Senior Manager, Data Science

About this role

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:

Marketing Science is part of Upstart’s Growth, Product, and Ops Analytics team. We help answer two important questions: Is our marketing working, and where should we invest next?

Our analysts and data scientists partner closely with growth marketing across every channel that brings borrowers to Upstart, including direct mail, paid search and social, video, mobile, email, brand campaigns, and lending partnerships. Within each channel, the team identifies what’s working and how to improve it. Across channels, we help determine how to allocate spend and understand how channels influence one another.

At Upstart, a marketing dollar creates value when it reaches someone our AI models approve who goes on to take out a loan. That means our work goes well beyond clicks. Because we can see the full journey from first touch to funded loan, we can measure marketing against the outcome that matters, not just a proxy.

As the Senior Manager for our Marketing Data Science team, you’ll lead this team and work directly with Upstart’s marketing leaders. You’ll be a thought partner, helping the business make decisions that are best for Upstart. We’re looking for an experienced data science and analytics leader who can expand the team’s impact on our growth.

How you’ll make an impact

• Lead a team of analysts and data scientists embedded across marketing channels, with end-to-end ownership of their work.

• Make experimentation central to the team’s approach: prioritize high-value tests across channels and ensure the findings inform what marketing does next.

• Guide the team in understanding why channel performance changes and translating those insights into clear, actionable recommendations.

• Encourage proactive analysis that surfaces emerging risks and opportunities before stakeholders ask.

• Set a high bar for measurement, including incrementality testing and attribution, and ensure the team delivers rigorous, high-quality work.

• Partner with marketing, finance, and product leaders to shape the team’s roadmap, bringing business context back to the team so it can focus on the right problems.

• Hire, develop, and retain a strong team that marketing leaders see as a trusted partner, not just a reporting service.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in data science and analytics, including 5+ years managing teams of analysts and data scientists.

• Technical depth across the core work of marketing analytics and data science, including reporting, experimentation, causal inference, and attribution, plus the judgment to choose the right approach for each question.

• Working knowledge of SQL and Python, with the ability to review your team’s work directly.

• A track record of hiring strong talent and helping people grow into more senior roles.

• Strong judgment in ambiguous, greenfield areas: the ability to frame questions the business hasn’t asked yet and assess whether they’re worth pursuing.

• Clear written and verbal communication with marketing, finance, product, and technical audiences, and the confidence to tell senior leaders when the evidence doesn’t support a plan.

Preferred Qualifications

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An exceptional candidate will also have:

• A PhD or master’s degree in statistics, economics, computer science, or another quantitative field.

• Experience incorporating AI tools into a team’s analysis and reporting workflows.

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

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At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your…