Staff Data Scientist

About the role

Realtor.com® is the No. 1 site trusted by real‑estate professionals, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with insights and guidance. The senior technical leadership role on the Consumer Data Science & Analytics team is responsible for measurement and analytics strategy across Realtor.com’s consumer product experiences—including content, visualization, search, personalization, and other high‑priority initiatives. As a Staff Data Scientist you will act as a player‑coach, owning ambiguous, high‑visibility analytical problems end‑to‑end while setting technical standards and mentoring other data scientists.

Responsibilities

• Own a high‑visibility, cross‑team initiative end to end—from framing the business question through method selection, execution, and socializing recommendations with senior stakeholders—with minimal oversight.
• Set the analytical and experimentation standards for the team: design test‑and‑learn frameworks, causal‑inference approaches, and metrics definitions that other data scientists build on.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to shape the measurement and analytics roadmap across consumer initiatives (e.g., AI‑backed search & recommendations), reasoning independently about trade‑offs such as inventory vs. user preference, cold‑start, and test design.
• Mentor and provide technical guidance to senior and mid‑level data scientists, reviewing analytical approaches and elevating the rigor of the team’s work.
• Identify and prioritize the highest‑leverage analytical opportunities across the consumer product portfolio, protecting time and focus for initiatives with the greatest business impact.
• Champion and model AI‑native ways of working—agentic workflows, LLM‑assisted analysis, and self‑service tooling—to accelerate output and set the standard for AI use across the organization.
• Represent the data science function in cross‑functional planning, translating complex analytical and statistical findings into clear recommendations for both technical and executive audiences.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in data science, applied statistics, or machine learning and a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in computer science, statistics, mathematics, operations research, or a related quantitative field (6+ years with a Master’s, 3+ years with a Ph.D.).
• Track record of owning ambiguous, high‑visibility analytical initiatives end‑to‑end and driving measurable business impact without close oversight.
• Deep experimentation fundamentals—A/B testing, power analysis, and causal‑inference methods (e.g., difference‑in‑differences, synthetic control, propensity‑score matching) for settings where standard testing isn’t feasible.
• Strong technical fluency across SQL, Python, and modern analytics/BI tooling (e.g., Tableau, Amplitude, Snowflake).
• Experience mentoring or informally leading other data scientists or analysts, and setting technical direction without formal management authority.
• Comfort working in an AI‑native way—using LLM APIs, agentic AI workflows, and AI‑assisted development tools to accelerate analysis and build self‑service data products.
• Exceptional communication skills, with experience presenting complex technical findings to senior and executive stakeholders and influencing decisions at that level.
• Relocation and visa sponsorship are not available for this role.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience spanning multiple consumer‑analytics domains (e.g., content/media analytics, search/NLP, personalization, or two‑sided marketplace dynamics).
• Prior experience as a technical lead on a squad or pod, setting direction for a small group of data scientists or analysts.
• Familiarity with LLM observability/evaluation tooling (e.g., Langfuse, Braintrust) or building data products backed by LLMs.
• Experience building ETL/data pipelines (e.g., dbt, Airflow) to support scalable, self‑service analytics.
• Master’s or Ph.D. in a quantitative field.

Benefits

• Inclusive and competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family‑forming benefits
• 13 paid holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid volunteer time off
• Immediate eligibility into company 401(k) plan with 3.5 % company match
• Tuition reimbursement program for degreed and non‑degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized financial planning sessions
• Student debt retirement savings match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location

Work environment

Realtor.com balances creativity and innovation on a foundation of in‑person collaboration. Most employees work four or more days per week in the office, providing opportunities for rich, face‑to‑face interaction and a close‑knit culture.