Intern - Data Scientist

Our Vision: We make dreams possible.

Yes, we’re a student loan servicer. We’re also a technology company, idea incubator, start-up accelerator, and K-12 and higher education expert. At Nelnet, we’re so much more than what you think—and we’re just getting started. So, no matter what you want to do in life—build codes or build brands—we’re the best place to do it.

Join Nelnet as an intern and do real work that matters to our business. All Nelnet interns receive one-on-one mentorship, competitive pay, casual dress, flexible schedule, intern-specific programming, and meaningful work experience.

Apply to one of our internships today. Your career awaits.

As a Nelnet intern, you are welcomed into dynamic teams with tenured leaders who recognize and appreciate your input and growth. We plan to consider all candidates - even those who are not physically close to the Nelnet location or cannot re-locate.

Our summer program connects associates and interns company-wide through a weekly iTalks series, highlighting the diverse roles within our 24 business lines. In addition to your specific job responsibilities, you can look forward to strengthening your communication and collaboration skills through virtual meetings with a community of interns through the summer-long Pod Project.

Ultimately, you are not just an intern here at Nelnet. You are a pivotal, necessary addition to our teams. We are expectant that our summer 2022 program will be the best yet, and we want you to be a part of it. Whether you are an innovator, tech-expert, problem-solver, or beyond – you have the unique skillset to be a change-maker at Nelnet.

Nelnet is looking for a talented Data Science Intern to help drive our businesses forward. The Data Science team represents a niche division of our Analytics department tasked with solving our most complex quantitative, statistical, and data-oriented problems. This role will use a powerful blend of business acumen, analytics, mathematics, programming, and modeling to provide strategic recommendations, insights, and products across a diverse set of business areas and industries.

Functional projects typically include deep-dive operational and financial analyses, data wrangling and processing, programmatic automation, and predictive modeling. Our data scientist roles operate with wide-latitude and are often asked to tackle complicated questions that require creative solutions; candidates should be highly inquisitive, self-motivated, strong communicators, and have the ability to map out solutions effectively. Due to the nature of the work, strong programming skills and experience is preferred. By supporting teams that span the entire organization, we operate in a fun, fast-paced, and engaging environment that brings new and unique challenges every day.
This position requires work in support of the Company’s contract with the United States Department of Education (“ED”). As such, the United States Government requires that any applicant for this position must complete United States Government security clearance. Effective June 1, 2018, ED has informed Nelnet that security clearance applications for foreign nationals are not being accepted or processed. In light of this direction from ED, Nelnet will be unable to hire applicants without United States citizenship for such positions.

- Conduct advanced analyses and statistical deep-dives, with a focus on producing actionable recommendations and strategic guidance for decision makers.

- Develop and deploy custom models and algorithms using Python data and machine learning libraries.

- Mine, clean, process, transform and join data from a variety of sources including SQL servers, AWS environments, SalesForce, internal systems, and flat files.

- Identify, wrangle, scrape, and assemble new data sources from the web, data aggregators, and public sources.

- Build rich, interactive dashboards and visualizations from the ground up using PowerBI.

- Compile and present key findings and reports to all levels of the organization, including senior leadership.

- Continuously seek out opportunities to add value through process automation and programmatic solutions to manual tasks.

- Be an exceptional problem solver, idea machine, and source of creative solutions.

EDUCATION:

Education focus within in a Quantitative or Programming discipline. Quantitative disciplines are those that require a heavy amount of mathematics, statistics or analysis, including (but not limited to) fields such as Math, Physics, Finance or Economics.

EXPERIENCE:

Experience or classwork: (1) utilizing large, complex data sets and common data science tools, or (2) working on advanced computer science or programming projects.

COMPETENCIES – SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/ABILITIES:

- Strong ability to analyze and synthesize data.

- Proficiency in SQL and Python is preferred. Experience or classwork utilizing database and ETL tools preferred.

- Interest in designing, building, deploying, and validating machine-learning predictive models within a business framework.

- Familiarity using common BI and data visualization tools (Microsoft PowerBI preferred).

- Core understanding of statistical concepts and methods preferred.

- Highly accountable and inquisitive, able to manage multiple tasks in a fast paced dynamic environment. Self-motivated.

- Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal skills for coordinating across teams.

Nelnet is an Equal Opportunity Employer, complies with Executive Order 11246, and takes affirmative action to ensure that qualified applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to race, color, religion/creed, national origin, gender, or sex, marital status, age, disability, use of a guide dog or service animal, sexual orientation, military/veteran status, or any other status protected by Federal or State law or local ordinance.

Qualified individuals with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations in order to apply or compete for positions at Nelnet may request such accommodations by contacting Corporate Recruiting at 402-486-5725 or corporaterecruiting@nelnet.net.

Nelnet is a Drug Free and Tobacco Free Workplace.

Learning Outcomes

None listed