Senior Data Scientist

Headway; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity compensation

Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage

HSA / FSA

401K

Work-from-Home Stipend

Therapy Reimbursement

Parental leave

Job summary

Headway is building a decision engine for better mental health outcomes. A Senior Data Scientist will sit in a cross-functional product team, turning messy real-world signals into actionable, data-backed decisions.

You will design experiments, run A/B tests, and translate findings into recommendations that improve provider and patient experiences. Strong skills in SQL and Python or R, plus expertise in experimentation and causal inference, are essential.

Qualifications

• 6+ years using data to drive product or business decisions in product, growth, engineering, or operations environments.
• Strong SQL and strong proficiency in Python or R for analysis and modeling.
• Demonstrated depth in experimentation and causal inference under real-world constraints. Bayesian experimentation experience strongly preferred.
• Practical modeling skill: feature engineering, model comparison, cross-validation or back-testing, calibration, and post-launch monitoring.
• Strong product sense and opinions, including a track record of connecting analytics recommendations to measurable outcomes.
• Clear communication: you can explain complex work to non-technical audiences without losing the truth.
• A self-starter mindset: you prioritize well, follow through, and do not need heavy oversight.
• Motivation for our mission: improving access and affordability in mental healthcare.

Responsibilities

• Be the analytics partner inside the pod. Work with Product, Engineering, Design, Ops, and Clinical stakeholders to define questions and metrics.
• Run rigorous experiments. Design and analyze A/B tests and quasi-experiments with clear hypotheses and success criteria.
• Connect behavior to strategy through funnel, cohort, segmentation, and lifecycle analysis.
• Apply causal inference approaches when experiments are not possible (diff-in-diff, matching, regression designs).
• Develop predictive models that operationalize insights with clear launch criteria and monitoring.
• Create analysis and narratives that are crisp, honest about uncertainty, and drive action.
• Help raise the bar by contributing to standards for metrics, experimentation, and analytical quality.

Skills

SQL

Python or R

Experimentation & causal inference

Communication

Job description

1 in 4 people in the US have a treatable mental health condition, but most providers don't accept insurance, making therapy too expensive for most people. Headway’s mission is to fix this by building a new mental healthcare system everyone can access. We started by solving the biggest barrier to care: insurance. The admin work - credentialing, claims, payment reconciliation - is a nightmare. We've automated that.

But we're going further. Over 70,000 providers across all 50 states run their practice on our software, serving over 1 million patients. We are building the best tools for therapists to run their entire practice, reimagining the experience of finding a therapist, and investing in the platform foundations to enable this at scale. We aren't just a billing layer; we are becoming the platform where care actually happens.

We're a Series D company with $325M+ in funding (a16z, Accel, GV, etc.), looking for exceptional people to help us achieve this mission. We want your time here to be the most meaningful experience of your career. Join us, and help change mental healthcare for the better.

About the role

Join us to build the decision engine for better mental health outcomes.

As a Senior Data Scientist,you will sit in the heart of a cross-functional product team and help turn messy, real-world signals into clear decisions. You will make sure we are capturing the right data, designing experiments that tell us what is actually driving outcomes, and translating findings into recommendations that teams can act on quickly. When the insight is stable and valuable, you will help operationalize it through predictive models that improve provider and patient experiences.

If you like ambiguity, enjoy hard problems, and want your work to matter in the world, you will fit right in.

What you will do

• Be the analytics partner inside the pod. Work closely with Product, Engineering, Design, Ops, and Clinical stakeholders to define the questions, the metrics, the guardrails, and the decision rules.
• Run rigorous experiments. Design and analyze A/B tests and quasi-experiments with clear hypotheses, power considerations, and pre-defined success criteria.
• Connect behavior to strategy. Use funnel, cohort, segmentation, and lifecycle analysis to understand how people and providers experience Headway, and where product changes will have the biggest impact.
• Use causal inference when experiments are not possible. Apply approaches like diff-in-diff, matching, and regression-based designs with principled uncertainty quantification.
• Build models when they should exist. Develop predictive models that operationalize vetted insights (feature development, validation, back-testing, calibration), with clear launch criteria and monitoring plans.
• Create decision-ready work. Produce analysis and narratives that are crisp, honest about uncertainty, and drive action.
• Help raise the bar. Contribute to shared standards for metrics, experimentation, and analytical quality, so teams can move faster with confidence.

What will make you successful

• 6+ years using data to drive product or business decisions in product, growth, engineering, or operations environments.
• Strong SQL and strong proficiency in Python or R for analysis and modeling.
• Demonstrated depth in experimentation and causal inference under real-world constraints. Bayesian experimentation experience strongly preferred.
• Practical modeling skill: feature engineering, model comparison, cross-validation or back-testing, calibration, and post-launch monitoring.
• Strong product sense and opinions, including a track record of connecting analytics recommendations to measurable outcomes.
• Clear communication: you can explain complex work to non-technical audiences without losing the truth.
• A self-starter mindset: you prioritize well, follow through, and do not need heavy oversight.
• Motivation for our mission: improving access and affordability in mental healthcare.

Compensation & Benefits:

The expected base pay range for this position is $ 180,000 - $225,000, based on a variety of factors including qualifications, experience, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for an equity grant, depending on the position and level.

We are committed to offering a comprehensive and competitive total rewards package, including robust health and wellness benefits, retirement savings, and meaningful ownership opportunities through equity. Compensation decisions are made holistically, ensuring fairness and alignment with market benchmarks while recognizing individual contributions and potential.

• Benefits offered include:
• Equity compensation
• Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• HSA / FSA
• 401K
• Work-from-Home Stipend
• Therapy Reimbursement
• 16-week parental leave for eligible employees
• Carrot Fertility annual reimbursement and membership
• 13 paid holidays each year as well as a Holiday Break during the week between December 25th and December 31st
• Flexible PTO
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Training and professional development

We believe a team's strength is in its people, and we cannot achieve this mission without a team that reflects the diversity of this problem – across race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, national origin, religion, family status, disability, military status, and experience. Headway is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Headway will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or receive other benefits and privileges of employment,

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