Impact

As a Director of Data Science, you will be leading the Search Data Science team. Customers rely on our search experience to find exactly what they need, and this role will be pivotal in building cutting-edge machine learning and AI-powered search capabilities that create seamless, intuitive, and personalized experiences.

This is a high-visibility leadership role, aligned with one of the company’s top strategic priorities. As a Director, you will define and drive the vision and strategy for search, and work cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, and Design to deliver world-class search solutions that directly impact business growth.

What You’ll Do:

• Set the vision and strategy for the Search Data Science team, aligning with company goals and customer needs.
• Lead and grow a high-performing team of data scientists and ML engineers, providing mentorship, technical guidance, and career development.
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Design to define search product requirements and translate them into robust data science and machine learning solutions.
• Develop and deploy AI-driven search algorithms, including query understanding, ranking models, personalization, semantic search, and LLM-powered search experiences.
• Establish best practices for experimentation and measurement of search relevance and customer satisfaction.
• Drive innovation while ensuring scalability, reliability, and performance of search systems.
• Communicate vision, strategy, and progress to executive leadership and stakeholders.

What You’ll Need to Be Successful

• Proven expertise in search: At least 5 years of experience working on search, information retrieval, or related domains.
• Hands-on LLM experience: Practical experience applying large language models (LLMs) to real-world problems such as semantic search, query rewriting etc.
• Leadership experience: Track record of managing and growing high-performing teams of data scientists or ML engineers.
• Technical depth: Strong background in machine learning, natural language processing, information retrieval, and modern AI/ML techniques. Ability to engage deeply with the team on technical decisions.
• Cross-functional collaboration: Excellent ability to partner with Product, Engineering, and Design to define and deliver customer-focused solutions.
• Superb communication skills: Comfortable presenting complex technical ideas to executives, peers, and cross-functional partners in a clear and compelling way.
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field preferred.

Work Arrangement

Candidates located near an office or workspace in Birmingham, San Francisco, or Minneapolis are considered hybrid, meaning they have the flexibility to work from home (with leader approval) or at an office to facilitate innovation, collaboration, and team connections. In-office expectations will vary by role and leader. Certain roles may require in-office presence on a full-time basis. Please work with your recruiter to learn more about the classification of this role.