Sr. Data Scientist I

Zoro • Chicago, IL

9d • $105,100 - $175,100 • Hybrid

About The Position

As a Data Sr. Scientist I at Zoro, you’ll apply your expertise in machine learning, deep learning, statistical modeling, and data analysis to solve a variety of business challenges. From forecasting and customer segmentation to improving onsite search and recommendations, our team directly enhances our customers' experiences and informs critical business decisions. At Zoro, every day brings new challenges and opportunities to innovate.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in quantitative fields such as Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, and other STEM disciplines.
• 6+ years of experience leading data science projects that have a direct impact on a company's objectives or PhD degree in quantitative fields such as Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science with 4+ years of experience.
• 6+ years of experience applying data mining and machine learning to solve complex business problems, including 5+ years of hands-on experience using deep learning frameworks to develop, train, and optimize machine learning models.
• Deep understanding of relevance, ranking, and building representation-learning solutions, with 2+ years of hands-on experience developing and optimizing learning-to-rank models, utilizing and tuning for ranking and relevance metrics.
• 5+ years of experience leveraging Python to process large, complex, and diverse datasets, develop and productionize predictive models, and deploy scalable machine learning solutions across cloud-based and distributed computing environments.
• 5+ years of experience with advanced SQL and cloud-based data platforms, such as Google Cloud Platform or AWS.
• 3+ years of experience applying large language models (LLMs), generative AI in business use cases, including experience designing evaluation frameworks to assess model quality, relevance, and business impact through offline metrics.
• Strong knowledge of statistical, causal inference methods, parametric models, and planning experiments.
• Hands-on application of SOLID principles and modern software engineering practices, including designing maintainable, testable, and scalable production systems.
• Strong communication skills to collaborate effectively with business stakeholders. Must be able to interact cross-functionally and drive both business and technical discussions.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building or operating real-time, low-latency systems is preferred.
• Experience working with vector databases and feature stores.
• Experience using data science or advanced analytics in an Internet retailer or a top-tier consumer-focused company.
• Experience using containerization tools like Docker and Kubernetes in production environments.
• Experience using orchestration tools such as Airflow or Kubeflow for production workloads.
• Familiarity with BI tools such as Tableau or Looker, and ability to communicate results to business partners

Responsibilities

• Apply domain and industry knowledge to solve complex data science projects, developing advanced machine learning models, and driving data-driven decisions within the organization.
• Lead data science projects from start to finish by refining objectives, developing a project plan and methodology, and collaborating with business and technical teams.
• Write and maintain high-quality, production grade code, including unit and integration tests.
• Establish and maintain comprehensive, accurate evaluation frameworks to assess model performance and inform ongoing improvements.
• Collaborate with other data scientists to develop and implement algorithms, write code, evaluate relevant academic research to deliver final outputs.
• Provide guidance on tools, practices to drive efficiency, technical debt, data sources, and best practices.
• Mentor and guide junior data scientists on algorithms, coding best practices, and other technical concepts.
• Document code and data science processes that are critical to the company and develop strategies to ensure those processes are robust and fault-tolerant.
• Communicate findings to business leaders and colleagues using data visualizations, presentations and reports.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment
• Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents. We also support growing your family through access to adoption assistance program
• 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist and Wellhub portal membership to support your mental and emotional wellbeing
• At least 18 paid time off days annually for full-time employees and 6 company holidays per year
• 6% company contribution to a 401K Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required
• Tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and access to financial counseling, education, and tools
• Charitable Gift Program - match gift to an eligible educational, cultural, community health, and human service organizations
• Employee discounts and admission to various civic and cultural institutions around Chicago
• Zoro office perks including coffee bar, beer on tap, unlimited snacks, access to the onsite gym, and incredible city skyline views

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior