Applied Data Science Manager: AI/ML & Growth Leader

AppFolio Inc; Goleta (CA); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 209,000; Full time

Job summary

AppFolio is seeking a Manager, Applied Data Science to lead the Platform Data Science team. You will coach data scientists, balance hands-on work with strategic direction, and bridge applied machine learning with SaaS go-to-market strategy.

You will own modeling, forecasting automations, and data access while shaping coding standards across the Cerberus model fleet. This role demands collaboration with Sales, Marketing, and Finance to align the roadmap with business goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field with 8+ years building and deploying predictive models in production for business stakeholders.
• 2+ years leading data scientists as a people manager or tech lead who set direction and coached teams.
• Strong programming background in Python and SQL; experience taking models to production.
• Experience deploying end-to-end classification and propensity models, with next-best-action design is a plus.
• Experience building and evaluating LLM-based products in production, including accuracy checks.

Responsibilities

• Own signal modeling and scoring logic for all AppFolio products and co-create Next Best Action per persona.
• Own shared data science services for forecasting automations and data access with strong explainability.
• Set coding standards for model fleet, reviews, deployment, monitoring, retraining, and governance.
• Review pull requests and deliverables, owning quality and risk of models, analyses, and automations.
• Coordinate delivery with Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, and Finance; set priorities and maintain cross-functional rhythm.
• Set direction for applied AI/ML with department leadership.
• Manage and grow a team of Data Scientists: 1:1s, coaching, performance reviews, hiring, and growth paths.

Skills

Python

SQL

Leadership

Experiment design

LLM applications

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field

Tools

Snowflake

dbt

Airflow

Salesforce

Git

Job description

AppFolio is seeking a Manager, Applied Data Science to lead the Platform Data Science team. You will coach data scientists, balance hands-on work with strategic direction, and bridge applied machine learning with SaaS go-to-market strategy.

You will own modeling, forecasting automations, and data access while shaping coding standards across the Cerberus model fleet. This role demands collaboration with Sales, Marketing, and Finance to align the roadmap with business goals.