Senior Data Scientist

Being a good investor and being a good firm are two different things. We want to be both.

We are an Atlanta-based private equity firm with $42 billion in assets under management specializing in franchise and franchise-like business models. Our portfolio companies span multiple sectors including restaurants, business and consumer services, health and wellness, and education and youth activities.

Since our founding in 2001, we have been guided by the same core values - do what’s right and long-term smart, regardless of conventional wisdom…even when it’s hard, and even when no one’s looking.

We view investing as a team sport. Our goal is shared success - for customers, employees, franchisees, strategic partners, service providers, management teams, and shareholders. We have a focused investment strategy that provides pattern recognition and a deep belief in win-win partnerships.

We partner with market-leading companies and management teams and believe in value creation through operational excellence. Currently, they generate $100 billion in annual system sales from 117,000+ locations across the globe.

Roark is growing our in-house Data and Analytics team, with the goal of better leveraging advanced analytics, data science, and machine learning to make sound investment decisions and guide our owned businesses to profitable growth. We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist to ship production-grade models and tools across Roark investment use-cases and our brands. We are a fast-paced, growing, and entrepreneurial team, and this role will enjoy working across many topics and brands as we build durable competitive advantage in how we underwrite investments and scale portfolio performance.

This is a hands-on, senior individual-contributor role for a generalist data scientist with strong MLOps and software-engineering depth. Typical work spans regression modeling, demand forecasting, customer and unit economics modeling, pricing and promotion analytics, classification problems, and GenAI productivity tooling. You will own models end-to-end - from framing the problem through deployment, monitoring, and maintenance, in addition to taking existing models built by others and transforming them into to be more reusable and/or put into production.

We want a self-sufficient developer who raises the craft of the people around them. The team will look to this individual to help up-level their capabilities. The ideal candidate is comfortable across a wide variety of tasks, gets up to speed on a new project quickly, and adds value in an agile fashion. They work in an 80/20 style and do not need the perfect dataset to get started. This role partners closely with investment teams, our owned businesses, and Data & Software Engineering to deliver scalable, production-ready solutions that drive real business impact. This position is expected to be in-office to support collaboration and culture building.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Own machine learning models end-to-end - build, deploy, monitor, and maintain them in production, including forecasting, regression, and classification, beyond proof-of-concept
• Translate ambiguous business problems into well-defined modeling approaches and data requirements, working in an 80/20 style without waiting for a perfect dataset
• Write clean, tested, reusable Python; participate in code review; and apply strong software craft, including Git and packaging
• Deploy and operate models on the cloud (Google Cloud Platform preferred - Vertex AI, BigQuery, Cloud Run), applying MLOps fundamentals: CI/CD for ML, reproducibility, deployment, and monitoring
• Raise the engineering and modeling standards of those around you - teaching craft and lifting team quality, not only your own output
• Partner directly with investment teams, owned-business stakeholders, and internal clients to deliver analysis and tools that drive decisions
• Author reusable IP - internal libraries, templates, and standards documentation - that scales across Roark’s businesses and target sectors
• Get up to speed quickly on new projects and brands, adding value across a wide variety of tasks in an agile fashion
• Ensure rigor in model validation, performance monitoring, and documentation, balancing sophistication with interpretability, speed, and impact
• Stay current on advances in machine learning, AI, and applied analytics relevant to private equity and consumer businesses

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative discipline (computer science, data science, engineering, mathematics, statistics, economics, or similar), Master’s Degree preferred.
• 5-8 years of applied data science experience, operating with senior-level autonomy and requires minimal coaching or guidance
• Demonstrated breadth: has shipped a variety of models; from forecasting, regression, and classification work, and is comfortable across the core algorithm families
• Has owned at least one model in production - deployed, monitored, and maintained (not proof-of-concept only)
• Strong software craft in Python: clean, tested, reusable code; Git; code review; and packaging
• Cloud deployment experience (Google Cloud Platform preferred - Vertex AI, BigQuery, Cloud Run) and MLOps fundamentals you can teach others: CI/CD for ML, reproducibility, deployment, and monitoring
• Evidence of having raised others’ engineering standards, not only your own
• Client- and stakeholder-facing delivery experience, Either Consulting engagements or as cross-functional business support.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future; role is based in Atlanta, GA

Core areas of desired expertise include:

• Regression and classification across a range of business problems
• Pricing and promotion analytics
• Marketing Analytics
• Customer and unit economics modeling
• Experiment design and measurement
• Forecasting and demand prediction, including unit-level forecasting

Tools and platforms:

• Python and SQL
• Cloud platforms, Google Cloud Platform preferred (Vertex AI, BigQuery, Cloud Run)
• MLOps tooling: CI/CD for ML, reproducibility, deployment, and monitoring
• Generative AI coding productivity tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) - Candidate should be comfortable using AI tools to be a more efficient and stronger Data Scientist.

Ideal candidates may also possess the following qualifications:

• Generative AI / agentic development experience - Mastra, LangGraph, RAG, and LLM applications
• Domain adjacency: QSR, multi-unit consumer, retail, CPG, or franchise businesses; unit-level forecasting
• Orchestration and pipeline experience: Airflow, dbt, Dataflow
• Has authored reusable IP - internal libraries, templates, or standards documentation

Desired personal and leadership characteristics include:

• High standards of integrity, accountability, character, and professionalism
• A self-sufficient Developer who delivers on time analysis and code
• Raises the craft of those around them rather than only their own output
• Hands-on, pragmatic, and results-oriented, with a bias for action and a willingness to roll up sleeves to get the job done
• Comfortable working across a wide variety of tasks; gets up to speed on a new project quickly and adds value in an agile fashion
• Works in an 80/20 style - does not need the perfect dataset to get started, and balances speed and impact with technical rigor
• Thrives in a fast-paced, high-demand environment with multiple competing priorities; self-starter with a sense of urgency to deliver under tight deadlines
• Low-ego team player who enjoys collaborating with high-intellect colleagues and stakeholders across various functions and backgrounds
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to collaborate with partners across different functions, backgrounds, and levels of seniority
• Quick learner, high curiosity; strong problem-solving and conceptual skills
• Entrepreneurial, agile mindset; someone who wants to take part in building a world-class analytics organization

BENEFITS

Roark provides a highly competitive package that includes, but is not limited to:

• Base salary plus annual performance bonus
• Medical, dental, vision, life insurance and long-term disability insurance
• 401k with employer match
• Paid time off and holidays
• Breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks are provided daily in the office