Applied Data Scientist

Company Description

It all started with an idea at Block in 2013. Initially built to take the pain out of peer-to-peer payments, Cash App has gone from a simple product with a single purpose to a dynamic app, bringing a better way to send, spend, invest, borrow and save to our millions of monthly active users. With a mission to redefine the world's relationship with money by making it more relatable, available and accessible, at Cash App you'll have the opportunity to make a real-world impact with your career. Today, Cash App has thousands of employees around the world with a culture geared toward creativity, collaboration and impact. We've been a distributed team since day one, and continue to value working across time zones and continents both remotely and in our Cash App offices.

Our offices are great, but many of our roles can be done remotely from the countries where Block operates. We tailor our experience to champion our employees' creativity and productivity wherever they are.

Check out our locations, benefits and more at cash.app/careers.

Job Description

The Cash App Quantitative Finance Team is an intellectually diverse team of machine learning modelers, statisticians, economists, data scientists, former strategy consultants, and data engineers focused on applying graph analytics, statistics, econometrics, and machine learning algorithms to solve business problems for executives within Cash App and the broader Block organization.

The team has answered some of the most complex questions around how our network is formed and evolves, why our customers churn or re-engage with the platform, and why they choose to move money into or out of the platform. The outputs of our team are used to drive high level company strategy across product development, marketing, and financial strategy. We partner across the broader Block ecosystem and work directly with Foundational Engineering, Data Engineering, marketing, customer insights, and finance. In 2024 we are going to reimagine strategy and automation within Cash, serving as a guidepost for the overall Block organization.

As an Applied AI and Data Science Lead within our team, you will work with colleagues across Cash and Block to deliver statistical models to forecast the business. You will use state of the art machine learning and statistical methods to model time series that are key to the success of our business. In addition to developing these models, you will have the opportunity to explore the applications of novel machine learning and statistical tools within our business (e.g. generative AI, nonlinear time series models, Bayesian methods, etc.), work on complex graph/network problems, and have exposure to the highest levels of leadership across Block.

Because this is such a unique role, we are looking for someone who can own the end-to-end model development process (requirements, data, development, implementation) while understanding the business context, and who has the ability to communicate to senior leaders.

Qualifications

You Have:

• An advanced degree (M.S., PhD.), preferably in Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, Mathematics or a related technical field. PhD plus 2 years (or Master plus 4 years) industry working experience in developing machine learning / statistical models to solve real world problems (e.g. classification, NLP, regression, panel models, time series, etc.).
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills to present and explain the functioning of the models to exercise influence amongst Cash and Block Executives
• Experience using business intuition on what drives adoption of certain products to develop predictive models.
• A strong track record of performing machine learning model development using Python (numpy, pandas, statsmodels, scikit-learn, etc.) and SQL/NoSQL interaction patterns.
• Familiarity with Linux/OS X command line, version control software (git), and general software development principles with a machine learning software development life-cycle orientation.

Nice to have:

• Familiarity or interest in graph theory problems / network science
• Familiarity with consumer behaviors in the context of financial services
• Open Source Contributions / Academic publications
• Intuition on how the macroeconomic environment shape customer behavior

Additional Information

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: USD $167,300 - USD $204,500 Zone B: USD $158,900 - USD $194,300 Zone C: USD $150,600 - USD $184,000 Zone D: USD $142,200 - USD $173,800

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information.

Full-time employee benefits include the following:

• Healthcare coverage (Medical, Vision and Dental insurance)
• Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Plans including company match
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness programs, including access to mental health, 1:1 financial planners, and a monthly wellness allowance
• Paid parental and caregiving leave
• Paid time off (including 12 paid holidays)
• Paid sick leave (1 hour per 26 hours worked (max 80 hours per calendar year to the extent legally permissible) for non-exempt employees and covered by our Flexible Time Off policy for exempt employees)
• Learning and Development resources
• Paid Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits

These benefits are further detailed in Block's policies. This role is also eligible to participate in Block's equity plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies, and may be eligible for a sign-on bonus. Sales roles may be eligible to participate in a commission plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class.

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Additionally, we consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.