Head of Growth Data Science

Airwallex; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Airwallex in San Francisco seeks a Head of Growth Data Science to lead data-driven growth initiatives across the customer lifecycle. You will shape strategy, build scalable measurement and forecasting frameworks, and develop models guiding investments across markets and products.

The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on analytics, including causal inference, experimentation, and ML applications, to accelerate global growth and optimize go-to-market performance.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of data science, analytics, or quantitative strategy experience.
• 5+ years leading high-performing technical teams.
• Partner with executives to influence growth strategy.
• Hands-on experimentation, forecasting, and ML in production.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Growth, Product, Marketing, and Sales to identify opportunities.
• Lead growth analytics across acquisition, activation, retention, and expansion.
• Develop measurement frameworks and dashboards for growth performance.
• Productionize models and analytical products with engineers.
• Define roadmap for ML and Generative AI for growth analytics.
• Communicate findings clearly to senior stakeholders with actionable recommendations.

Skills

Experimentation

Causal inference

Forecasting

Applied machine learning

SQL

Python or R

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in a quantitative field

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

dbt

Airflow

Job description

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.

About The Team

Airwallex is seeking a Head of Growth Data Science to lead the team responsible for using data, experimentation, and advanced analytics to accelerate global growth.

The Growth Data Science team partners closely with Product, Marketing, Sales, and regional business leaders to identify growth opportunities across the customer lifecycle—from acquisition and activation to conversion, retention, and expansion. You will help define our growth strategy, build scalable measurement frameworks, and develop the models and insights that guide investment across markets and products.

This is a full-time role based in San Francisco.

Responsibilities

• Act as a strategic data partner to senior leaders across Growth, Product, Marketing, Sales, and regional businesses.
• Translate complex analyses into clear recommendations that shape business strategy and investment decisions.
• Establish a consistent, trusted framework for measuring growth performance across markets, channels, and customer segments.
• Lead analytical efforts across the growth funnel, including acquisition, activation, conversion, retention, and expansion.
• Identify opportunities to improve channel efficiency, customer journeys, pricing, and go-to-market performance.
• Develop segmentation, propensity, attribution, and optimization models to inform growth initiatives.
• Build and scale experimentation frameworks to measure the impact of product, marketing, and commercial initiatives.
• Lead the application of causal inference techniques to distinguish correlation from true incremental impact.
• Establish best practices for experiment design, measurement, interpretation, and decision-making.
• Own forecasting and planning models that support growth targets, resource allocation, and business reviews.
• Develop metrics, dashboards, and analytical tools that provide timely visibility into growth performance.
• Partner with Finance and business leaders to connect operating drivers with financial outcomes.
• Define the roadmap for applying machine learning and Generative AI to growth analytics and decision-making.
• Build intelligent tools that automate insight generation, improve targeting, and enhance operational efficiency.
• Partner with engineering and data platform teams to productionize models and analytical products.

Who You Are

• Growth-oriented leader: You have 10+ years of experience in data science, analytics, applied machine learning, or quantitative strategy, including 5+ years leading high-performing teams.
• Strong technical foundation: You have deep expertise in experimentation, causal inference, forecasting, applied machine learning, SQL, and Python or R.
• Strategic operator: You are comfortable prioritizing ambiguous problems, balancing trade-offs, and focusing teams on initiatives with measurable growth impact.
• Hands-on builder: You can engage deeply with technical work while building scalable systems, analytical frameworks, and team practices.
• Executive influencer: You communicate complex findings clearly and can influence senior stakeholders through rigorous analysis and practical recommendations.
• Customer-centric thinker: You are passionate about understanding customer behavior and using data to create better experiences and stronger business outcomes.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a quantitative field such as Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, Mathematics, or Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years of experience in data science, analytics, quantitative strategy, or applied machine learning.
• At least 5 years of experience managing and developing high-performing technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with executive and senior business leaders to influence growth strategy.
• Hands-on experience with experimentation, causal inference, forecasting, or machine learning in a production environment.
• Strong proficiency in SQL and Python or R.
• Experience working with modern data platforms and tooling, such as Databricks, Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, or equivalent.
• Proven ability to translate analytical insights into measurable business outcomes.
• Experience productionizing Generative AI applications, intelligent analytics tools, or agentic workflows.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Econometrics, Statistics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Economics, or a related quantitative discipline.
• Experience in fintech, payments, financial services, or high-growth B2B SaaS.
• Experience leading data science teams across multiple growth functions, markets, or product lines.
• Experience with customer lifecycle analytics, marketing measurement, attribution, pricing, or sales optimization.
• Familiarity with global payments, cross-border commerce, and regional differences in customer and market behavior.
• Experience building data products or decision systems used by senior executives and cross-functional teams.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.

Compensation Range: $300K - $320K