Synthesis x Data Scientist (Junior)

At Synthesis, we push the boundaries of what’s possible with Open Data. It’s a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment at the intersection of data science, cultural analysis & brand consultancy. We call this Open Source Intelligence for brands.

As a Junior Data Scientist at Synthesis, you will help build models, tools, and data pipelines that power the insights and decision frameworks we deliver to marketing professionals. You will work with open data, ranging from search, social, e-commerce, to academic papers and patents, to understand audience behaviour and anticipate how needs will evolve in both the short and long term.

The role spans the full data science process: shaping datasets, cleaning and preparing data, modelling behaviour, and visualising results. You will work closely with cultural strategists to deliver clear, actionable insights to clients. In addition to working on client projects, you will develop new features across our data pipelines and models, learning and working alongside other data scientists and engineers.

We are a small, collaborative team with diverse backgrounds, from computer science and engineering to anthropology and law. We value curiosity, creativity, and a spirit of experimentation. If you're excited about combining data and culture to solve real-world problems, we'd love to hear from you!

What you’ll need.

• 1–3 years of experience in data manipulation and analysis using Python and SQL.
• Experience applying large language models or working with natural language processing techniques (e.g., embeddings, semantic parsing, topic modelling, and text classification). Familiarity with processing Asian languages is a plus.
• Strong grasp of statistical methods and core machine learning algorithms, with practical experience using libraries such as scikit-learn, statsmodels, and the ability to select appropriate models based on data characteristics and problem context.
• Comfortable working with large, messy, and unstructured datasets, particularly text and image-based data.
• Ability to clearly communicate technical insights to non-technical audiences and collaborate with strategists to turn analysis into business impact.
• A collaborative mindset, with openness to feedback and diverse perspectives.

Bonus points if you have the following.

• Experience contributing to software packages in a collaborative environment (clearly structured code, tests, and merge requests) and experience with version control via Git.
• Experience building data extraction and processing pipelines (e.g., in Airflow or Dagster), or extracting data from external sources via APIs or web-scraping.
• Experience working with tools from cloud providers such as Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Why Synthesis?

Synthesis is known for delivering exceptional data models and products that unravel the stories of the people they represent and inspire our partners with the confidence to act.

Partnering with the world’s most successful brands in fashion, beauty, content, and travel, we’re building specialised solutions to solve problems of planning for the future. Rooted in culture, tested in data science, we spot and anticipate changes and connections in culture to inspire action and help brands grow with a new wave of audiences. After three years of iteratively developing and perfecting these models, we are preparing to launch a series of products over the next 5 years.

We will be at the forefront of a shift towards leveraging open data to develop rich, honest, human insight. In an industry that has for too long relied on ‘question-response’ approach to understanding changes in behaviour, we prioritise layering behavioural, performative, search and sales data to highlight the discrepancies between what people say they do and what they actually do. We see a $40 billion industry that has failed to innovate for too long, and we are just getting started.

About Synthesis

We do Human Centred Data Science.

It’s a way of reimaging open data sources from a human perspective. It prioritises behaviour and context to unravel why people do what they do, at scale. By blending data science with human and market intelligence, we help our clients identify early signals of change and predict their business implications.

Diverse by design.

Synthesis is a team of digital researchers, gaming designers, data forecasters, network scientists, ethnographers, and engineers. Cultural and category experts train our models, ensuring they detect measures that matter most, whilst data scientists uncover patterns the eye cannot see.

Building bespoke, comprehensive datasets where none exist.

We work with open data - search, ratings, social, sales. By layering multiple signals, we build robust and data-driven stories around brands, businesses, and consumer behavior.

Asia first, global applied.

Our products must work in Asia first—the hardest test markets. We continue to make significant investments in language and capabilities across Asian-specific platforms. Now applied in Europe, LatAm, and the USA.