Staff Data Scientist, Fraud

Varo Bank • San Francisco, CA

4h

About The Position

Varo is looking for a Staff Data Scientist, Fraud to serve as the technical cornerstone for fraud prevention on our Data Science team. In this high-impact, individual contributor role, you will transition our fraud operations from reactive "fire drills" to a state of engineering excellence. You will fully own the fraud domain, acting as the primary technical liaison for cross-functional partners while instilling the rigorous testing and data science standards necessary for a world-class banking platform. You aren’t just building models; you are architecting the future of trust at Varo. By providing senior technical leadership, you’ll help streamline our modeling pipelines, mentor high-potential junior talent, and bridge the gap between complex data architecture and non-technical fraud experts. Your expertise will allow our leadership to focus on strategy while you drive the execution and governance of our subprime lending and payment risk products.

Requirements

• Deep Fraud Expertise: Proven track record in financial industry fraud modeling, ideally within subprime lending or high-volume payment environments.
• Technical Mastery: Advanced proficiency in Python, SQL, and the AWS Stack, with a strong understanding of data architecture and ML Ops.
• Strategic Communication: Exceptional ability to interface with non-technical stakeholders and regulatory bodies regarding model governance and compliance.
• Autonomous Builder: Experience implementing rigor from the ground up, including automated testing, documentation, and model lifecycle management.
• Modern Workflow: Proficiency with AI-assisted coding tools to accelerate development and manage a broad scope of technical responsibilities.

Nice To Haves

• Prior fintech experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Own the Fraud Domain: Act as the primary technical lead for all fraud modeling and operations, operating with full independence to resolve complex issues and lead technical communications.
• Drive Technical Rigor: Establish and implement robust testing protocols, model governance, and standard data science practices to ensure high-quality, compliant outputs.
• Execute Complex Modeling: Design, develop, and maintain advanced fraud models specifically tailored for banking and subprime lending environments.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Be the technical voice for the Fraud team, translating complex data concepts for non-technical partners and collaborating with Data Engineering on feature pipelines.
• Mentor & Level Up: Provide technical guidance and debugging support to junior team members, fostering a culture of excellence and reducing operational bottlenecks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed