Staff Data Scientist

OfferGenie; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercury is hiring a Machine Learning-focused Data Scientist to support our Risk team. You will build, validate, and deploy ML models to identify and prevent fraud in real time, while ensuring data quality and robust monitoring. You’ll collaborate with Risk Strategy and Engineering to optimize inputs, deployment, and observability.

This is an opportunity to join Mercury at a pivotal moment, leading best practices and mentoring teammates in a fast-paced fintech environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience analyzing large datasets to drive impact.
• Proficiency in SQL to understand and manage imperfect data.
• Proficiency in Python and ML modeling.
• Experience deploying and monitoring ML models in production.
• Ability to lead and empower others and drive cross-team alignment.
• The ability to drive strategic alignment between teams with differing roadmaps, timelines, or architectures.

Responsibilities

• Build, validate, and deploy ML models to identify and prevent fraud in real time.
• Document, test, and monitor models to ensure reproducibility and robustness.
• Ensure data quality and reliability across pipelines and tools.
• Collaborate with Risk Strategy and Engineering on inputs, deployment, and observability.
• Act as tech lead, prototyping and codifying best practices.

Skills

SQL proficiency

Python

Machine Learning

Large datasets analysis

Leadership

Strategic alignment

Tools

dbt

Job description

San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Portland, OR, or Remote within Canada or United States Remote

In 1999 NASA lost contact with its Mars Climate Orbiter after a 9 month journey from Earth. It began its planned orbital insertion maneuver but went out of radio contact after passing behind Mars. While we may never know whether it was destroyed in the atmosphere or re-entered heliocentric space, we can draw the lesson that getting the details (in this case, units) right is critical, especially when shooting for the stars.

While Mercury’s cosmic journey may be more metaphorical, we have our own sky-high ambitions and the need to marry those with precise data analysis.

To that end, we are hiring a Machine Learning-focused Data Scientist to support our Risk team. This team is responsible not only for detecting, monitoring, and mitigating both first- and third-party fraud but also ensuring we know and understand our customers while monitoring their behavior for financial crime risk. You’ll play a key role in strengthening our fraud defenses while ensuring that Mercury continues to deliver a smooth and trustworthy banking* experience.

This is an opportunity to join Mercury at a pivotal moment in our growth. You’ll be working on some of the most critical challenges facing the business and collaborating across product, engineering, and risk to protect our customers and the financial system at large.

Here are some things you’ll do on the job:

• Build, validate, and deploy machine learning models to identify and prevent fraud in real time
• Support the reproducibility and robustness of said models through documentation, testing, and monitoring
• Ensure data quality and reliability across pipelines and tools
• Collaborate with Risk Strategy to ideate on model inputs and applications and with Engineering optimize deployment and observability
• Act as a technical lead prototyping, iterating on, and codifying best practices - and bringing the rest of the team along

You should have:

• 7+ years of experience working with and analyzing large datasets to solve problems and drive impact, with 5+ years of ML experience
• Proficiency in SQL and experience using it to understand and manage imperfect data
• Proficiency in Python and experience with statistical modeling and machine learning
• Experience deploying and monitoring machine learning models in production
• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities
• Demonstrated ability to lead and empower others, delivering not just on your own work, but upleveling those around you
• The ability to drive strategic alignment between teams with differing roadmaps, timelines, or architectures

Ideally you also have:

• 1+ years of relevant risk experience
• Familiarity with LLMs or other GenAI and how they can be applied to risk or fraud detection
• Experience with modern data tools for pipelines and ETL (e.g., dbt)
• Experience with model governance as required in finance or other regulated industries
• Experience building zero-to-one solutions in ambiguous or greenfield problem spaces

*Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., Members FDIC.

Mercury values diversity & belonging and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All individuals seeking employment at Mercury are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process for applicants with disabilities or special needs. If you need assistance, or an accommodation, please let your recruiter know once you are contacted about a role.