Tech Lead Manager, Machine Learning, Growth and Marketing New San Francisco, CA, USA

Chime Enterprise; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 199,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office four days/week

Fridays from home

Wellbeing benefits

Wellness stipend

Parental leave

Commuter benefits

Job summary

Chime is seeking a Tech Lead Manager for Machine Learning in San Francisco to drive growth and marketing initiatives. You will lead a team of data scientists and ML engineers to build models powering customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.

This role blends hands-on ML with strategic leadership, collaborating across marketing, product, and engineering to deliver impactful solutions. The position requires 7+ years developing ML for marketing, 5+ years leading teams, strong analytics, and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience developing ML models for marketing and growth.
• 5+ years leading data science teams with mentoring and impact.
• Strong expertise in marketing analytics: segmentation, LTV, churn, attribution.
• Hands-on production ML deployment experience and cross-functional collaboration.
• Proficient in Python and SQL; building ML pipelines at scale.
• Experience with AWS, Kafka, Airflow, Redis, databases, Spark, Snowflake, Looker.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a team of data scientists and ML engineers for customer acquisition, conversion, and retention.
• Set strategic ML direction for marketing, engagement, and growth initiatives.
• Oversee end-to-end development of models like LTV, churn, segmentation, attribution, and personalized communications.
• Collaborate with marketing, product, growth, and engineering to align ML with business goals.
• Leverage data to optimize acquisition spend and retention strategies.
• Establish ML best practices: development, validation, deployment, and monitoring.
• Promote a data-driven culture and partner with leadership for experiments and analytics.
• Stay ahead of industry trends and bring advanced ML techniques to growth strategies.

Skills

Leadership

Marketing analytics

Machine learning

Python

SQL

Communication

Stakeholder management

Education

MS or PhD in ML/CS/Statistics

Tools

AWS

Kafka

Airflow

Redis

MySQL

Postgres

Spark

Snowflake

Looker

Job description

Tech Lead Manager, Machine Learning, Growth and Marketing

San Francisco, CA, USA

About the Role

Chime’s Data Science and Machine Learning team is building models, services, and platforms that transform how millions of users manage and grow their financial lives. We are looking for a hands‑on Tech Lead Manager with deep technical expertise in machine learning and data science, particularly within the Growth and Marketing domain. Beyond technical proficiency, we value creativity, user empathy, and strong collaboration.

As a Tech Lead Manager within our Growth and Marketing team, you will lead a talented group of data scientists and machine learning engineers to develop innovative growth and marketing models. These models will provide critical insights into acquiring, retaining and growing Chime members, broaden access to credit, and ensure financial inclusivity. You will play a pivotal role in creating innovative, ground‑up products while driving the development of cutting‑edge acquisition and retention models and solutions. If you are passionate about marketing, growth, customer acquisition and retention models, this role could be a great fit for you.

In this role, you can expect to

• Lead and inspire a high-performing team of data scientists and ML engineers, ensuring the successful development and deployment of machine learning solutions for customer acquisition, conversion and retention.
• Drive strategic direction for ML initiatives in marketing, engagement, and growth by identifying opportunities where AI/ML can optimize our customer funnel.
• Oversee the end‑to‑end development of machine learning models such as lifetime value prediction, churn risk modeling, customer segmentation, marketing attribution, referral recommendations, and personalized communications.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with marketing, product, growth, and engineering teams to align machine learning initiatives with business objectives.
• Leverage transactional and behavioral data to enhance customer targeting, optimize acquisition spend, and improve retention strategies.
• Establish ML best practices, including model development, validation, deployment, and monitoring, ensuring scalability and business impact.
• Advocate for a data‑driven culture, partnering with business leaders to drive strategic decisions through experimentation and predictive analytics.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, bringing cutting‑edge AI/ML techniques into our marketing and growth strategies.

