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Permanent & Contract · Canada

Hire Data Scientists

Screened for scientists whose models survive contact with production, not just the notebook.

Why STACK IT

Built to hire data scientists, not fill seats.

Most agencies optimize for volume. We optimize for the one hire who’s right, vetted by people who understand the work.

A calibrated 3–5 person shortlistTypically within five business days, candidates chosen for your team, not a résumé flood.

Recruiters who can vet a model

We screen for whether a scientist's models hold up on real data and ship to production, not just impress in a notebook. No candidate reaches you without two recruiters signing off.

Every candidate is real

Fake profiles, proxy interviews, and AI-assisted answers are everywhere in tech hiring. We meet each candidate face-to-face on video and screen for AI patterns, so who you interview is who shows up.

Screened to stay, not just to start

A hire that leaves in a year isn't a win. We align trajectory, growth, and total comp so the scientist grows with your team instead of moving on.

You pay only when they start

Success-based and non-exclusive, no upfront fees, no retainers. We invoice on your scientist's first day, not before.

How we screen

The Data Scientists Evaluation Rubric.

We screen for how data scientists actually think. Every shortlist is judged against the same five criteria that predict whether someone delivers in your codebase.

Open any criterion to see what separates a strong hire

Strong signal

Picks methods that fit the data and the question, and knows when a simpler model wins.

Falls short

Reaches for the fanciest model and overfits to noise.

Strong signal

Ships models that run reliably on live data, not just in a notebook demo.

Falls short

Builds impressive notebooks that never reach production.

Strong signal

Spots leakage, bias, and bad labels before they quietly poison the result.

Falls short

Trusts the dataset and ships a confident wrong answer.

Strong signal

Ties the model to a decision or metric the business actually cares about.

Falls short

Optimizes accuracy on a problem no one asked to solve.

Strong signal

Explains what the model does, and where it fails, in plain terms.

Falls short

Hides behind jargon and treats the model as a black box.

A candidate only reaches your shortlist after they meet all of our standards.

Hire data scientists with confidence.

Real technical screening, a calibrated shortlist in days, and candidates vetted for fit, not just resumes. Let’s start your search.

  • Pay only when they start
  • First candidates in 24–48 hrs
  • Screened for skills and fit

Specializations

Data Scientists, across your whole stack.

Whatever your team runs on, we screen for the people who do the work right.

Machine Learning

Models that hold up on live data.

Scikit-learn XGBoost

Deep Learning

Neural nets for vision, text, and more.

PyTorch TensorFlow

NLP & LLMs

Language models put to real work.

Transformers RAG

Experimentation

A/B tests and causal inference done right.

A/B Testing Causal

MLOps

Models deployed, monitored, and retrained.

Pipelines Monitoring

Data Wrangling

Turning messy data into real signal.

Pandas SQL

The cost of waiting

An open role isn’t free.

An empty seat doesn’t delay work, it redistributes it. The longer the search drags, the more it costs.

Every week a role stays open, the cost lands on the team you already have.

  • Work waits in the backlog while priorities pile up.
  • They cover work that isn’t theirs, until something slips.
  • The longer the seat stays empty, the harder the restart.

Speed isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between a gap and a setback.

Time to fill this role

Industry average National, by experience & seniority
~62 days
With STACK IT typical placement
2–3 weeks
48 hrs
First qualified candidate
3–5 days
Calibrated shortlist
18%
Fewer delivery delays once they start

How you hire

Permanent or contract, your call.

Two models, one standard of quality. Bring on the data scientists you need the way that fits your timeline and budget.

Permanent

Permanent hire

Best when you’re building the team for the long term.

  • You only pay when they start, success-based, no upfront fee.
  • Full-cycle vetting for technical and cultural fit.
  • Backed by our 90-day replacement guarantee.
OR

Contract

Contract hire

Best when you need delivery capacity now, without adding headcount.

  • We’re the employer of record: payroll, compliance, and onboarding handled.
  • Most contractors placed in 5–10 business days.
  • Convert to permanent anytime, with a buyout discount that grows each month.

Not sure which fits? Compare permanent vs. contract

FAQ

Hiring data scientists, answered.

The questions teams usually ask before starting a search with us.

Recruiter-led and scenario-based, not a take-home notebook. We dig into real projects to see how they chose methods, handled messy data, and shipped a model that holds up. Every candidate is met face-to-face over video, the same practice behind our AI hiring fraud protection, and no one reaches your inbox until a second reviewer signs off.

You'll typically see your first qualified candidate within 24–48 hours, and a calibrated shortlist of three to five within about five business days. Most permanent roles close in two to three weeks; contract placements often start within 5–10 business days.

For permanent hires it's success-based: you pay only when a candidate starts, with no upfront fee or retainer. Contract placements run on a transparent hourly rate that already covers payroll, compliance, and onboarding. There's no cost to simply engage us.

Permanent placements are backed by our 90-day replacement guarantee: if it doesn't work out within the first 90 days, we replace them at no charge. It's part of how we stay accountable long after the placement. For contract roles, our backfill guarantee means we replace a contractor quickly and at no extra cost if they exit early.

No. We work non-exclusively by default, so you can keep your internal sourcing running or use other firms alongside us. We'd rather earn repeat business through results than lock you into an agreement. We just work best when feedback is quick and expectations are clear.

Still have a question? Talk to a recruiter

Bill 190 compliant by default.

Every search keeps your hiring audit-ready in Ontario.

See the Bill 190 checklist
  • Salary-range disclosure
  • AI-use transparency
  • Decisions within 45 days