Senior Data Science Manager, Developer Platform

Hitmarker | Gaming Jobs; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 342,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

Discord is seeking a Senior Data Science Manager to lead Data Science for our Developer Platform, covering identity, signals, and developer tools that connect games with Discord. You’ll define the data-driven roadmap, develop metrics, and partner with cross-functional teams to demonstrate measurable value for developers and players alike.

You’ll manage a team of data scientists, guide experimentation and measurement frameworks, and influence strategic decisions across product, engineering, and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in applied data science and advanced analytics.
• 3+ years managing and developing teams of Data Scientists.
• Strong expertise in experimentation and causal inference methods.
• Experience designing novel, interpretable metrics and measurement systems.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python or R.
• Clear communication and influence; able to translate technical work for executives and engineers.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a mission-driven Data Science team embedded across Developer Platform areas.
• Own vision and roadmap for data-driven decision-making across the org.
• Develop developer-facing data products, metrics definitions, and benchmarking methodologies.
• Partner with Ads, Engagement, and Growth to validate signals and measure value via experiments.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Business Development to measure integration health and growth.
• Design joint studies with partner data science teams to uncover business value.
• Oversee data governance and ensure signals are documented and governed well.

Skills

Data science

Analytics

Experimentation

Communication

Leadership

Python

Tools

SQL

BigQuery

Looker

Job description

Discord has a highly engaged community of millions of daily active users who use the platform for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does: play video games. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming, and we are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to hang out before, during, and after playing games.

Discord is where the world's gamers hang out, and increasingly, it's the platform game developers build on. We're seeking a Senior Data Science Manager to lead Data Science for our Developer Platform: the SDKs, identity systems, and developer tools that connect games and their players to Discord.

What makes this role distinctive is the two-sided value equation at the heart of the platform. For game developers, we build tools that help studios grow player engagement and revenue, including data products that give them deeper insight into their players and communities. For players, we use signals from those same tools to make it easier to play and hang out with friends, deepen engagement across Discord, and deliver more relevant ads.

Your team's job is to make both sides of that exchange demonstrably valuable. That means proving the platform's worth to developers with rigorous evidence, and ensuring the signals it generates create outsized, responsible value for Discord users.

If helping make Discord an even better place to hang out with your friends and communities sounds like an exciting challenge - we'd love to chat with you!

What you'll be doing

• Manage, mentor, and develop a mission-driven team of Data Scientists embedded across the Developer Platform's core areas: identity, signals, and developer tools.
• Own the vision and roadmap for data-driven decision-making across the Developer Platform org, and shape company strategy on how the platform creates value for both developers and Discord.
• Strengthen the developer side of the value equation by shaping developer-facing data products, including metric definitions, benchmarking methodologies, and insight quality.
• Strengthen the Discord side of the value equation by partnering with Ads, Engagement, and Growth to identify, validate, and productize platform-derived signals, and by measuring their incremental value through experimentation.
• Drive platform adoption by partnering with Product, Engineering, and Business Development to measure integration health, forecast growth, and surface insights that help the org land and deepen integrations with the world's largest game developers.
• Serve as a trusted analytical partner to top game developers, designing joint studies with partner data science teams to uncover business value from the developer tech stack.
• Partner with Data Engineering, Product, and Legal on data governance: ensure platform signals are documented, discoverable, and governed well across Discord.
• Set clear priorities and nimble operating models, and build a team known for rigorous methods and decision-ready work. Partner with other Data leaders to shape the direction and culture of Discord's Data organization..

What you should have

• 8+ years of experience in applied data science and advanced analytics, ideally including both consumer product and B2B or platform contexts.
• 3+ years managing and developing teams of Data Scientists, with a track record of growing ICs and raising the team's technical bar.
• Strong expertise in experimentation and causal inference, including quasi-experimental methods (propensity matching, synthetic controls, diff-in-diff) for settings where randomized experiments aren't feasible.
• Experience designing novel, interpretable metrics for a new or fast-evolving product area, and building the measurement systems around them.
• Proficiency in SQL and at least one data programming language (Python or R).
• Clear communication and influence. You can translate complex technical work into crisp narratives for executives, engineers, and external partners, and use data to shape strategy and roadmaps alongside Product and Engineering leadership.

Bonus points

• Experience with gaming, game platforms, or developer-facing (B2B2C) products, especially working directly with external partners' data or analytics teams.
• Experience building or shaping customer-facing data products such as analytics dashboards, benchmarking tools, or measurement offerings.
• Familiarity with advertising signal ecosystems (event pipelines, identity resolution, targeting and measurement, lookalike modeling) and with ML applications for signal enrichment, forecasting, or personalization.
• Experience with cloud data platforms like BigQuery, very large datasets, and modern BI tools (e.g., Hex, Mode, Looker, Tableau).
• Understanding of data governance, privacy, and responsible data use, particularly for signals shared across product and revenue systems.
• Interest in Discord, gaming, and the communities we serve.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $342,000 to $380,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.

Why Discord?

Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests, and helps developers build and grow their businesses. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!

Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.

Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.