Staff Data Scientist

Role Description

Working on the Data Science Functional Team, you'll drive product and business impact through improving our search engine ranking and results. Recent projects include:

• Improving first-phase ranking quality and precision without sacrificing latency
• Developing new lexical-matching and document-authority signals
• Expanding our search evaluations to measure relevancy readiness and surface ranking blindspots
• Investigating LLMs for feature generation and ranking

Our data meets rigorous privacy standards and is necessarily sparse, so you'll need to think creatively to surface actionable insights in an evidence-first culture where quantitative rigor is the baseline, not the exception.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Data Science
• 2+ years at Staff, Principal, or Director level
• Track record of leading high-complexity projects from scoping to production with minimal direction
• Comfortable advising others on complex data science work
• Ability to develop strategies for ambiguous, complex data science problems and turn them into well-defined projects
• Hands-on experience deploying ML in production, developing NLP solutions, and in AI-assisted development
• Production-grade code writing in Python or a comparable high-level language
• Advanced SQL and query optimization skills
• Effective collaboration with product teams and contribution to overall team throughput

Requirements

• Running search-specific projects (ranking, retrieval, or indexing) from scoping to production
• Working with large-scale search infrastructure (e.g. Vespa, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, or Solr)

Benefits

• $222,033 USD annually and stock options
• Compensation is identical within professional levels, regardless of geographic location or team
• Transparency in compensation for each professional level across the organization
• Eligibility for company-sponsored health benefits limited to team members based in the United States
• Paid parental leave, office setup, and co-working allowances

Hiring Process

Hiring works best when it's a two-way street. Learn how we help you get to know DuckDuckGo, envision your future role here, and find out more about how we hire.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

DuckDuckGo provides equal work opportunities to all team members and applicants, and it prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by our policies or federal, state, or local laws.

We want to ensure that our hiring process is accessible. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process because of a medical condition or disability, please send an email to View email address on us.fitly.work to let us know the nature of your request.

• You’ll be required to attend meetings on camera via video conferencing
• Expect to travel at least two times a year: once for our all-hands meetup and again for a team retreat (each around 4-5 days)
• While we offer a flexible work arrangement with no core hours, expect an average full-time commitment of 40 hours per week
• A successful candidate must pass a background check as a condition of joining the team

Disclosure Statement: Use of AI in Hiring Process

As part of our commitment to enhancing our recruitment process, we utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to assist in reviewing and summarizing job applications and test projects, including those tools integrated into our recruitment vendor platforms.

• Data Privacy: All information provided in your application will be handled in accordance with our Recruiting Privacy Policy.
• Human Oversight and Accountability: All final evaluations and hiring decisions will be made by our hiring team, who will consider the AI's input alongside other factors.
• Transparency: We believe in transparency regarding our hiring practices.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge and consent to the use of AI technology in our review process. If you would like to request an alternative selection process, please contact us at View email address on us.fitly.work.