Lead Data Scientist, Claims Intelligence

Vantora; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Job summary

Vantora is seeking a hands-on Head of Data Science to own the modeling foundation end-to-end for an AI-powered claims and litigation platform. You will stay hands-on, shipping models and shaping the data ontology while guiding cross-functional teams.

You’ll bring 7+ years in data science and strong insurance domain experience, with advanced degrees and expert Python/R skills. NYC or remote-ready, equity opportunities exist.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data science, statistical modeling, or quantitative analytics, with meaningful time in insurtech, insurance, claims, or another insurance-adjacent domain.
• An advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Statistics, Actuarial Science, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field. Strong computer science backgrounds with deep insurance modeling experience will also be considered.
• Expert-level Python (pandas, NumPy, SciPy, scikit-learn, statsmodels) and fluency in R.
• Proven experience taking models from research to production in a product environment.
• Experience with claims severity, reserving, litigation propensity, or fraud modeling is a strong plus.
• Experience in a startup or high-growth environment is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with Google Cloud Platform (BigQuery, Vertex AI) is a plus.
• Background in transportation, logistics, or trucking is not required.

Responsibilities

• Build and own the core modeling layer of the platform, including bodily injury risk-flagging and severity prediction at first notice of loss (FNOL).
• Design the claims ontology and data model that turns messy, inconsistent claims data into a single source of truth.
• Apply rigorous statistical methods to small, heavy-tailed, and censored datasets (e.g., GLMs, survival/time-to-event models, hierarchical and Bayesian approaches), using ML and LLMs where they add real value.
• Build models that are explainable and trusted by claims examiners, risk managers, and executives, not black boxes.
• Identify and bring in external data sources (e.g., jurisdictional, verdict, and litigation data) that meaningfully improve outcomes beyond what any single carrier’s data can show.
• Help define the architecture and governance for an anonymized, cross-carrier consortium dataset, the company’s long-term data moat.
• Partner closely with Engineering and Product to translate models into production features embedded in live claims workflows.
• Translate complex statistical concepts for technical and non-technical audiences, including engineers, product leaders, design partners, and the CEO.
• Lay the foundation for a future data science team, with the opportunity to hire and lead as the company scales.

Skills

Python

R language

Statistical modeling

ML/LLMs

Production ML

Insurance modeling

Startup experience

Education

MS or PhD in Statistics/Mathematics

Tools

BigQuery

Vertex AI

Job description

Vantora is seeking a hands-on Head of Data Science to own the modeling foundation end-to-end for an AI-powered claims and litigation platform. You will stay hands-on, shipping models and shaping the data ontology while guiding cross-functional teams.

You’ll bring 7+ years in data science and strong insurance domain experience, with advanced degrees and expert Python/R skills. NYC or remote-ready, equity opportunities exist.