Director, Data Science 1

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Description Summary:

We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Director of Data Science to lead our team of Data Scientists focused on building advanced fraud risk AIML Infra and Automation. This role involves overseeing the development of AIML infra and automation for core decision models and strategies for various aspects of fraud prevention, including identity, onboarding, authentication, abuse, scam, and product-specific models. The ideal candidate will guide the team, drive innovation, and ensure the successful MLOPS implementation and automation of anomality detection, supervised learning, and experiential learning techniques to create robust and effective fraud prevention solutions.

Job Description:

Responsibilities

• Leadership: Lead and mentor a team of Data Scientists, providing guidance, support, and professional development opportunities.
• Strategic Planning: Develop and execute a strategic vision for fraud prevention AIML infra and automation, aligning with organizational goals and objectives.
• MLOPS and Automation Oversight: Oversee the design and implementation of AIML infra and automation for core decision models and strategies for identity, onboarding, authentication, abuse, scam, and product-specific models.
• Innovation and Research: Drive innovation by staying current with the latest advancements in data science, machine learning, and fraud prevention techniques.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including tech, operations, and product teams, to integrate fraud prediction models and strategies automation into various systems and processes.
• Experimentation and Analysis: Oversee experiments, analyze results, and interpret findings to drive innovation and enhance decision-making processes.
• Data Integrity: Ensure data integrity and consistency by working closely with business stakeholders and engineers to address critical data challenges.
• Advocacy: Promote and maintain a data-driven culture by engaging with diverse internal teams and advocating for best practices in data science and fraud prevention.

Requirements

• Education: PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related quantitative field.
• Experience: 10+ years of experience in Data Science, ML Engineering, or AI Research roles, with demonstrated expertise in building and deploying real-world predictive models. Previous leadership experience is required.
• Skills: Strong understanding of anomality detection, supervised learning techniques, and experiential learning methods. Extensive experience in fraud prevention is a plus.
• Communication: Exceptional interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with experience collaborating across multiple business functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise: Deep familiarity with decision models for identity, onboarding, authentication, abuse, scam, and product-specific models.
• Domain Knowledge: Extensive experience in fraud prevention and detection.
• Instrumentation: Proven experience driving data instrumentation for experimentation and large-scale data collection.
• Real-time Systems: Expertise in building systems that incorporate real-time feedback and continuous learning.
• Advanced Techniques: Knowledge of reinforcement learning, contextual bandits, sequence models, optimization, or graph mi

Additional Job Description:

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

-

PayPal is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices.

Actual Compensation is based on various factors including but not limited to work location, and relevant skills and experience.

The total compensation for this practice may include an annual performance bonus (or other incentive compensation, as applicable), equity, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information, visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

The U.S. national annual pay range for this role is

$120300 to $287100

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at talentaccommodations@paypal.com.

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.