To thrive in this role, you have

• 7+ years of experience developing machine learning models for marketing and growth, from inception to production, with a focus on customer acquisition, engagement, and retention.
• 5+ years of experience leading data science teams, with a proven track record of mentoring, coaching, and driving impactful machine learning solutions.
• Strong expertise in marketing and growth analytics, including experience with customer segmentation, LTV modeling, churn prediction, referral systems, and multi‑touch attribution.
• Deep understanding of AI/ML techniques, including classification, clustering, reinforcement learning, optimization, deep learning, and NLP for customer engagement.
• Hands‑on experience deploying machine learning models in real‑world production environments, integrating with marketing tech stacks and growth platforms.
• Strong product intuition with the ability to work iteratively in a fast‑paced, cross‑functional environment.
• M.S. or Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related STEM field.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL, with experience in building ML pipelines and wrangling large‑scale data.
• Experience with modern ML and data engineering technologies, such as AWS, Kafka, Airflow, Redis, MySQL, Postgres, Spark, Snowflake, Looker.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to partner effectively with marketing, growth, product, and engineering teams.

#LI-DA1 #LI-Onsite

Below is the base salary offered for this role and level of experience. Full‑time employees may also be eligible for bonus(es), competitive equity, and benefits. For commissioned roles, the base salary listed in this job description does not include incentive/variable pay. The actual base salary offered may be higher, depending on your location, skills, qualifications, and experience.

Wage Notice

$199,000 - $275,000 USD

A little about us

At Chime, we believe that everyone can achieve financial progress. We created Chime—a financial technology company, not a bank—on the premise that core banking services should be helpful, easy, and free. Through our user‑friendly tools and intuitive platforms, we empower our members to take control of their finances and work towards their goals. Whether it’s starting a savings account, purchasing a first car or home, launching a business, or pursuing higher education, we’re proud to have helped millions unlock their financial potential.

We’re a team of problem solvers, dreamers, and builders with one shared obsession: our members. From day one, Chimers have worked tirelessly to out‑hustle and out‑execute competitors to bring our mission to life. Their grit and determination inspire us to work harder every day to deliver the very best experience possible. We each bring an owner’s mindset to our work, refusing to be outdone and holding ourselves accountable to meet and exceed the highest bars for our teams, our company, and our members.

We believe in being bold, dreaming big, and taking risks, while also working together, embracing our diverse perspectives, and giving each other honest feedback. Our culture remains deeply entrepreneurial, encouraging every Chimer to see themselves as stewards of our mission to help everyday Americans unlock their financial progress.

We know that to achieve our mission, we must earn and keep people’s trust—so we hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity in everything we do. These aren’t just words on a wall—our values are embedded in every aspect of our business, serving as a north star that guides us as we work to help millions achieve their financial potential.

Because if we don’t—who will?

*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.

What we offer for our full‑time, regular employees

• Our in‑office work policy is designed to keep you connected - with four days a week in the office and Fridays from home for those near one of our offices, plus team and company‑wide events depending on location. Whether you’re coming in regularly or are part of our fully remote program, you’ll stay engaged with your work and teammates.
• Benefits that support your work and life, including backup child, elder, and pet care and subsidized commuter benefits for eligible employees.
• Comprehensive health, financial, and wellbeing benefits designed to support you at every stage of life.
• Generous vacation policy and company‑wide paid days off
• 1% of your time off to support local community organizations of your choice
• Annual wellness stipend to use towards eligible wellness related expenses
• Up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for non‑birthing parents
• Access to family planning reimbursement
• A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join one of the most experienced teams in FinTech and help millions unlock financial progress

We know that great work can’t be done without a diverse team and inclusive environment. That’s why we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas to join our team. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our members and helps us all grow as Chimers and individuals.

Chime is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis under provincial, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, or ordinances. We will also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of state and local laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Cook County Ordinance, NYC Fair Chance Act, and the LA City Fair Chance Ordinance, and consistent with Canadian provincial and federal laws. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during any stage of the application process, please contact: [e-mail] .