Data Scientist

About Us Planful is the pioneer of financial performance management cloud software. The Planful platform, which helps businesses drive peak financial performance, is used around the globe to streamline business-wide planning, budgeting, consolidations, reporting, and analytics. Planful’s award-winning AI capabilities accelerate decision-making, helping Planful users in over 100 countries to close faster, accelerate cycle times, increase productivity, and improve accuracy. Planful is a private company with more than 1,500 customers, including Bose, Boston Red Sox, Five Guys, Grafton Plc, Gousto, and Specialized, and is backed by Vector Capital, a leading global private equity firm. Learn more at . About the Role We are seeking a hands-on Data Scientist to join our Hyderabad, India office with a strong focus on AI/ML engineering. You will work primarily in Python to operate, scale, and enhance our GenAI services inside the Planful product. You’ll collaborate closely with Product Management, Engineering (AI/ML), User Experience, and QA/Operations to deliver reliable, secure, and performant AI-powered experiences for our customers. Requirements: 2–5 years of professional experience building production software/services (Python-first), ideally in smaller, scrappy teams. Strong Python programming fundamentals and software engineering best practices across the SDLC. Experience building and operating web services and APIs with FastAPI (or similar) and a production-grade server (e.g., Uvicorn/Gunicorn), containerized with Docker. Practical understanding of scalability and reliability: concurrency/async I/O, performance tuning, caching, rate limiting, and observability (logs/metrics/tracing). Experience integrating AI/ML capabilities into applications - such as working with LLM APIs, building prompt workflows, and applying retrieval or summarization techniques in production environments. Basic familiarity with querying and managing data in production systems (SQL or similar). Excellent communication skills and the ability to partner with Product, UX, and QA/Operations. Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering (preferred) or related field; Master’s or certifications in AI/ML a plus. Responsibilities Own and operate Planful’s GenAI service in production: monitor, troubleshoot, and resolve issues; improve reliability, performance, and cost efficiency. Design, build, and extend Python-based APIs and microservices using FastAPI, Uvicorn/Gunicorn, and Docker, with strong testing and observability. Implement and enhance LLM-driven features (e.g., NL-to-action, summarization, retrieval) by applying proven patterns like RAG, prompt workflows, and guardrails. Drive scalability and concurrency improvements; proactively identify bottlenecks and implement fixes (async patterns, caching, query optimization). Collaborate with Product Management, UX, Engineering, and QA/Operations to scope, deliver, and iterate on customer-facing AI capabilities. Build POCs to evaluate new approaches and rapidly turn validated concepts into production-ready solutions. Stay current with the fast-evolving AI/ML ecosystem and pragmatically apply relevant innovations to solve real customer problems. Promote engineering and AI best practices across teams; mentor peers and contribute to documentation and runbooks. Why Planful Planful exists to enrich the world by helping our customers and our people achieve peak performance. To foster the best in class work we’re so proud of, we’ve created a best in class culture, including: Volunteer days, Birthday PTO, and company-wide Wellness Days Supply of diapers and meal deliveries for the first month of your Maternity/Paternity leave Office hub in Hyderabad, offering complimentary breakfast and lunch for employees. Convenient transportation options, including an office shuttle for day shifts and personal driver services for night shift employees. Engaging in-office cultural events that foster collaboration and community. Join Employee Resource Groups like Women of Planful, Parents of Planful, and more. We celebrate individuality and encourage teammates to bring their authentic selves to work - with full support for creating new ERGs and communities along the way Participate in People Programs that foster connection and wellbeing, such as Movember, Summer Wellness, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Hispanic Heritage Month