Organization Overview: The Florida Panthers enter their 33 rd season in 2026-27 as one of the National Hockey League’s premier franchises. As back-to-back Stanley Cup champions in 2024 and 2025, the Cats have emerged victorious in 11 of their past 12 postseason series and have captured four Eastern Conference championships. The Panthers are led by President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito entering his seventh season, and President of Business Operations Michael White who begins his first full season.

As the NHL’s southernmost team, the Panthers operate four facilities in Broward County, Florida: Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise; the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs; the state-of-the-art Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale; and the renovated War Memorial Auditorium, which hosts concerts and events for the South Florida faithful year-round. An organization with deep roots in the community, the Panthers are owned by Vincent J. S.

Army. Emphasizing a culture of selfless service both on and off the ice, the Panthers pillar program, “Heroes Among Us,” honors a United States military veteran at every game. The Florida Panthers Foundation focuses on four core pillars: veterans’ affairs; children’s health and education; raising awareness for the endangered Florida Panther; and growing youth hockey throughout the region.

The Panthers remain committed to empowering our fans to live sustainably and to strengthen the resiliency of our diverse communities throughout Florida and the tri-county area. Senior Data Scientist, Hockey Operations Organization: Florida Panthers Hockey Club Department: Hockey Operations – Research & Development Reports To: Director of Research and Development FLSA Status: Exempt (Salaried) Employment Type: Full-Time Location: Baptist Health IcePlex, Fort Lauderdale, FL — On-Site Schedule: Flexibility required for evenings, weekends, and holidays during key periods of the hockey calendar (Trade Deadline, Amateur Draft, Training Camp) Job Summary As a Senior Data Scientist, you will be a foundational member of the R&D team responsible for driving analytical initiatives related to Hockey Operations and its supporting departments. You will build and deploy models, metrics, and tools that inform Hockey Operations decision-making and help communicate those insights clearly to stakeholders at all levels.

This role requires strong analytical depth, proficiency across the modern hockey analytics stack, and the ability to translate complex findings into compelling, actionable outputs. You will report directly to the Director of Research and Development and play a meaningful role in shaping how the organization applies data to competitive decision-making.

Responsibilities

Build, maintain, and enhance analytical tools, metrics, and models in support of Hockey Operations' initiatives and decision-making Create data visualizations and reports that communicate key ideas, findings, and recommendations in an accessible and compelling way for both technical and non-technical audiences Represent R&D in discussing new projects, priorities, and analytical deliverables with coaches, scouts, and Hockey Operations decision-makers Contribute to the mentorship and professional development of junior analysts, providing feedback, code reviews, and guidance as needed Collaborate with analysts and engineers to ensure production-ready data products are available to decision-makers in a timely manner Continuously evolve the organization's analytical capabilities and practices to remain at the cutting edge of hockey analytics research

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in a related technical field required; advanced degree preferred Minimum of 3–5 years of professional experience in an analytical role, ideally within sports or a data-intensive industry Prior experience working in hockey analytics, sports R&D, or with NHL-