Senior Research Data Scientist

About the role

As a Senior Research Data Scientist on Roku's Data Science team, you will lead the development of a best-in-class causal inference platform that measures and optimizes the true incremental impact of customer actions, product features, and business interventions on long-term outcomes. Partnering with the Customer Growth organization, you will build the methods and systems that enable Roku to make high-confidence decisions from observational data when randomized experiments are not feasible.

You will own the full lifecycle of causal measurement—from gathering business requirements and defining estimation approaches, to partnering with Engineering to productionize scalable causal pipelines and communicating findings to senior leadership. Your work will directly inform growth, retention, and monetization strategy across the platform, making this role ideal for an applied economist or econometrician who excels at the intersection of rigorous research and production engineering.

Requirements

• PhD in Economics, Econometrics, Statistics, or a closely related quantitative field with a strong emphasis on causal inference
• 10+ years of experience applying causal inference and machine learning methods to real-world problems, with a demonstrated track record of measurable impact
• Deep expertise in observational causal methods such as propensity score matching, Double Machine Learning, doubly robust estimation, instrumental variables, and difference-in-differences
• Experience building reusable causal inference tools or platforms beyond one-off analyses
• Proficiency with Spark, Ray, SQL, Python, and ML frameworks such as scikit-learn, XGBoost, and LightGBM
• Experience with terabyte- or petabyte-scale datasets in distributed computing environments
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate econometric findings into clear business recommendations

Qualifications

• Technology industry experience; connected TV, streaming, or advertising experience is a plus

Skills

• Experience with causal inference and machine learning methods
• Experience with distributed computing environments
• Strong communication and presentation skills

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Equity awards
• Life insurance
• Disability benefits
• Parental leave
• Wellness benefits
• Paid time off