{"id":1965363,"url":"https://alion.io/job/upstart-principal-data-scientist","title":"Principal Data Scientist","company":{"id":1709,"name":"Upstart","domain":"upstart.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/upstart","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":86,"open_postings":16,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.375,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":71,"computed_at":"2026-10-10T05:45:15Z"}},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"posting_text","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":["United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["CA"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":182300,"max":252500,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":252500},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":8,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"A/B Testing","optional":false},{"name":"Recommender Systems","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-06T16:54:40Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-06","last_verified_at":"2026-10-11T22:34:15Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":5,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":5},"description":"About Upstart\nAt Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.\nAs the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 3,000 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.\nWe’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City, you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.\nIf you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.\nThe Team: \nUpstart's Product & Growth Analytics team drives strategic insights and evidence-based decision-making across our expanding portfolio of credit products. Our team works at the intersection of product strategy, data science, and business impact, partnering with product leaders, the ML organization, and finance to shape how Upstart evolves its offerings and delivers value to borrowers and banking partners.\nWe're entering a new chapter. As Upstart expands into subscription-based products, we need to rethink how we approach data science and analytics from the ground up. This requires people who don't just answer questions, but ask the right ones first. People who dive into ambiguity, surface what matters, and guide the business toward smarter decisions.\nAs a Principal Data Scientist, you'll be a strategic thought partner to product, marketing, finance, and ML leaders, helping them optimize the decisions in their domains. You'll combine deep technical expertise with the judgment to know which problems merit rigorous experimentation, which require causal inference, and which first demand foundational business understanding. You will additionally build out technical tools to improve our understanding of the business, with examples including forecasting models, spend allocation optimization, marketing incrementality, and attribution models.\nHow you’ll make an impact\nProactively identify gaps in how the business thinks about problems, rather than waiting for direction.\nPartner with stakeholders to identify and frame foundational questions and build solutions.\nDesign, build, and own tools that are leveraged across the team, such as models for forecasting change, optimizing spend allocation, marketing incrementality, and attribution.\nDesign and execute experiments, from classic A/B tests to complex causal inference analyses, with full ownership of hypothesis development, experiment design, and results interpretation.\nBuild metrics frameworks and measurement strategies, helping stakeholders understand what to optimize for and why.\nCollaborate with our ML organization on high-complexity technical challenges, bringing statistical rigor and causal reasoning to our work.\nTranslate ambiguous, multifaceted business problems into clear frameworks that guide decision-making.\nTake ownership of your work end-to-end: from scoping the question, to analysis, to storytelling, to driving organizational change based on insights.\nInfluence without direct authority across engineering, product, finance, and executive leadership, creating clarity and alignment where understanding is incomplete.\nMinimum Qualifications \n8+ years of experience in data science or quantitative roles with direct impact on product or business strategy.\nDemonstrated mastery of experimental design and A/B testing\nDeep statistical expertise, including causal inference methods.\nStrong coding skills.\nTrack record of partnering with non-technical stakeholders to translate data into actionable business decisions, not just delivering analyses.\nComfort operating in ambiguous environments where the right questions aren't predetermined, and the ability to shape direction through thoughtful inquiry.\nExceptional communication skills, demonstrated ability to move fluidly between strategic questions and tactical details, and excellence in translating complex technical bodies of work into clear narratives.\nExposure to ML applications and ability to partner effectively with ML/data science teams on technical challenges.\nFamiliarity with personalization, recommendation systems, or matching algorithms.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with at least one of the following is highly preferred: forecasting, spend allocation optimization, marketing incrementality, or attribution.\nPosition location This role is available in the following locations: Remote \nTravel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.\nAt Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location-with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.\nIn addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).\nUnited States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range\n$182,300—$252,500 USD\nWhat you'll love\nAt Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:\nCompetitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly \nRetirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada)\nEmployee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)\nComprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada.\nHealth Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)\nIncome protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security\nPaid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements\nPaid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country)\nFamily-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs\nEmployee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources\nFinancial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only)\nAnnual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you\nAnnual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from\nConnection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)\nOnsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City\nFor roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec.\nUpstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.\nIf you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email \nhttps://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy","description_format":"text","description_chars":9146,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":8,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan","Equity","Life insurance","Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"Canada","iso":"CA","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Financial Software & Embedded Finance","Financial AI","Consumer Loans & Pawnshops"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-06T17:10:50Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":3,"expected_fill_days":71,"reasons":["conf:0","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-10T05:45:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":252500,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/upstart-principal-data-scientist","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/upstart-principal-data-scientist.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-11T22:55:01Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":13211,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-12T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1709},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1709"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fupstart-principal-data-scientist"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fupstart-principal-data-scientist"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fupstart-principal-data-scientist"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/upstart-principal-data-scientist\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fupstart-principal-data-scientist"}]}