Director, Data Science
About The Position
Rakuten Rewards is seeking a Director of Data Science to lead our centralized data science organization, influence strategy and drive execution of machine learning and generative AI initiatives that deliver measurable, company-wide business impact. Reporting directly to the CTO, this role combines organizational leadership, technical depth, and business ownership, with a mandate to scale high-impact AI solutions from concept to production. You will be responsible for setting the technical vision, mentoring a high-performing team, and ensuring that our data science efforts directly translate into competitive advantages and improved member experiences.
Requirements
- Strong foundation in machine learning, statistical modeling, optimization, and/or AI systems
- Experience leading the deployment and scaling of models in production environments
- Familiarity with modern data and ML ecosystems (Python, SQL, cloud platforms, and production ML tooling)
- Demonstrated ability to lead in ambiguous environments and define strategy from first principles
- Strong communication skills with experience influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams
- Ability to balance technical depth with business pragmatism
- 10+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, or applied AI in industry; 15+ years Preferred
- 5+ years of leadership experience, including managing managers and building scaled teams
- Proven track record of delivering measurable business impact through production-grade ML/AI systems
- Bachelor's Degree Required
Nice To Haves
- Experience in e-commerce, ad-tech, marketing science, recommender systems, or related domains
- Experience integrating AI into customer-facing products and internal workflows
- Experience with LLM-based systems, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and evaluation of generative AI solutions
- Master's Degree Preferred
Responsibilities
- Lead and grow a high-performing centralized data science organization, including managing managers, hiring top talent, and fostering a strong, accountable culture
- Help shape data science strategy and prioritize initiatives based on feasibility and expected business outcomes
- Translate ambiguous business problems into clear, actionable AI and machine learning strategies
- Own problem framing, success metrics, and end to end accountability to ensure data science efforts translate into measurable business outcomes
- Serve as a trusted partner to senior leaders, clearly communicating strategy, trade‑offs, progress, and impact
- Own the end‑to‑end delivery and effectiveness of machine learning and generative AI solutions, ensuring successful progression from problem definition through production deployment, monitoring, and iteration.
- Set technical direction and quality standards for scalable ML, optimization, and GenAI systems that deliver measurable impact across domains such as campaign forecasting, campaign optimization, and member experience optimization
- Ensure solutions are production‑ready, observable, and continuously improved, with a strong focus on reliability and business effectiveness
- Strengthen best practices and technical standards for applied AI across the organization
- Partner with engineering and platform teams to improve foundations for production AI, including experimentation, evaluation, model monitoring, and scalable infrastructure
- Stay current with advances in ML and generative AI and guide thoughtful, pragmatic adoption of new capabilities
Benefits
- discretionary bonus
- health, vision, dental insurance
- 401k matching
- PTO
- Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
