Research Data Scientist

YouTube; San Bruno (CA); On-site; USD 147,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus target 15%

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

YouTube's Music and Premium Data Science team is hiring a Research Data Scientist based in San Bruno, CA (onsite). You will build research-grade models and define evaluation metrics that support YouTube Premium subscriber growth, profitability, and user experiences.

You’ll work across projects with partners to turn business questions into measurable analysis, models, and diagnostics, including work that supports pricing decisions and premium funnel performance.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a quantitative field (Statistics/Data Science/Math)
• 3–5 years analytics experience with coding (Python, R, SQL) or a PhD.
• Strong ability to read and apply quantitative methodologies from literature

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify business questions and refine them into tractable analysis and models.
• Use data infrastructure or existing models to design and evaluate models with limited precedent.
• Lead operational diagnoses for the premium business, including drivers of churn, conversion, and lifetime value.
• Contribute to pricing adjustments by analyzing effects on subscribers and estimating price elasticity.

Skills

Python

R

SQL

Education

Master’s degree in Statistics / Data Science / Mathematics

PhD degree

Tools

Python

R

SQL

Job description

YouTube’s Music and Premium Data Science team is hiring a Research Data Scientist based in San Bruno, CA (onsite). In this role, you will build research-grade models and define evaluation metrics that support YouTube Premium subscriber growth, profitability, and user experiences.

You’ll work across projects with partners to turn business questions into measurable analysis, models, and diagnostics, including work that supports pricing decisions and premium funnel performance.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with stakeholders in cross-project and team settings to identify and clarify business or product questions; provide feedback to refine questions into tractable analysis, evaluation metrics, or mathematical models.
• Use custom data infrastructure or existing data models as appropriate, applying specialized knowledge to design and evaluate models that express and solve defined problems with limited precedent.
• Lead operational diagnoses for the premium business, including drivers behind changes in paid preserving, trial-to-paid conversion, and downstream impacts across subscription areas such as lifetime value, acquisition, and experimentation.
• Contribute to pricing adjustments by analyzing the effect on existing subscribers (including churn), including estimating price elasticity and supporting coordination for price increases through the mission control team.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Economics, Operations Research, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• 3 years of work experience using analytics to solve product or business problems, including coding (such as Python, R, SQL), querying databases, or performing statistical analysis; alternatively, a PhD degree.
• 5 years of work experience using analytics to solve product or business problems, including coding (such as Python, R, SQL), querying databases, or performing statistical analysis; alternatively, a PhD degree.
• Ability to read and apply quantitative methodologies from books, papers, and similar sources.
• Ability to take open-ended problems, refine them into clearer definitions, and drive toward solutions.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain findings and their implications with data.

Technologies

• Python
• R
• SQL

Compensation and Benefits

• US compensation: $147,000 - $210,000 (USD) per year
• 15% bonus target + equity + benefits
• Bonus: 15% target + equity + benefits