Data Scientist II - Underwriting

At Dave, we use data to build smarter financial products that help our members thrive. As a Data Scientist II on the Underwriting team, you’ll focus on one of our most critical areas—improving how we assess risk and extend credit. Your work will directly impact loss reduction, responsible growth, and equitable access to financial tools. You’ll develop and deploy machine learning models, run experiments, and extract insights from massive datasets, all supported by strong infrastructure and close collaboration with engineering, product, and other cross-functional teams. If you're passionate about using data and ML to drive real-world impact in financial services, we’d love to have you on board.

What You'll Do:

• Conduct analyses to evaluate underwriting strategies, identify user behavior and financial trends, and reduce loss rates.

• Contribute to the development and iteration of machine learning models for credit decisioning.

• Support research initiatives, including proof-of-concept studies and third-party data evaluations, to enhance underwriting capabilities.

• Explore large, complex datasets to uncover actionable insights and inform data-driven credit risk decisions.

• Partner with Engineering and Product teams to implement ML/AI solutions - model integration and monitoring. Support product discovery by exploring new ideas, 

• Support A/B testing and experimentation initiatives. Designing, analyzing, and interpreting results

What You'll Need:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or related technical field. MS or PhD is a plus.

• 2+ years of professional experience as a Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer

• Track record of applying machine learning, deep learning, or reinforcement learning to develop AI-driven solutions that solve real-world business problems and drive key metrics using large-scale data.

• Strong experience with Python, SQL, and machine learning libraries like Scikit-Learn, XGBoost, LightGBM, or TensorFlow.

• Experience designing and interpreting experiments such as A/B tests.

• Good communication skills with the ability to present research, development proposals, and experiment results to both technical and non-technical partners.

• Curiosity, drive, and a collaborative mindset—especially in fast-paced, cross-functional environments.
  

Bonus If You Have:

• Experience working in credit risk, underwriting, or lending domains.

• Experience in designing and executing A/B tests to validate product hypotheses.

• Exposure to Generative AI or LLMs and capabilities in applying new techniques to real-world problems.
  

Don’t let imposter syndrome get in your way of an incredible opportunity. We’re looking for people who can help us achieve our mission and vision, not just check off the boxes. If you’re excited about this role, we encourage you to apply. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Why you’ll love working here: 

At Dave, our people are just as important as our product. Our culture is a reflection of our values that guide who we are, how we work, and what we aspire to be. Daves are member centric, helpful, transparent, persistent, and better together. We strive to create an environment where all Daves feel valued, heard, and empowered to do their best work. As a virtual first company, team members can live and work anywhere in the United States, with the exception of Hawaii. 

A few of our benefits & perks:

💚 Opportunity to tackle tough challenges, learn and grow from fellow top talent, and help millions of people reach their personal financial goals

💻 Flexible hours and virtual first work culture with a home office stipend

🏥 Premium Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance plans

👶 Generous paid parental and caregiver leave

💰 401(k) savings plan with matching contributions

📈 Financial advisor and financial wellness support

🏖️ Flexible PTO and generous company holidays, including Juneteenth and Winter Break

🎉 All-company in-person events once or twice a year and virtual events throughout to connect with your team members and leadership team

Dave Operating LLC is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is dedicated to cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants and do not discriminate on any basis protected by federal, state, or local law, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.

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