Director, Data Science
About The Position
The Director, Data Science works on DuckDuckGo’s Data Science Functional Team to drive product and business impact. The role develops data scientists by setting clear expectations, providing hands-on mentorship, and removing blockers. It guides multiple data science projects to ensure timely delivery and maximum impact, spanning statistical modeling, experiment design, and classifier implementation across search, instant answers, AI, and revenue optimization. The Director collaborates across functions to validate direction through data, advises on experiments and organizational strategy, develops expertise in core metrics such as searches, installs, and revenue, and drives improvements to the data pipeline. The role requires creative approaches to deriving actionable insights while working within strong privacy policies and maintaining quantitative rigor. It also helps shape DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused products and mission.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in data science or ML engineering.
- 4+ years of experience leading teams.
- Track record of setting multi-team roadmaps and adapting swiftly as priorities shift.
- Experience driving organizational culture toward data-driven decision-making.
- Ability to communicate technical tradeoffs and risks clearly to executives and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Ability to coach highly skilled, experienced data scientists with direct, actionable feedback.
- Expert-level ability to deploy and iterate on ML and NLP solutions in production, including choosing appropriate tools for constrained environments requiring fast responses and strict privacy standards.
- Ability to write production-grade code in Python or a comparable high-level language.
- Advanced SQL and query optimization skills.
- Familiarity with columnar databases such as BigQuery, ClickHouse, Redshift, or Druid.
- Strong LLM/AI experience, including fine-tuning, LLM-as-judge evaluation, and AI-assisted development.
- Ability to design, implement, and analyze experiments across product surfaces using sparse or privacy-constrained data.
- Must attend meetings on camera via video conferencing.
- Must expect to travel at least twice a year for an all-hands meetup and a team retreat, each around 4–5 days; attendance is strongly encouraged.
- Must pass a background check as a condition of joining.
Nice To Haves
- Experience at a consumer-facing technology company where data or analytics is core to the product strategy.
Responsibilities
- Develop data scientists by setting clear expectations, providing hands-on mentorship, and removing blockers.
- Guide and advise multiple data science projects to ensure they stay on track, deliver on time, and maximize impact.
- Lead work involving statistical modeling, experiment design, and classifier implementation across search, instant answers, AI, and revenue optimization.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to validate direction through data.
- Consult on experiments and build trust in organizational tactics and strategy.
- Develop expertise in core metrics, including searches, installs, and revenue.
- Drive improvements to the data pipeline.
- Develop strategies for surfacing actionable insights within strong privacy constraints and an evidence-first culture.
- Set multi-team roadmaps and adapt them as priorities shift.
- Communicate technical tradeoffs and risks clearly to executives and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Coach experienced data scientists and provide direct, actionable feedback.
- Deploy and iterate on production ML and NLP solutions, and remain hands-on with technical work when needed.
- Design, implement, and analyze experiments across product surfaces using sparse or privacy-constrained data.
Benefits
- Stock options.
- Paid parental leave.
- Office setup support.
- Co-working allowances.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
