Lead Data Scientist

About This Role

Strava is the app for active people. With over 150 million athletes in more than 190 countries, it’s more than tracking workouts—it’s where connection, motivation, and personal bests thrive. No matter your activity, gear, or goals, Strava’s got you covered. Find your crew, crush your milestones, and keep moving forward. Start your journey with Strava today.

As a Lead Data Scientist, you will play a key role in shaping the future of data-driven decision-making at Strava. You will develop and deploy cutting-edge machine learning models, design rigorous experimentation frameworks, and uncover insights that drive impactful business and product decisions. Working alongside cross-functional teams, you will help harness Strava’s vast dataset to enhance athlete experiences and drive engagement.

We follow a flexible hybrid model that generally translates to around half your time on-site in our San Francisco office—roughly three days per week.

You’re excited about this opportunity because you will:

• Develop and enhance machine learning models, leveraging supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning techniques to enhance the athlete experience on Strava continuously
• Design and implement experimentation strategies, such as A/B testing and causal inference, to drive data-informed product and business decisions.
• Work closely with product managers, engineers, marketing teams, and other partners to develop data-driven solutions that improve athlete engagement and business outcomes.
• Apply expertise in large-scale data analysis to identify trends, uncover opportunities, and inform strategic decision-making.
• Stay ahead of the latest industry trends in machine learning, LLMs, transformers, and deep learning, evaluating their potential impact on Strava’s data capabilities.
• Mentor other data scientists, contribute to knowledge sharing through blog posts or tech talks, and help uplevel the data science capabilities.

You will be successful here by:

• Demonstrating technical excellence in machine learning, data analysis, and experimentation methodologies.
• Driving collaboration across teams to ensure data science solutions align with business goals.
• Communicating complex data concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Continuously seeking opportunities to optimize and innovate Strava’s data science practices.
• Championing a culture of learning, mentorship, and knowledge sharing within the data science team.

We’re excited about you because:

• Educational Background: You have an MS degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
• Experience: You bring 5+ years of experience in data science roles, with a consistent track record of driving impactful solutions.
• Machine Learning Expertise: You have hands-on experience with various ML techniques, including supervised and unsupervised learning, and are comfortable working with deep learning models such as transformers or LLMs.
• Experimentation & Statistical Analysis: You have a solid grasp of A/B testing, causal inference, and statistical methodologies to support meticulous data-driven decision-making.
• Cloud & Deployment: You have experience deploying ML models in production using cloud platforms like AWS (or equivalent).
• Analytical & Problem-Solving Skills: You excel at taking on complex problems, uncovering insights, and driving data-driven strategies.
• Communication & Collaboration: You are skilled at explaining complex data concepts to diverse audiences and thrive in a cross-functional environment

Compensation Overview:

At Strava, we know our employees are the most important ingredient to our success, and our compensation and total rewards programs reflect that. We take a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on the department and your location. Salary ranges are categorized into one of three tiers based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. We will determine the candidate’s starting pay based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. We may modify these ranges in the future. For more information, please contact your talent partner.

Compensation: $230,000 - $255,000. The base salary posted is within the compensation range for this role. This range reflects base pay only and does not include equity or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

For more information on benefits, please click here.

About Strava

Strava is Swedish for “strive,” which epitomizes who we are and what we do. We’re a passionate and committed team, unified by our mission to connect athletes to what motivates them and help them find their personal best. With billions of activity uploads from all over the world, we have a humbling and adventurous vision: to be the record of the world’s athletic activities and the technology that makes every effort count.

Strava builds software that makes the best part of our athletes’ days even better. Just as we’re deeply committed to unlocking their potential, we’re dedicated to providing a world-class, inclusive workplace where our employees can grow and thrive, too. We’re backed by Sequoia Capital, TCV, Madrone Partners and Jackson Square Ventures, and we’re expanding in order to exceed the needs of our growing community of global athletes. Our culture reflects our community. We are continuously striving to hire and engage diverse teammates from all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives because we know we are a stronger team together.

Despite challenges in the world around us, we are continuing to grow camaraderie and positivity within our culture. We are differentiated by our truly people-first approach, our compassionate leadership, and our belief that we can bring joy and inspiration to athletes’ lives — now more than ever. All to say, it’s a great time to join Strava!

Strava is an equal opportunity employer. In keeping with the values of Strava, we make all employment decisions including hiring, evaluation, termination, promotional and training opportunities, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, physical handicap, mental disability, medical condition, disability, gender or identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, marital status, height and/or weight.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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