Senior Research Data Scientist

Roku; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 204,000 - 324,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Equity awards

Life insurance

Disability benefits

Parental leave

Wellness benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Roku is seeking a Senior Research Data Scientist in California to lead a causal inference platform measuring the true incremental impact of customer actions and features on long-term outcomes. You will partner with Product Growth to productionize scalable causal pipelines and provide high-confidence recommendations from observational data when experiments aren’t feasible.

Your work spans requirements, estimation approaches, and communicating results to senior leaders, with emphasis on

Qualifications

• PhD in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics, or related quantitative field with a causal focus.
• 10+ years applying causal inference and ML to real-world problems with impact.
• Expertise in observational causal methods and modern estimation techniques.

Responsibilities

• Design and productionize a causal inference platform for incremental impact measurement.
• Research and implement causal estimation methods for business questions.
• Build long-term outcome frameworks and scalable pipelines.
• Develop validation standards at scale for credibility of estimates.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Analytics to deploy solutions.
• Communicate findings to senior leadership and guide strategy.

Skills

Causal inference

Machine learning

Observational methods

Data analysis

Education

PhD in Economics/ Econometrics/ Statistics

Tools

Spark

Ray

SQL

Python

scikit-learn

XGBoost

LightGBM

Job description

Teamwork makes the stream work.

Roku is changing how the world watches TV

Roku is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and we've set our sights on powering every television in the world. Roku pioneered streaming to the TV. Our mission is to be the TV streaming platform that connects the entire TV ecosystem. We connect consumers to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers unique capabilities to engage consumers.

From your first day at Roku, you'll make a valuable - and valued - contribution. We're a fast-growing public company where no one is a bystander. We offer you the opportunity to delight millions of TV streamers around the world while gaining meaningful experience across a variety of disciplines.

About the team

Our Data Science team is a high-impact research team actively shaping the future of TV, using Big Data to build and enhance the user experience on the Roku streaming platform. Our production-ready machine learning models and statistical solutions optimize the user experience across all of Roku's core business models and products, and our scientists engage closely with business, product, and engineering leaders to make material and measurable impacts on the success and growth of the platform.

About the role

As a Senior Research Data Scientist on Roku's Data Science team, you will lead the development of a best-in-class causal inference platform that measures and optimizes the true incremental impact of customer actions, product features, and business interventions on long-term outcomes. Partnering with the Customer Growth organization, you will build the methods and systems that enable Roku to make high-confidence decisions from observational data when randomized experiments are not feasible.

You will own the full lifecycle of causal measurement—from gathering business requirements and defining estimation approaches, to partnering with Engineering to productionize scalable causal pipelines and communicating findings to senior leadership. Your work will directly inform growth, retention, and monetization strategy across the platform, making this role ideal for an applied economist or econometrician who excels at the intersection of rigorous research and production engineering. This is someone equally comfortable deriving identification strategies and building estimators on terabyte-scale data.

For California Only - The estimated annual base salary for this position is between $203,800 - $323,700. Compensation packages are based on factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, certifications, and specific geographical location. This role is eligible for health insurance, equity awards, life insurance, disability benefits, parental leave, wellness benefits, and paid time off.

What you'll be doing

• Design, build, and productionize a causal inference platform that standardizes how Roku measures the incremental impact of customer actions and business decisions
• Research and implement causal estimation methods, including heterogeneous treatment effects, tailored to Roku's data and business questions
• Build long-term outcome frameworks that enable impact projection from limited observation windows
• Develop diagnostic and validation standards at scale to ensure credibility of causal estimates
• Leverage AI to create counterfactual scenarios and build tools that help users run, understand, and act on causal estimates correctly
• Work cross-functionally with Data Engineering, Product Management, and Core Analytics to translate business questions into well-defined causal problems and deploy production-ready solutions
• Contribute to the technical vision of the Data Science team and the broader research agenda across causal inference, predictive modeling, and experimentation

We're excited if you have

• PhD in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics, or a closely related quantitative field with a strong emphasis on causal inference
• 10+ years of experience applying causal inference and machine learning methods to real-world problems, with a demonstrated track record of measurable impact
• Deep expertise in observational causal methods such as propensity score matching, Double Machine Learning, doubly robust estimation, instrumental variables, and difference-in-differences
• Experience building reusable causal inference tools or platforms beyond one-off analyses
• Proficiency with Spark, Ray, SQL, Python, and ML frameworks such as scikit-learn, XGBoost, and LightGBM
• Experience with terabyte- or petabyte-scale datasets in distributed computing environments
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate econometric findings into clear business recommendations
• Technology industry experience; connected TV, streaming, or advertising experience is a plus

What's Roku's approach to hybrid working?

Roku fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where teams generally work in the office Monday through Thursday. Fridays are generally flexible for remote work, except for employees whose specific roles or assigned office location require five days' a week attendance.

What are some of the benefits?

Roku is committed to offering a diverse range of benefits as part of our compensation package to support our employees and their families. Our comprehensive benefits include global access to mental health and financial wellness support and resources. Local benefits include statutory and voluntary benefits which may include healthcare (medical, dental, and vision), life, accident, disability, commuter, and retirement options (401(k)/pension). Employees are supported in taking time off, in accordance with local leave policies and other personal needs to support their evolving work and life needs. It's important to note that not every benefit is available in all locations or for every role. For details specific to your location, please consult with your recruiter.

Accommodations

Roku welcomes applicants of all backgrounds and provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments in accordance with applicable law. If you require reasonable accommodation at any point in the hiring process, please direct your inquiries to [e-mail].

What should I know about Roku's culture?

Roku is a great place for people who want to work in a fast-paced environment where everyone is focused on the company's success rather than their own. We try to surround ourselves with people who are great at their jobs, who are easy to work with, and who keep their egos in check. We appreciate a sense of humor. We believe a fewer number of very talented folks can do more for less cost than a larger number of less talented teams. We're independent thinkers with big ideas who act boldly, move fast and accomplish extraordinary things through collaboration and trust. In short, at Roku you'll be part of a company that's changing how the world watches TV.

We have a unique culture that we are proud of. We think of ourselves primarily as problem-solvers, which itself is a two-part idea. We come up with the solution, but the solution isn't real until it is built and delivered to the customer. That penchant for action gives us a pragmatic approach to innovation, one that has served us well since 2002.

To learn more about Roku, our global footprint, and how we've grown, visit https://www.weareroku.com/factsheet.

By providing your information, you acknowledge that you want Roku to contact you about job roles, that you have read Roku's Applicant Privacy Notice, and understand that Roku will use your information as described in that notice. If you do not wish to receive any communications from Roku regarding this role or similar roles in the future, you may unsubscribe at any time by emailing [e-mail].