Sr Data Scientist

PayPal • San Jose, CA

1d • $190,112 - $300,500 • Hybrid

About The Position

PayPal, Inc. seeks a Sr Data Scientist in San Jose, California, to develop, optimize, and execute data-driven strategies for identifying, analyzing, and managing payment disputes and chargebacks. The role uses large transaction, dispute, and chargeback datasets to improve dispute resolution outcomes, minimize financial losses, and support operational effectiveness. The position partners across fraud prevention, customer service, compliance, business, and technology teams to identify root causes, develop actionable insights, and deliver scalable solutions that improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

The position also develops business cases for risk policies, vendor integrations, and dispute-infrastructure enhancements; defines post-transaction risk requirements for product initiatives; and monitors regulatory and card-network requirements related to disputes and chargebacks. Partial telecommuting is permitted from within a commutable distance. PayPal's general hybrid model offers most employees three days in the office and two days at the office or home workspace.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or foreign equivalent in Data Science, Statistics, Business Analytics, or a closely related field, plus three years of experience in the job offered or a related occupation; alternatively, a bachelor’s degree or foreign equivalent in one of these fields plus five years of such experience.
• At least 3 years of experience with Python and SQL for data analysis, automation, and pipeline development.
• At least 2 years of experience with machine-learning models for predictive analytics.
• At least 3 years of experience collaborating cross-functionally with fraud prevention, compliance, and partner teams to develop risk strategies, analytics dashboards, and post-transaction risk requirements for product initiatives.
• At least 2 years of experience with PL/SQL procedures for identifying high-risk transactions and mitigating risk.
• At least 2 years of experience analyzing large-scale transaction data to identify emerging fraud patterns and support chargeback and dispute resolution.
• At least 3 years of experience in fraud and risk management, including transaction monitoring, pattern analysis, and risk strategy development.
• At least 3 years of experience with ETL processes, data cleaning, and data transformation for large-scale datasets.
• At least 2 years of experience with U.S. financial market regulations and resolution frameworks.
• At least 3 years of experience with network compliance requirements and card-scheme regulations, including Visa and Mastercard operating rules.
• At least 2 years of experience with data visualization platforms.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

Responsibilities

• Develop, optimize, and execute data-driven strategies to identify, analyze, and manage payment disputes and chargebacks.
• Analyze transaction, dispute, and chargeback data to identify trends, root causes, and fraud patterns.
• Develop and optimize dispute strategies using knowledge of financial markets, card networks, and customer spending behavior.
• Create business cases for new risk policies, vendor integrations, and enhancements to PayPal's dispute infrastructure.
• Develop post-transaction risk requirements for product initiatives and prioritize them with partner teams.
• Collaborate with fraud prevention, customer service, compliance, and other business and technology groups to design actionable insights and scalable solutions.
• Support optimal deployment of payment solutions to meet customer needs and corporate objectives.
• Monitor regulatory trends and card-network requirements for disputes and chargebacks, and support compliance through ongoing analysis and reporting.
• Drive data science best practices, ensure data quality, and mentor junior scientists.

Benefits

• Annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.
• Generous paid time off.
• Healthcare coverage for employees and their families.
• Resources to support financial security and mental health.
• Flexible, balanced work culture and a choice-based wellbeing benefits approach.

What This Job Offers

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