Senior Data Scientist – Time Series, LLM/RAG & Power BI

A major public-sector organisation in Flanders is seeking a Senior Data Scientist for its two-person data team. The assignment is to design and deliver a transferable Proof of Concept that detects and explains trend changes in transport-related data. The work combines data science, time-series analysis, statistical modelling, LLM/RAG technologies, data engineering and BI visualisation in a complex public-sector ICT environment. The PoC is intended as an analytical support tool, with findings subject to expert validation, and will assess feasibility within the existing ICT environment. What we're looking for - Minimum 5 years of proven experience in data analysis - Minimum 5 years of experience analysing complex data flows - Minimum 5 years of experience optimising and tuning databases and queries - Proven experience with complete data science lifecycles, from analysis to production-ready implementation - Strong experience in time-series analysis - Experience with trend detection and change-point detection - Experience with frameworks such as Darts, Sktime and/or PyTorch Forecasting - Proven experience with LLMs and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) - Strong experience with Python and/or R - Proven experience with data modelling, preferably in Databricks - Strong Power BI experience, including dashboard development, data visualisation and optimisation - Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical, engineering or related field, or equivalent experience - Dutch at CEFR C2 level – mandatory - Advanced SQL - SQL and/or Oracle databases - Python - R - Scripting languages such as Shell, Perl or Python - Data preparation and transformation - Data modelling - Big Data analysis - Advanced statistics - Time-series forecasting - Change-point detection - LLM / RAG - Power BI - Database and query optimisation Nice-to-have - Experience gathering functional and technical requirements directly from business stakeholders - Ability to translate business requirements into effective BI and data solutions - Strong reporting skills - Ability to explain complex analyses clearly to stakeholders with different technical backgrounds - Experience working within Belgian public-sector organisations is considered an asset Additional details - Start date: 1 November 2026 - End date: 30 June 2027 - Application deadline: 28 September 2026 - Design, build, test and document a working Proof of Concept; analyse large and complex datasets; prepare data and assess data quality; detect trends, anomalies and structural breaks; and perform time-series analysis and change-point detection. - Identify potential relationships between observed evolutions and explanatory variables without automatically presenting correlations as causal relationships. Evaluate the strength, uncertainty and relevance of identified relationships, and report transparently on data sources, methods, uncertainty, limitations and reproducibility. - Work with LLM and RAG technologies where relevant; develop Python and/or R-based analytical components; contribute to data modelling, preferably in Databricks; analyse and optimise data flows, databases, queries and data processing performance; and create Power BI dashboards and visualisations. - Translate complex analytical outcomes into clear insights for technical and non-technical stakeholders; contribute to the PoC’s technical architecture and integration; comply with security, access management, data classification and integration requirements; deliver source code, configurations, technical documentation and knowledge transfer; and ensure the PoC can be maintained, extended and transferred to the client or a third party.