After Pooja Ramesh left her engineering job at Intel Corp. to get married and move to Denver two years ago, she took her time finding a new gig.

In fact, she spent an extra 12 weeks last fall training for a career that has become one of the hottest jobs of 2016: data scientist.

“Everything clicked,” said Ramesh, who used part of her time at the Galvanize data-science program to explore how data science can speed up the detection of breast cancer. “I was doing statistical analysis, but I didn’t know it fell under data science. In coming to the open house (last fall), I realized I’d been doing this.”

Data scientist, named the best job in America for 2016 by job site Glassdoor, is the sexy mashup of traditional careers from data analysis, economics, statistics, computer science and others.

But it goes beyond collecting and analyzing data. It’s a job for the curious, for the intuitive and for those who like to not just solve problems but figure out the problem. It’s part science, part art.

The rise of data science is due to the explosive growth of data collection — or big data — and the need for companies to make sense of the mishmash of new types of data from smartphones, images, human behavior and even handwriting.

“Since all companies have an online presence these days, they all need people who know how to manage and store data that helps them

make better business decisions,” said Glassdoor’s chief economist, Andrew Chamberlain. “It isn’t a big surprise to see data scientist at No. 1 this year because it’s one of the hottest and fastest-growing jobs we’re seeing right now.”

The type of job has been around in some form for years, said Masum Muttalib, who oversees a team of more than 20 data scientists at Level 3 Communications in Broomfield.

“Data science is pretty popular jargon these days but the methods and tools have been around a lot longer,” said Muttalib, Level 3’s director of microeconomics and operations research. “It’s been in use at Level 3 since the early 2000s.”

He pointed to the emergence of cheaper and faster computers, and the availability of open-source tools and software as large contributors to the job’s rising popularity.

“The ubiquity and dropping cost of data science has allowed us to employ and answer more problems that seemed too complicated in the past,” Muttalib said. “The level of expertise that’s available now and the cost to implement a test has dropped so quickly. It’s very accessible. It’s not unheard of to build a small team, and that would not have been possible 10 to 15 years ago.”

One of Colorado’s largest employers of data scientists is Datalogix, known as Oracle Data Cloud since Oracle acquired the Westminster company last year. It expects more from future employees than knowing the academic tools of being a good data scientist.

“I ask about conflict and how they resolved it. I’m really looking for folks who ultimately found a common ground,” said vice president of data science Robin Opie, who oversees about 90 data scientists.

“The world is not run on numbers alone. Numbers give people the information to make better decisions,” he said. “There’s all sorts of context that the analyst doesn’t have, and if they’re dismissing context from folks who think about the world differently, they’re missing a huge part.”

But another quality data scientists need is the ability to communicate their data to companies. Otherwise, it’s useless.

“To be an effective data science organization, you have to be able to interface with the rest of the world,” Opie said.

Growth also comes from non-tech industries with a desire to hire data scientists. On Glassdoor, companies such as Kohl’s, AAA auto club and Publisher’s Clearing House are searching for one.

Tech companies, including Microsoft, Facebook and IBM, employ the most, at 227, 132 and 98, respectively, according to a report by RJ Metrics.

Anthem Insurance posted a slew of data-science related jobs in Denver in the past month. But the company was quick to say it is flexible and will work with national candidates who prefer to live elsewhere.

“Data science has been mature for the last couple years in retail, e-commerce and fintech (financial technology). They’re really strong. We have to leverage those,” said Shawn Wang, vice president of data science for Anthem’s health care analytics department. “Our preference is to find people within the health care space, but we know there is a limited supply. It’s not easy.”

The trend of data science started on the coasts where more tech companies are based. That also led to the rise of educators, such as General Assembly, a tech bootcamp. It started in New York in 2011 and today has 19 campuses worldwide. It plans to start offering data-science courses at its new Denver campus this fall.

Denver-based Galvanize acquired San Francisco’s Zipfian Academy in late 2014 and integrated Zipfian’s data-science course into its other campuses. Since 2014, 94 percent of the Californian graduates have found jobs, averaging $114,000.

Data science took its time to get to Denver. Galvanize’s first data-science class here was last fall.

“Right now, honestly, what a lot of our students are doing is educating the market as to what they can do with data,” said Joshua Bernhard, who teaches data science at Galvanize. “A lot of people in the Denver market currently don’t know what they could be doing with their data because they never had anyone with the experience our students have.”

Even so, Ramesh hasn’t had trouble since graduating two weeks ago. She has had five interviews and two job offers. She’s undecided and has no regrets about spending an extra 12 weeks of training as a data scientist.

“What I learned is when I look at data, what are the things I should do right away, what should I look for,” she said. “If I hadn’t come to this program, I wouldn’t have developed this intuition. I wouldn’t have known there were so many different techniques to extract information from data. It’s unbelievable what you can do.”

Tamara Chuang: tchuang@denverpost.com or visit dpo.st/tamara

Data on data scientists in u.s. on jan. 8

Job openings: 1,736

Median base salary: $116,840

Rank in Glassdoor’s “25 Best Jobs in America 2016”: No. 1

Rank in Glassdoor’s “25 Best Jobs in America 2015”: No. 9

Source: Glassdoor’

What are data scientists?

Data scientists not only collect and analyze data, they figure out what is important and how companies can benefit. Data sources today are no longer limited to text databases but can be found in images, human behavior and handwriting. With the power of computers and affordable open-source tools widely available, data scientists can combine multiple types of data to find solutions to old problems and new ones.

