Senior Data Scientist

The Data Science team supports Favor’s mission to bring fast, fresh delivery to Texans far and wide. The Favor technology platform is the engine behind the business, enabling millions of Favors. Our technology efficiently manages the real-time assignment of Runners to Favors, facilitates communication between customers, Runners, and support, keeps thousands of customer and Runner mobile applications in sync, and more. 

We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist to join our growing Data Science team. This person will be committed to having a deep understanding of our data and its relationship to the business, implementing and optimizing models for the specific use case, and deploying modern, clean code that directly impacts our business. You will work closely with our product, engineering, and operations teams to understand customer needs, build simple solutions to complex problems, and deliver delightful experiences to all our users. As a Senior Data Scientist, you are responsible for the full lifecycle of machine learning projects from working with stakeholders, problem definition, feature exploration, building production-grade solutions, and ongoing monitoring and maintenance.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering and their stakeholders to understand the problem space and priorities.
• Develop a deep understanding of our applications, data platform, and business to perform independent research and analysis to understand ongoing initiatives or identify new opportunities which can lead to ad hoc reports, new business metrics, features for modelling, or proof of concept.
• Design projects to streamline and optimize feature engineering, model tuning, validation, and observability in production. 
• Create applications to serve predictions in real-time, run a/b tests across model iterations, and continuously own all aspects of the modelling and backend services from standing up new infrastructure to debugging production issues.

• A Bachelor's, Master's degree, PhD in statistics, computer science, data science, economics, mathematics, operations research, or another quantitative field.
• If Bachelor's, Master's degree, then 5+ years. If PhD, then 2+ years of combined experience in machine learning, statistics, data modelling, programming, or applied research in related fields.
• Strong knowledge of SQL and relational databases, statistical analysis and modelling tools in Python, and Python-based web frameworks such as Flask or FastAPI.
• Excellent understanding of machine learning techniques, including regression, SVM, decision trees, and time series models. Familiarity with DNN modelling in Tensorflow or Pytorch, and fine-tuning pretrained open source models for specific use cases.
• Excellent communication and experience working with technical and non-technical stakeholders and leadership, with the ability to discuss complex topics with audiences of varying technical knowledge.

• Ability to work across the spectrum of our business, coordinating work across multiple stakeholders and teams, with the desire to understand in-depth nuances of our business and how data science can make the most significant impact.
• Able to communicate at any level the logic and rationale behind our work to leadership, key stakeholders, and technical partners. 
• Appreciate the value of delivering incremental value versus having the perfect solution from the outset. Know how to make the most of the data science tools and packages, while not being afraid to step out and take a novel approach.
• Interested in modelling and engineering as much as exploring and crafting a story with data to convey the problem and how our work impacts it.

Life at Favor

Where you’ll work: This is a hybrid role, meaning you’ll work from home roughly three days per week and collaborate with other team members in person at our HQ in Austin, Texas for the remaining work days. No matter where you work best, we foster an inclusive and flexible environment to support our workforce. 

Benefits: We offer premium health, vision, dental, and life insurance, alongside 401(k) options. We go beyond the basics, while also throwing in Favor delivery fee credit and H-E-B discounts! 

Paid time off (PTO): We offer unlimited PTO for salaried employees (that’s actually unlimited) and ample vacation time to all team members.

Learning and development: We encourage personal growth and education through Intern(al)ships and Learning Labs taught by Favor team members and external facilitators.

Community: Whether you’re an avid cyclist, dog lover, or Magic enthusiast, there’s a group for you here. We foster community through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), company-wide events, happy hours, and regular connection opportunities.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion: At Favor, we believe that to be the best delivery app in Texas, we need to represent all Texans. We are committed to growing a team with different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives, and we are an equal opportunity employer. We review all resumes and qualifications with an open mind and encourage you to apply if this role interests you!

In addition, as a candidate, if you require any accommodations throughout the recruitment process, simply let your recruiter know! Our talent acquisition team will work with you directly to ensure a smooth and delightful process.