Staff Data Scientist

State Farm; Bloomington (IL); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare premium coverage

Vision and dental coverage

Tuition assistance / educational perks

Parental leave and holidays

401(k) with company match up to 7%

Employee assistance program

Job summary

State Farm is seeking a Staff Data Scientist to lead modeling and decision science for personalized engagement across acquisition, service, and retention journeys. Hybrid role focusing on building models and taking them through experimentation and engineering workflows to drive measurable outcomes.

Minimum qualifications include 8+ years in statistical modeling or ML, with advanced Python/SQL skills and Databricks experience. Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• 8+ years applying statistical modeling, ML, experimentation or decision science to business problems.
• Ability to translate questions into analytical approaches and production-ready models.
• Strong communication to explain concepts to technical and executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead modeling and decision science for personalized engagement across journeys.
• Develop propensity, churn, lifetime value and other decision models.
• Translate signals into scalable features and decisioning approaches.
• Collaborate with engineering/product to productionize models and services.
• Mentor talent and establish reusable standards for precision engagement.

Skills

Statistical modeling

Machine learning

Experimentation

Decision science

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Databricks

Python

SQL

Job description

State Farm is seeking a Staff Data Scientist to lead modeling and decision science that supports personalized, coordinated engagement across acquisition, service, and retention journeys. This hybrid role will focus on building decision models and taking them through experimentation and engineering/product workflows to drive measurable outcomes.

What you’ll do

• Lead the modeling and decision science powering personalized, coordinated engagement across acquisition, service, and retention journeys.
• Develop propensity, churn, lifetime value, next-best-action, recommendation, prioritization, and other decision models for precision engagement.
• Translate behavioral, transactional, marketing, digital, and contextual signals into scalable features and decisioning approaches.
• Partner with experimentation teams to validate model-driven interventions and separate predictive accuracy from incremental business impact.
• Design measurement approaches for model lift, calibration, treatment effectiveness, fairness, stability, and downstream customer outcomes.
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to productionize models and decision services in Databricks and connected activation platforms.
• Guide identity, feature, and data requirements while accounting for privacy, consent, governance, and channel constraints.
• Mentor technical talent and establish reusable standards for precision engagement modeling and decision science.

Minimum qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related quantitative field (advanced degree preferred).
• 8+ years of experience applying statistical modeling, machine learning, experimentation, or decision science to complex business problems.
• Advanced proficiency in Python and SQL, with experience in modern cloud data and ML environments such as Databricks or comparable platforms.
• Ability to convert ambiguous business questions into analytical approaches, production-ready models, and measurable outcomes.
• Strong communication skills to explain technical concepts, assumptions, limitations, and recommendations to both technical and executive audiences.

Tools and technologies

• Python
• SQL
• Databricks

Compensation and benefits

• Potential starting salary range: $160,000 - $220,000 per year based on skills, background, and experience.
• Potential yearly incentive pay up to 24% of base salary.
• Annual raise and bonus eligibility.
• Healthcare premium coverage: State Farm pays most of your healthcare premium, with multiple plan options including a high deductible plan.
• 100% coverage for in-network preventative care, plus access to vision, dental, telemedicine, and 24/7 mental health professionals.
• Educational benefits, including industry leading training programs and tuition assistance programs.
• Employee resource groups and mentoring.
• Fertility/IVF/adoption assistance and other life-moment benefits (including college coaching, national discount programs, interactive monthly financial workshops, and free financial coaching).
• Up to 20 days annually plus parental leave, paid holidays, celebration day, life leave (40 hours/year), bereavement leave, and community service/education support days.
• Matching Gift Program, Good Neighbor Grant Program, and Employee Assistance Fund.
• 401(k) plan with company contributions of up to 7% of your salary.
• Access to free financial advisors.

Hybrid work and locations

• Hybrid means selected candidates will be assigned to a facility and spend some time working in the office and from home.
• For Enterprise Technology, the hybrid arrangement requires approximately 40% in-office time each month, beginning in late 2027.
• Hub locations: Bloomington, IL; Dunwoody, GA; Richardson, TX; Tempe, AZ.

Work authorization

• Applicants must be eligible to lawfully work in the U.S. immediately; employer will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work authorization (e.g., H-1B visa) for this opportunity.

State Farm prioritizes work-life balance, and compensation is based on their standard 38:45-hour work week.