Applied Scientist

About the role

As an Applied Scientist at Upstart, you will improve existing models and develop new approaches to expand the team's impact across marketing channels. You will work across business-oriented analysis, machine learning research, experimentation, and production-ready modeling. This role involves partnering with Machine Learning, Growth, and Marketing Platform Engineering stakeholders to translate business problems into research agendas and production-ready solutions.

Responsibilities

• Analyze historical model and campaign performance to identify opportunities to improve model effectiveness and marketing outcomes.
• Develop and evaluate machine learning models, including researching new features and model architectures, to improve prospect selection and support new marketing use cases.
• Design statistically rigorous experiments and model evaluations to measure causal impact, optimize campaign outcomes, and inform decisions.
• Navigate complex, messy datasets and build reusable data pipelines, metrics, and analytical approaches that enable efficient model development and analysis.
• Partner with Machine Learning, Growth, and Marketing Platform Engineering teams to translate business problems into research agendas, intermediate milestones, and production-ready solutions.
• Expand machine learning capabilities beyond direct mail into lifecycle, email, digital, and other emerging marketing channels.

Required skills

• Statistical methods
• Machine learning
• Python
• Causal inference
• Experimental design

Nice to have

• Causal machine learning
• Exploratory data analysis
• Production model development
• Marketing analytics

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Operations Research or a related field
• PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Operations Research or a related field

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Life insurance
• Disability coverage
• Paid time off
• Paid parental leave
• Annual wellness allowance

About the Company

Upstart is an AI lending marketplace that partners with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology. The company is digital-first and aims to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing.