Data Scientist I

Lithia & Driveway•Tigard, OR

3d•$60,000 - $117,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Driveway Finance Corporation (DFC), part of Lithia & Driveway, provides financing solutions for retail and commercial clients. The Data Scientist role supports the organization’s strategy to use data, statistical modeling, machine learning, and AI to predict market trends, improve decisions, optimize operations, and serve customers. The position helps ensure organizational data is accurate, consistent, and suitable for predictive modeling, while addressing data-source and collection issues and helping reduce systematic bias. It also supports U.S. vehicle lending and leasing through credit risk analytics and modeling, pricing strategy, and analytical solutions for business functions including Driveway.com, sales, marketing, finance, operations, product, and technology. The role analyzes lending and leasing portfolio performance; develops and monitors credit risk models, decision rules, risk tiers, and pricing strategies; and builds analytical datasets and reporting. It collaborates across business and technical teams and communicates analytical methods, findings, and business impacts to varied stakeholders. The posting also describes senior-level duties, including leading complex workstreams, reviewing analytical work, coaching team members, and establishing modeling standards. This is a hybrid position in Tigard, Oregon, with three days in the office and two days working from home. The Data Scientist/Senior Data Scientist reports to the Manager, Data Science.

Requirements

Master’s degree in data science, statistics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, economics, finance, actuarial science, or a closely related quantitative field.
Data Scientist: typically at least 3 years of relevant experience in data science, credit risk analytics, statistical modeling, or a related quantitative field. Senior Data Scientist: typically at least 5 years of relevant experience, including ownership of complex analytical or modeling work.
Hands-on experience developing, testing, or validating statistical or machine-learning models using Python, R, or similar tools.
Strong SQL skills and experience working with large, complex datasets, including data preparation, reconciliation, and quality assessment.
Knowledge of model development and validation concepts, including sampling, feature engineering, performance measurement, calibration, stability testing, back-testing, and monitoring.
Ability to convert analytical results into practical risk strategies and explain technical concepts to business stakeholders.
Strong written documentation, problem-solving, attention to detail, and time-management skills.
Ability to collaborate effectively across credit risk, finance, product, operations, compliance, technology, and data teams.
High school graduate or equivalent and at least 18 years old.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree.
Experience in automotive finance, vehicle leasing, consumer lending, banking, fintech, or another regulated credit environment.
Experience with credit decisioning strategies, scorecards, risk-tier assignment, policy rules, expected loss, delinquency, collections, prepayment, or residual value analytics.
Experience with model risk management, independent model validation, governance documentation, production monitoring, or audit support.
Experience with cloud data and analytics platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Databricks, Spark, or equivalent technologies.
Experience with visualization or business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau.
Knowledge of U.S. consumer credit markets and applicable privacy, fair lending, consumer protection, and responsible-use expectations for data and models.
Experience working with U.S. credit bureau data, fair lending analysis, or regulated consumer lending requirements.

Responsibilities

Analyze U.S. vehicle lending and leasing portfolio performance, identify risk trends, and provide actionable recommendations.
Develop and maintain credit risk models, decision rules, risk tiers, and related analytical strategies.
Test and validate models and credit policies using historical analysis, back-testing, simulations, and appropriate performance measures.
Build reliable analytical datasets and reporting using Python, SQL, and relevant cloud or business intelligence platforms.
Monitor model, policy, and portfolio performance and recommend adjustments when business conditions, customer behavior, or data quality change.
Develop and evaluate pricing strategies, including risk-based pricing, profitability analysis, pricing optimization, and measurement of customer and portfolio outcomes.
Support Lithia businesses and functions, including Driveway.com, sales, and marketing, by identifying analytical opportunities, building models and insights, and translating results into practical business recommendations.
Partner with credit, finance, operations, product, technology, data engineering, and governance teams to implement analytical solutions.
Communicate methods, assumptions, limitations, findings, and business impact to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
For the Senior Data Scientist level, lead complex workstreams, review analytical work, coach team members, and help establish modeling standards.