Corey Atkins
Summary
11+ years of professional experience supporting the U.S. Intelligence Community. 7+ years of hands-on Python experience building end-to-end data pipelines, performing statistical analysis, NLP modeling, and deploying scalable solutions to enterprise platforms (Anaconda Enterprise). Proven team leader, combining technical expertise with project management, DevOps deployment, and stakeholder engagement.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Data Scientist, Team Lead
Leidos
11.2024 - Current
- Lead a team of 7 data scientists (contractor), driving end-to-end analytics delivery and serving as the primary liaison between technical staff and leadership to ensure on-time, high-impact project execution.
- Mentor and upskill junior and mid-level data scientists through hands-on code reviews, pair programming, and one-on-one coaching, strengthening team capability and retention.
- Conduct technical interviews and refine hiring standards, strengthening the talent pipeline and aligning team capabilities with evolving program goals.
- Collaborate with Project Management Office (PMO) and cross-functional leadership to enhance team structure, capabilities, and alignment with evolving program objectives.
- Serve as Subject Matter Expert (SME) (April 2025 – Present), advising on machine learning, analytics, and deliverables across multiple initiatives, including six high-priority Director’s Front Office projects.
- Drive the adoption of Agile and Kanban methodologies, increasing project visibility and accelerating timelines.
- Oversee DevOps workflows deploying Python libraries via Jenkins CI/CD on Anaconda Enterprise, improving reliability and reuse of data science tooling across teams.
- Maintain robust project governance through GitHub, JIRA, and Confluence integration, standardizing documentation and version control for consistent delivery quality.
- Remain hands-on with advanced analytics, natural language processing (NLP), and Python software engineering to ensure technical execution aligns with strategic objectives.
- Develop and optimize machine learning models (Linear SVC, KNN) for binary text classification, leveraging scikit-learn pipelines, feature scaling, permutation importance, and hyperparameter tuning to improve predictive accuracy and efficiency.
Data Scientist
Leidos
01.2023 - 11.2024
- Engineered a custom BERT base-cased model with dual output heads, leveraging custom loss functions and hyperparameter tuning via Hugging Face Trainer to significantly improve model accuracy and interpretability.
- Leveraged pre-trained BERT transformer models with PyTorch to tokenize text and generate embeddings, then applied scikit-learn support vector classifiers to achieve accurate text classification.
- Optimized SVC hyperparameters (C, kernel, gamma, class_weight) using GridSearchCV, boosting F1-score for text classification.
- Applied advanced NLP techniques—including spaCy, regex, BeautifulSoup4, and transformers—for text preprocessing, named entity recognition (NER), and classification.
- Engineered and tested custom Python wrappers for internal APIs, enabling seamless data integration across enterprise systems.
- Developed modular Python libraries to automate data ingestion and transformation workflows, enhancing efficiency and reproducibility across distributed systems.
- Responded to data science Requests for Information (RFIs) for technology, finance, and data analysis divisions, delivering advanced analytics to address key financial intelligence questions.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to translate complex analytic outputs into actionable insights for senior leadership.
Software Engineer
Alku Government Solutions
06.2022 - 01.2023
- Developed a robust pipeline to query images and extract metadata from multiple APIs, enabling streamlined integration of visual data into analytics workflows.
- Utilized Python libraries to clean and preprocess geospatial data, enabling seamless integration into analytics workflows and supporting data-driven decision-making.
- Built, tested, and deployed Python libraries to internal Anaconda Cloud and PyPI repositories, standardizing reusable tools for cross-team collaboration.
Data Scientist/ Engineer
Alku Government Solutions
08.2018 - 06.2022
- Designed and developed data pipelines to collect, extract, and process data from diverse web and file-based sources, leveraging Python, Pandas, and NumPy for cleaning, joining, and aggregation.
- Applied advanced analytics to answer intelligence questions, communicating insights effectively to non-technical stakeholders.
- Collaborated with non-technical stakeholders to elicit data requirements, brainstorm analytical approaches, and deliver tailored solutions to meet mission needs.
- Built, tested, and deployed scalable Python packages and modules for internal use; maintained releases on Anaconda Cloud via Jenkins CI/CD pipelines.
- Managed DevOps workflows, including package deployment, CI/CD support, and version control via GitHub.
- Led software and data engineering projects, ensuring best practices in code quality, documentation, and Agile project management.
- Provided technical training and mentorship to analysts, improving analytic tooling adoption and skill development across the organization.
- Collaborated with data scientists, analysts, and engineers across teams to enhance enterprise data science standards, improve analytic workflows, and promote development of reusable components.
- Recognized with the Director’s Award for Pioneering (2020) for innovative development of analytic methods and training to support complex data use cases involving emerging digital technologies.
- Awarded two Certificates of Appreciation (2022) for outstanding contributions to analytic tooling and mentorship within the Advanced Analytics Office.
Customer Service Representative
AECOM
05.2017 - 08.2018
- Supported security operations by processing visitor access through multiple security databases and managing conference room scheduling across departments.
- Oversaw building support logistics, including maintenance of copiers and coordination of visitor services.
Access Control Specialist
OMNIPLEX World Services Corporation
05.2014 - 03.2017
- Administered key control and sensitive area access procedures, conducting random counterintelligence searches to maintain facility security.
- Certified in X-ray screening, inspecting bags and packages to detect and prevent prohibited items.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD05.2018
Skills
- Python Programming
- Feature engineering
- Machine learning
- Natural language processing
- SQL
- Flask
- Django
- Transformer Models
- Git
- Tableau
- Windows
- Linux
- Unit Testing
- Amazon web services
Clearance
Active TS/SCI w/Polygraph
Timeline
Senior Data Scientist, Team Lead
Leidos
11.2024 - Current
Data Scientist
Leidos
01.2023 - 11.2024
Software Engineer
Alku Government Solutions
06.2022 - 01.2023
Data Scientist/ Engineer
Alku Government Solutions
08.2018 - 06.2022
Customer Service Representative
AECOM
05.2017 - 08.2018
Access Control Specialist
OMNIPLEX World Services Corporation
05.2014 - 03.2017
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
University of Maryland Baltimore County