Data Scientist

The Predictive Index•Westwood, MA

1d•$125,000 - $145,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Predictive Index (PI) is seeking a senior Data Scientist to establish and lead the data science function for a new venture. This role is foundational, requiring the individual to define the discipline, set methods, standards, and infrastructure. The Data Scientist will own the evidence behind all claims, metrics, and insights, ensuring they are defensible and rigorous. This position offers the opportunity to build a scientific function from the ground up within a venture that combines startup independence with the credibility of an established science brand. The ideal candidate has prior experience building rigorous data science practices and desires autonomy in setting the standard for excellence.

Requirements

Substantial, senior-level experience as a data scientist in product environments.
Strong, defensible opinions on how data science work should be conducted.
Judgment to know when to deviate from established rules.
Track record of building product analytics from scratch and owning them end to end.
Comfort writing code and personally setting up instrumentation, pipelines, and dashboards in live product environments.
Deep expertise in running product experiments with statistical rigor.
Ability to determine when a result is real, when it's noise, and when a design is insufficient.
Ability to defend methodology and teach it to non-quantitative audiences.
Ability to operate as the sole subject matter expert, setting direction independently.
Ability to be trusted by others to ensure scientific accuracy.
Fluency in translating ambiguous business questions into tractable data problems.
Fluency in translating data answers into actionable decisions for Product, GTM, and leadership.
Comfort working at the frontier where research agenda, product roadmap, and go-to-market strategy are still being defined.
Maturity to bring order to ambiguity.
Graduate degree (or equivalent applied experience) in Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, Econometrics, Quantitative Psychology, or a closely related quantitative field.
Passion for using AI in all aspects of work.
A builder's mindset and the seniority to match.
Willingness to cover surface area well beyond their title.
Ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.

Responsibilities

Own the evidence layer of the venture, end to end, turning product and customer signal into defensible knowledge.
Build a repeatable function for generating insights about client outcomes.
Set the standard for rigor by defining experimental methods, statistical bars, and analytical practices.
Act as the final authority on the validity, generalizability, and applicability of results.
Build the instrumentation, data pipelines, dashboards, and analytics infrastructure from scratch.
Make architectural decisions that will underpin future data science initiatives.
Identify key drivers of client outcomes by correlating product signals with client results.
Separate genuine impact from superficial appearances in product demonstrations.
Translate findings into durable, differentiated product value.
Design and execute cohort and funnel experiments to validate or invalidate hypotheses rapidly.
Build feedback loops that enhance the venture's competitive advantage.
Partner with Product, GTM, and Behavioral Science teams as a peer decision-maker.
Shape strategy, roadmap, market thesis, and team bets through early evidence integration.
Establish practices, documentation, and standards to enable data science to scale with venture growth.
Use AI in all aspects of work to sharpen thinking, increase speed, and extend team capacity.