Founding Data Scientist

Sela AI is building a top-performing AI sales agent, and the Founding Data Scientist will play a central role in turning massive call data into better personalization, experimentation, and model improvements. This is a hybrid role based in San Francisco, CA, with a team rhythm designed for collaboration and deep work.

You will work across the sales call lifecycle, from identifying what drives stronger outcomes to building models and experimentation systems that can scale. As the first data scientist at Sela, you will also help define how data science is practiced inside the company and what kind of team to grow over time.

What you’ll do

• Help build the top-performing AI sales agent in the world.
• Analyze hundreds of millions of calls to understand what leads to better sales outcomes.
• Design and run experiments across every part of the sales call, including what the AI says, how it says it, when calls are made, and more.
• Build models that personalize and optimize calls for each lead.
• Convert large, complex datasets into recommendations that improve AI agent performance.
• Partner closely with engineering to build a robust, scalable, future-proof experimentation framework.
• Develop and apply the methodology for experiment design, outcome measurement, and decision-making.
• Turn call insights into iterative improvements to the AI sales agents.
• Ensure the experimentation framework can support increasingly sophisticated experiments as Sela scales.
• As the first data scientist, establish how data science is done at Sela and help guide the team that follows.

What you bring

• 4+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, experimentation, or a closely related field.
• Strong statistical foundations, plus experience designing and analyzing experiments.
• Strong Python and SQL skills, with the ability to work with very large datasets.
• Ability to take an ambiguous problem, define what to measure, and translate results into actionable recommendations.
• Strong technical judgment and experience collaborating closely with engineers on experimentation systems.
• High agency, including operating effectively without an established playbook.

Bonus points (nice to have)

• Experience designing experimentation or optimization systems at scale.
• Experience with causal inference, personalization, ranking, or recommendation systems.
• Experience working with LLMs, speech, or conversational data.
• Experience at a fast-growing startup or as an early data science hire.

Compensation & benefits

• $180,000 - $250,000 per year plus equity
• Top-of-market medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents
• 401(k) with a top-of-market employer match
• Unlimited PTO
• Snacks, weekly team lunches, and dinner on Sela
• Hybrid schedule: four days a week together in SF, with a flexible remote day on Wednesdays

Technologies: Python, SQL