Principal Data Scientist jobs in 2026 — required skills, demand trends, and top hiring cities
As of 2026-09-17, Skillenai has indexed 37 job postings with the title “Principal Data Scientist” over the past 90 days. The skill mentioned most often is Python, with demand down 44% vs the prior 4 weeks.
Last updated · 90d ending 2026-09-17
How well does your resume match Principal Data Scientist?
Upload your resume and Skillenai will score it against the Principal Data Scientist skills on this page, then show exactly which ones you are missing.
Prepare for your next Principal Data Scientist interview
We’re bringing our job-posting and career-profile data into mock interviews, so you can practice the skills and experience that matter for Principal Data Scientist roles.
Frequently asked questions about Principal Data Scientist jobs
+How many Principal Data Scientist jobs are being posted in 2026?
Skillenai has indexed 37 job postings with the title “Principal Data Scientist” over the 90 days ending 2026-09-17, with demand down 44% vs the prior 4 weeks.
+What skills do Principal Data Scientist jobs require?
Across Principal Data Scientist postings indexed by Skillenai over the 90 days ending 2026-09-17, the skills mentioned most often are Python, SQL, machine learning, predictive modeling, R.
+Which cities are hiring the most Principal Data Scientist?
As of 2026-09-17, Principal Data Scientist postings indexed by Skillenai are concentrated in Irvine, New York City, Bengaluru, Cambridge, Chicago.
+Is Principal Data Scientist a good career path right now?
Skillenai indexes 37 Principal Data Scientist postings over the 90 days ending 2026-09-17, with demand down 44% vs the prior 4 weeks. The skill mentioned most often in Principal Data Scientist postings is Python, so building it gives the strongest signal that an applicant matches the role.
+How can I track new Principal Data Scientist job postings as they’re indexed?
Skillenai sends a daily email digest of new Principal Data Scientist postings indexed across the open web. Subscribe from your account dashboard after creating a free Skillenai account.
Weekly Principal Data Scientist postings — last 90 days
Skills most often required for Principal Data Scientist
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 26 | 70.3% |
| SQL | 20 | 54.1% |
| machine learning | 18 | 48.6% |
| predictive modeling | 11 | 29.7% |
| R | 11 | 29.7% |
| causal inference | 10 | 27.0% |
| deep learning | 9 | 24.3% |
| Spark | 8 | 21.6% |
| Generative AI | 8 | 21.6% |
| A/B testing | 7 | 18.9% |
| experimentation | 7 | 18.9% |
| forecasting | 6 | 16.2% |
| Databricks | 6 | 16.2% |
| MLOps | 5 | 13.5% |
| LLMs | 5 | 13.5% |
Top metros hiring Principal Data Scientist
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Irvine | 2 | 5.4% |
| New York City | 2 | 5.4% |
| Bengaluru | 1 | 2.7% |
| Cambridge | 1 | 2.7% |
| Chicago | 1 | 2.7% |
| Dublin | 1 | 2.7% |
| Düsseldorf | 1 | 2.7% |
| Glendale | 1 | 2.7% |
| Lakes by the Bay | 1 | 2.7% |
Get a daily email digest of new Principal Data Scientist jobs
Skillenai aggregates principal data scientist jobs from across the open web. Click below and we'll open a pre-filled daily digest — change the cadence to hourly or weekly if you prefer, then save. Free account required (~30 seconds).
Explore related pages
How this was computed
Counts derive from the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-09-17, matching postings whose canonical role is “Principal Data Scientist”. Pages refresh weekly (or daily for the top-50 most-posted roles).
- role
- Principal Data Scientist
- source
- Skillenai jobs index, deduplicated daily
- data_as_of
- 2026-09-17
- window_days
- 90
The demand, skills, and geo numbers on this page come from the same Skillenai labor market index that powers our API. Use it for compensation benchmarking, hiring-competition analysis, and skill-adoption tracking.
Skillenai for recruiters →