Senior Staff Data Scientist

Grindr; Palo Alto, San Francisco (CA, CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Dental & Vision

Family formation support

401(k) with match

Equity

Flexible vacation & rest weeks

Stipends for meals, commuting, misc.

Job summary

Grindr is seeking a Senior Staff Data Scientist to lead cross‑functional collaboration, devise insightful metrics, design experiments, and guide data-driven decisions. You will work on production‑level models and mentor team members in a fast‑paced, AI‑native environment.

The role is hybrid and based in the Bay Area, with in‑office Tuesdays and Thursdays, contributing to growth through advanced analytics and ML solutions for millions of users.

Qualifications

• BS or higher in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, or related field.
• 10+ years of industry data science experience influencing senior stakeholders.
• Strong communication with non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with Python data analysis (pandas, Jupyter).
• Experience writing and optimizing SQL on large data sets.
• Background in inferential statistics and experimental design.

Responsibilities

• Extract actionable insights from broad questions and set strategy for experiments.
• Influence executives and cross‑functional stakeholders with results.
• Analyze data across product to identify root causes of metric movements.
• Architect tools to scale analyses and improve productivity.
• Provide mentorship and establish best practices within the team.

Skills

Python

SQL

Statistics

Stakeholder comms

Education

BS or higher in CS/Math/Stats/Physics

Tools

Looker

Tableau

PowerBI

Snowflake

Spark

Job description

About the Team:

Grindr is an AI-native platform powering how millions of gay people connect globally. With 15M+ monthly users, 130B+ annual messages, and a team of fewer than 200, we move fast, stay lean, and tackle technical problems at a scale few companies ever see.

As a Senior Staff Data Scientist at Grindr, you will lead cross‑functional collaboration with product managers, product designers, and engineers to devise insightful metrics that guide development, shape and oversee novel experiments, present a data‑driven viewpoint to guide key decisions, and identify and drive new strategic avenues for growth through deep dive analysis. You will have the opportunity to work on models that are deployed to production and improve quality of life for our millions of users. You will also be an informal ambassador for the Data Science team to the rest of the organization, educating a diverse group on the many subtle aspects of utilizing data well. You will be a member of the data organization at Grindr, which integrates data scientists, data engineers, and ML/AI engineers into a single cohesive and collaborative team. This is a rare opportunity to learn, teach, and have an outsized impact alongside some of the top minds in the field.

At Grindr, we operate in Grindr Mode. Moderately hardcore day to day, truly hardcore when it counts. It’s about doing great work without burning out. Outcomes over outputs. Smart, driven people who raise your bar, with room to live full lives.

This is a hybrid role based in our Bay Area offices and will require you to be in office Tuesdays and Thursdays.

About the Job:

• Extract actionable insights from broad, open-ended questions
• Set strategy for designing and evaluating experiments to measure the impact of product changes
• Influence and communicate results to executives and cross‑functional stakeholders to inform product and company decisions
• Analyze data from across the product to uncover the root causes of metric movements
• Communicate results to cross‑functional stakeholders to inform product decisions
• Architect and guide development of tools to scale and automate analyses, improving productivity across the company
• Provide mentorship and guidance to team members + identify and recommend best practices
• Apply an engineering mindset: minimize complexity while maximizing utility & maintainability
• Shape the future state of our data products, devising ML solutions to improve recommendations, detect spam, and better serve our users

Role Requirements:

• BS or higher in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Physics, a related quantitative field, or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of industry data science experience, with a track record of influencing senior stakeholders and company‑level outcomes
• Experience effectively communicating & collaborating with non‑technical stakeholders
• A deep understanding of the “why” behind your work, not just the how
• Strong Python skills in data analysis using pandas and Jupyter Notebook
• Experience writing and optimizing complex SQL queries on large data sets
• A strong background in inferential statistics, especially in an experimentation setting (hypothesis testing, power analysis, experimental design)
• Experience with different data analytics and BI tools such as Looker, Tableau, PowerBI, or Snowflake
• Experience in big data technologies like Spark

You May Thrive in this Role if You:

• A machine learning background with an understanding of when ML is the right tool and the subtle science of creating models that function well in the real world would be a nice to have
• You have excellent communication, presentation, and documentation skills with the ability to define and communicate the “big picture” to key stakeholders at various levels and technical understanding
• Experience with Statsig would be nice‑to‑have

Benefits and Perks:

• Health, Dental & Vision Full premium coverage for you. Partial coverage for dependents.
• Family Formation Up to $300,000 in fertility and family‑building support, covering IVF, surrogacy, egg freezing, and adoption.
• Retirement: 401(k) with 6% match and immediate vesting.
• Compensation: Industry‑competitive compensation, company bonus, and equity for every employee.
• Gender‑Affirming Care : Industry‑leading gender‑affirming offerings with up to 90% cost coverage, access to Included Health, monthly stipends for HRT, and more.
• Time Off & Rest Flexible vacation policy. Two company‑wide rest weeks per year.
• Other Benefits: Monthly stipends for cell phone, internet, wellness, food, and commuting, breakfast/lunch

About Grindr:

Grindr is building the Global Gayborhood in your Pocket. With more than 15 million monthly active users, Grindr has become a fundamental part of the gay community and is charting a path to make the world more free, equal, and just.

As a public company, we’re moving into the next chapter: becoming an AI‑native organization that’s redefining what’s possible for our community. We’re embedding AI into our product and operations, moving with startup speed while operating at scale.

Everything we do is rooted in impact for our users and outcomes for the business. This isn’t social work, it’s impact through excellence. Business success is what gives us the power to serve our community and the seat at tables others can’t reach. How we work is defined by Grindr Mode, our operating model that’s moderately hardcore day‑to‑day and truly hardcore when it counts. We think like owners, drive real outcomes, create clarity through action, and push each other to go further than we thought possible.

We’re headquartered in West Hollywood with offices in the Bay Area, Chicago, and New York. Our work extends beyond the product through Grindr for Equality, our social impact initiative that’s partnered with 100+ community organizations globally to advance safety, health, and human rights for LGBTQ+ people worldwide.

We’re profitable, growing, and building a team of smart, driven people who bring different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to the work. Want to build technology at a massive scale that serves millions? Come join us!

Grindr is an equal‑opportunity employer.

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