Director of Data Science and Machine Learning

This role will be remote first with limited travel through August 2025 with the expectation that employees will begin working 2 days per week in our dedicated office space starting September 2025. 

About the Role: 

We are seeking a highly skilled and strategic Director to lead our Machine Learning, Data Science, and Product Analytics teams. This role is critical in driving data-powered insights and innovation to enhance our Product performance, user experience, and overall business growth. The Director will work cross-functionally with the Machine Learning Platform team, Product Management, Engineering, Data Engineering, and other teams to develop and optimize the models that will power and grow our marketplace, optimize product analytics, and provide actionable data insights to the business. 

We’re looking for someone with expertise in Machine Learning and/or Data Science who has led both teams, with a healthy balance and perspective on how the 2 disciplines can best work together to optimize for time to market and business outcome delivery. This role is ideal for someone who loves a mix of hands-on technical leadership and long term strategic thinking.  Ideally you thrive in a fast-paced, innovative environment and are passionate about leveraging and optimizing machine learning and data science together to shape the future of taskrabbit in pursuit of our long term Mission and Vision. 

What you’ll work on: 

Team Leadership & Strategy: 

• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of machine learning engineers, data scientists, and product analysts. 
• Define and execute the strategic vision for data science, machine learning, and product analytics in alignment with overall company goals, ensuring there are clear roles and responsibilities for each team. 
• Foster a collaborative culture across the team and ensure alignment with engineering and product teams on priorities and roadmaps. 
• Deliver outcomes and manage timelines, balancing long-term strategic goals with immediate operational needs. 
• Be the connective tissue between the function and company leadership, being an advocate for ML and DS and the value they drive. 
• Technical leadership for the team. 

Machine Learning & Data Science:

• Oversee management and development of all new and existing DS and ML models that power our offering to ensure this is a strategic differentiator for Taskrabbit and a core competency 
• Partner with Data Engineering and the ML Platform team on the design and deployment of scalable ML infrastructure and algorithms in production environments. 
• Leverage advanced data science techniques to derive insights that drive business decisions and product enhancements. 
• Ensure ML and DS efforts are highly aligned with Product Priorities and planned together. 
• Work with both teams to ensure the ROI of the team’s efforts are high and that their time and focus is matched to the value of the outcomes and balanced with time to value. 

Product Analytics: 

• Provide direction and strategy to help establish a recently created function within Taskrabbit. 
• Ensure we have the product analytics framework to evaluate the performance of key product features and user behaviors for all sides of the taskrabbit marketplace. ● Ensure that Product Analytics leads the creation and dissemination of product insights, KPIs, and data-driven recommendations to improve product performance and user experience. 
• Partner with other leaders across Engineering, Design, Data and Product (EDDP) to build a more data driven culture. Including access to data, training & education and a self-serve environment for analysis and visualization. 

Cross-functional Collaboration: 

• Work closely with EDDP, Business Intelligence and Marketplace dynamics to embed data-driven decision-making across the organization. 
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify new opportunities for leveraging data and machine learning to improve marketplace outcomes. 
• Communicate findings and recommendations to senior leadership and other non-technical stakeholders. 

Your Areas Of Expertise: 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field. A PhD is a plus. 
• 8+ years of experience in machine learning, data science, and/or product analytics roles, with at least 3-5 years in a leadership capacity. 
• Proven track record of deploying high performance machine learning models at scale in a production environment.
• Strong expertise in statistical analysis, machine learning algorithms, and data manipulation. 
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL, along with experience using ML frameworks. 
• Ability to translate complex data and technical concepts into business insights and actionable recommendations. 
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to mentor and inspire teams. 
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels. 

Preferred Experience: 

• Previous experience in a marketplace or e-commerce company. 
• Experience in leading teams in a hybrid or remote environment. 
• Experience in Search and Recommendations.