Principal Data Scientist - Remote, Strategic Impact

Upstart; Northern (KY); Remote; USD 182,000 - 253,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) with company match

Equity

Job summary

Upstart is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to drive strategic analytics across product and growth. The role partners with product, ML, and finance to shape decision-making, build forecasting and attribution tools, and guide experiments across subscription-based analytics initiatives.

The position emphasizes translating complex data work into clear narratives, owning analyses end-to-end, and influencing without direct authority while operating in a remote-first, US-wide setup.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in data science or quantitative roles with direct impact on product or business strategy.
• Demonstrated mastery of experimental design and A/B testing.
• Deep statistical expertise including causal inference methods.
• Strong coding skills.
• Track record of partnering with non-technical stakeholders to translate data into actionable business decisions.
• Ability to navigate ambiguous environments and shape direction through inquiry.
• Exceptional communication skills translating complex work into clear narratives.
• Exposure to ML applications and collaboration with ML teams.

Responsibilities

• Shape strategic direction by identifying gaps and questions others miss.
• Be a thought partner to leaders across product, finance, and ML.
• Design and own tools for forecasting change, spend allocation, marketing incrementality, and attribution.
• Design and execute experiments, from A/B tests to causal analyses, with ownership of hypothesis and results.
• Build metrics frameworks and measurement strategies for stakeholders.
• Collaborate with ML to tackle high-complexity technical challenges.
• Translate business problems into clear analytical frameworks.
• Own work end-to-end from scoping to storytelling and impact.

Skills

Experiment design

Causal inference

Statistics

Programming

Stakeholder communication

ML collaboration

Ambiguity tolerance

Personalization/recommenders

Data science for product

Tools

Forecasting models

Spend allocation optimization

Marketing incrementality

Attribution models

Job description

Upstart is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to drive strategic analytics across product and growth. The role partners with product, ML, and finance to shape decision-making, build forecasting and attribution tools, and guide experiments across subscription-based analytics initiatives.

The position emphasizes translating complex data work into clear narratives, owning analyses end-to-end, and influencing without direct authority while operating in a remote-first, US-wide setup.