Salary

In its list “25 Best Jobs in America 2016,” Glassdoor puts data scientist at the top. On Jan. 8, there were 1,736 such job openings in the country. The median salary was $116,840. According to Denver-based Galvanize, which teaches data science, graduates from its California program since 2014 have a 94 percent placement rate and an average starting salary of $114,000. Galvanize launched its first class in Denver in the fall. Placement rates and salary statistics for Denver are not yet available.

The six-figure salaries are attractive but include jobs on the East and West coasts, so they may not reflect the reality of salaries in Denver. Robin Opie, who is with Oracle Data Cloud, said his company is very aggressive with salaries in order to recruit top data scientists. But, in general, salaries in the Denver area tend to be 10 to 15 percent less than either coast. But recruiter Robert Half Technology, which noted in its 2016 Salary Guide that data-science jobs had the second-highest jump in tech salaries last year, says data-science starting salaries in Denver are between $114,232 and $161,130.

Getting started

Inquisitive minds are encouraged, but you’ll need some background in computer science, statistics, analytics and math. Learn how to code and program.

Good news: Powerful computers are much more affordable, and open-source software is widely available.

Tools and programming languages include Hadoop, Hive, R and Python.

A number of local data scientists meet regularly. On Meetup.com, there are several data-science and big-data meetups in the Denver and Boulder area.

Entry-level courses are available at Massive Open Online Course sites such as Coursera, which offers a $470 nine-course introduction to data science.

Pricier classes in Denver — at Galvanize for $16,000 or General Assembly for $14,500 — offer 12-week immersive experiences, as well as job connections in the local and alumni community.

What do data scientists do?

“Data scientists analyze Internet traffic and find patterns of normal behavior and anomalies that might point to suspicious activity, which could help prevent another massive retail credit-card threat or denial-of-service attack from taking down an online-gaming platform.”

Masum Muttalib, Level 3 Communications’ director of microeconomics and operations research, who leads a team of 20 data scientists

“If we know that you recently unlocked an offer for $1 cash back on Chobani at King Soopers, we can automatically prioritize any new yogurt-related offers available at other stores in the future that you’re likely to be interested in.”

Bijal Shah, vice president of analytics at Ibotta, whose mobile app pays rebates on items purchased at grocery stores and other retailers

By merging Black Friday and Cyber Monday e-mail subject lines with engagement results, SendGrid discovered that subject lines with “50 percent off” performed no better than those offering “20 percent off” — and that subject lines with no mention of any percentage off performed the best.

Victor Amin, a data scientist at SendGrid, which sends millions of e-mails a day for his clients

Quickly find abnormal cell growth in slides of breast-cancer biopsies. This could pinpoint mitosis activity and direct pathologists to view specific areas on the slide, saving time and offering a second opinion.

Pooja Ramesh, a recent Galvanize graduate who applied data science to breast cancer research for her project

Where the health care industry has kept patient data separate — such as prescriptions, doctor visits and insurance — data science could combine a patient’s records to flag the doctor or patient if a prescription went unfilled.

Shawn Wang, vice president of data science for Anthem’s health care analytics department

Offer highly personalized and relevant products to the customer when they are browsing our digital channels.

Ratnakar Lavu, executive vice president of digital technology for retailer Kohl’s

1

The position of “data scientist” on a list of the 25 best jobs in America in 2016, according to the job website Glassdoor

1,736

Job openings for data scientists

$116,840

Median salary, according to Glassdoor

What are data scientists?

Data scientists not only collect and analyze data, they figure out what is important and how companies can benefit. Data sources today are no longer limited to text databases but can be found in images, human behavior and handwriting. With the power of computers and affordable open-source tools widely available, data scientists can combine multiple types of data to find solutions to old problems and new ones.

Salary and job placement

According to Denver-based Galvanize, data scientists in the Denver metro area can expect a starting salary of $85,000-$100,000 — about 80 percent of Bay Area graduates.

The six-figure salaries are attractive but include jobs on the East and West coasts, so they may not reflect the reality of salaries in Denver. Robin Opie, who is with Oracle Data Cloud, said his company is very aggressive with salaries in order to recruit top data scientists. But, in general, salaries in the Denver area tend to be 10 to 15 percent less than either coast.

Become a data scientist

Entry-level courses are available at Massive Open Online Course sites such as Coursera, which offers a $470 nine-course introduction to data science. Pricier classes in Denver — at Galvanize for $16,000 or General Assembly for $14,500 — offer 12-week immersive experiences, as well as job connections in the local and alumni community.

Getting started in the field

Inquisitive minds are encouraged, but you’ll need some background in computer science, statistics, analytics and math. Learn how to code and program

Good news: Powerful computers are much more affordable, and open-source software is widely available. Tools and programming languages include Hadoop, Hive, R and Python. A number of local data scientists meet regularly. On Meetup.com, there are several data-science and big-data meetups in the Denver and Boulder area.

More on what data scientists do

“Data scientists analyze Internet traffic and find patterns of normal behavior and anomalies that might point to suspicious activity, which could help prevent another massive retail credit-card threat or DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack from taking down an online-gaming platform.”

– Masum Muttalib, Level 3 Communications’ director of microeconomics and operations research, who leads a team of 20 data scientists

“If we know that you recently unlocked an offer for $1 cash back on Chobani at King Soopers, we can automatically prioritize any new yogurt-related offers available at other stores in the future that you’re likely to be interested in.”

– Bijal Shah, vice president of analytics at Ibotta, whose mobile app pays rebates on items purchased at grocery stores and other retailers

Offer highly personalized and relevant products to the customer when they are browsing our digital channels.

– Ratnakar Lavu, executive vice president of digital technology for retailer Kohl’s