to translate business needs into concrete solutions.

2. GenAI and Productivity Enhancement

• Use GenAI code assistant tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Claude, …) to accelerate coding, testing, and documentation.
• Contribute to agentic AI and copilot initiatives empowering Lesaffre employees through conversational interfaces.
• Promote responsible and efficient use of GenAI tools within the team.

3. Industrialization and MLOps

• Ensure robustness, reproducibility, and scalability through MLOps standards (MLflow, DVC, CI/CD, Docker).
• Work with Data Engineers to optimize data pipelines and model serving in AWS / Snowflake environments.
• Monitor model performance, detect drift, and ensure continuous improvement.

4. Governance and Ethics

• Apply Lesaffre's AI Governance and Ethical AI Charter, ensuring fairness, transparency, and compliance with the EU AI Act.
• Document models, datasets, and assumptions to ensure auditability and responsible AI practices.

5. Knowledge Sharing and Community Contribution

• Share expertise and best practices with peers across the AI Community of Practice.
• Support upskilling initiatives and contribute to methodological and technical excellence.

Education & Experience

• MSc or PhD in Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience as a Data Scientist, ideally in industrial, biotech, or retail contexts.
• Proven experience in end-to-end AI project delivery and production deployment.

Technical Skills

• Proficient in Python, pandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Experience with Generative AI models (LLMs, embeddings, RAG pipelines, vector databases).
• Familiarity with GitHub Copilot, Claude, or similar AI code assistants.
• Skilled in SQL and Snowflake, with solid understanding of data engineering concepts.
• MLOps experience (MLflow, DVC, Airflow, Docker, CI/CD).
• Strong data visualization and communication skills.

Soft Skills

• Pragmatic, analytical, and business-oriented mindset.
• Collaborative and open to feedback, thriving in cross-functional teams.
• Ability to communicate complex topics clearly and effectively.
• Fluent in English; French is a plus.

What can Lesaffre offer you:

• We are a successful family-owned company with long-standing history where people truly matter.
• We promote a sense of fulfilment with a genuine mission: nourish and protect the planet.
• A good working atmosphere, in a brand-new Campus (With a Gym, a Restaurant, …) fostering synergies and teamwork.

At Lesaffre, diversity is a strength that enriches our culture and our teams. We are committed to offering you a work environment where you can thrive, regardless of your background, gender, age or abilities. We encourage all applications, as we believe that diverse perspectives strengthen our ability to innovate and meet the challenges of tomorrow.