Data Scientist - Decision Analytics

Payactiv, Inc. is looking for a Data Scientist to join the Decision Analytics team in Milpitas, CA, onsite. In this role, you will build end-to-end statistical and machine learning solutions that support forecasting, decisioning, risk, and analytics, working closely with stakeholders and engineering partners to deploy and monitor models and data pipelines.

What you’ll do

• Own the full lifecycle of analytical solutions, spanning data exploration, feature engineering, model training and validation, deployment, and ongoing performance monitoring.
• Develop and evaluate statistical and machine learning models, providing clear justification for methodology and model selection.
• Write production-quality Python and SQL to work with multi-million-row datasets, with a focus on performance, accuracy, and reliability.
• Convert ambiguous business questions into structured analyses and actionable recommendations for stakeholders.
• Communicate analytical findings clearly, translating technical results into insights that inform business decisions.
• Collaborate with data engineers on the design, validation, and maintenance of ETL processes and data pipelines to support data integrity, quality, and observability.
• Keep current on emerging analytics, ML/AI, and cloud computing technologies, with strong advantage for familiarity with Snowflake and AWS SageMaker.

What you bring

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a quantitative discipline such as Data Science, Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Economics, etc.
• 1–3 years of experience in Data Science, Engineering, or a closely related role.
• Proven proficiency in Python (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn) and SQL, including data transformation, wrangling, and analysis on multi-million-row datasets.
• Working knowledge of statistical modeling and machine learning fundamentals, including model selection trade-offs, data leakage, class imbalance, and validation methodology.
• Hands-on experience across a range of modeling approaches, potentially including regression and generalized linear models, tree-based and ensemble methods, time series forecasting, clustering, or neural networks.
• Solid understanding of relational databases, including writing performant queries, optimizing slow queries, and reasoning about schemas, joins, and query plans at production scale.
• Ability to work independently and manage competing priorities with limited supervision.
• Excellent communication skills for conveying complex findings to technical and non-technical audiences, with a proactive, curious, and detail-oriented mindset and strong problem-solving abilities.
• Hands-on experience with business intelligence and visualization tools, including Sigma, Tableau, Looker, or Power BI.
• Experience designing, validating, and maintaining ETL processes and data pipelines.

Technologies you may use

• Python, pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn
• SQL
• Snowflake, AWS SageMaker
• Sigma, Tableau, Looker, Power BI

Compensation and benefits

• Salary range: USD 100,000–120,000 per year (based on experience) plus Bonus
• Company sponsored Health, Dental, and Vision insurance
• 401K: traditional and Roth with a company match
• Tuition Assistance or Tuition Reimbursement
• Unlimited Paid Time off
• Monthly Gym Reimbursement
• Paid time off to volunteer
• Paid Family Leave
• Complimentary office lunches