Senior Data Scientist II - Ads Optimization
Remote · 6+ years experience · Full-time · Remote · Posted Sep 28, 2026
At a glance
- Experience
- 6+ years experience
- Employment
- Full-time
- Workplace
- Remote
- Location
- Remote
About the role
- As a Senior Data Scientist on Instacart's Ads Optimization team, you will drive analytics, experimentation, and algorithmic strategy for the $1B+ ads business.
- You will operate at the intersection of data science, economics, and production systems, partnering with Product, Engineering, and Machine Learning to impact revenue and advertiser outcomes.
Responsibilities
- Own the analytics and experimentation strategy for pacing, targeting, and related optimization areas, driving measurable improvements in advertiser outcomes and platform efficiency
- Design and build intelligent pacing algorithms and budget allocation systems grounded in adaptive control and model-predictive control techniques, deployed in high-throughput production environments
- Lead end-to-end experimentation across optimization systems by designing experiment frameworks, diagnosing complex or conflicting signals, and translating results into actionable recommendations
- Apply causal inference, statistical modeling, and ML techniques to optimize how ad spend is distributed across time and auction opportunities
- Present findings and strategic recommendations to leadership across Product, Engineering, and Data Science
- Serve as a thought leader and technical anchor in the Ads Optimization space, setting the analytical standard and mentoring peers across the team
- Collaborate with the Ads Product and Sales teams to gather advertiser feedback and inform optimization priorities
Requirements
- Proven experience in ads optimization at an ad tech company with hands-on work in pacing, targeting, budget allocation, or related systems
- Strong data science foundation including product and data analysis, A/B experimentation, causal inference, and statistical modeling
- Experience shipping optimization systems into production with real measurement and iteration in live environments
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to synthesize complex technical findings for senior business and engineering stakeholders
- 6+ years of work experience in a data science or related field
Preferred qualifications
- Experience collaborating directly with an ads product or sales team, or with advertisers, to shape product and algorithmic priorities
- Background in budget-constrained allocation methods, adaptive control, or model-predictive control in production systems
Benefits
- Market-competitive compensation
- New hire equity grant
- Annual refresh grants
- Benefits offerings
Workplace
- Flex First team offering the flexibility to choose where to work from home, an office, or other locations
Skills
- A/B Experimentation
- Causal Inference
- Statistical Modeling
- Machine Learning
- Adaptive Control
- Model-predictive Control
- Data Analysis
