Principal Data Scientist
Remote · USD 182,300-252,500 · 8+ years experience · Remote · Posted Oct 6, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 8+ years experience
- Workplace
- Remote
- Location
- Remote
- Salary
- USD 182,300-252,500 · Base salary
About Upstart
- At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.
- As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 3,000 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.
- We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City, you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.
- If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.
- The Team:
- Upstart's Product & Growth Analytics team drives strategic insights and evidence-based decision-making across our expanding portfolio of credit products. Our team works at the intersection of product strategy, data science, and business impact, partnering with product leaders, the ML organization, and finance to shape how Upstart evolves its offerings and delivers value to borrowers and banking partners.
About the role
- As a Principal Data Scientist at Upstart, you will serve as a strategic thought partner to product, marketing, finance, and ML leaders, helping optimize decisions across their domains.
- You will combine deep technical expertise with the judgment to determine when to use rigorous experimentation, causal inference, or foundational business understanding.
- You will additionally build out technical tools to improve understanding of the business, such as forecasting models, spend allocation optimization, marketing incrementality, and attribution models.
Responsibilities
- Shape strategic direction by identifying the gaps and questions others miss and setting the agenda.
- Be a thought partner to leaders across product, finance, and ML to help them understand complex problems from first principles and define what actually matters.
- Design, build, and own tools leveraged across the team, such as models for forecasting change, optimizing spend allocation, marketing incrementality, and attribution.
- Design and execute experiments, from classic A/B tests to complex causal inference analyses, with full ownership of hypothesis development, experiment design, and results interpretation.
- Build metrics frameworks and measurement strategies, helping stakeholders understand what to optimize for and why.
- Collaborate with the ML organization on high-complexity technical challenges, bringing statistical rigor and causal reasoning to the work.
- Translate ambiguous, multifaceted business problems into clear frameworks that guide decision-making.
- Take ownership of work end-to-end: from scoping the question, to analysis, to storytelling, to driving organizational change based on insights.
- Influence without direct authority across engineering, product, finance, and executive leadership, creating clarity and alignment.
Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in data science or quantitative roles with direct impact on product or business strategy.
- Demonstrated mastery of experimental design and A/B testing.
- Deep statistical expertise, including causal inference methods.
- Strong coding skills.
- Track record of partnering with non-technical stakeholders to translate data into actionable business decisions, not just delivering analyses.
- Comfort operating in ambiguous environments where the right questions aren't predetermined, and the ability to shape direction through thoughtful inquiry.
- Exceptional communication skills, demonstrated ability to move fluidly between strategic questions and tactical details, and excellence in translating complex technical bodies of work into clear narratives.
- Exposure to ML applications and ability to partner effectively with ML/data science teams on technical challenges.
- Familiarity with personalization, recommendation systems, or matching algorithms.
Preferred qualifications
- Experience with at least one of the following: forecasting, spend allocation optimization, marketing incrementality, or attribution.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
- Retirement benefits including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees
- Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources
- Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans
- Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage
- Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays
- Paid family and parental leave
- Family-centered benefits supporting fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
Workplace
- Digital-first company with remote work availability across the US.
- Optional office locations available in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City.
