Senior Data Scientist - Risk and Fraud Management

About Highnote 

Founded in 2020 by a team of leaders from Braintree, PayPal, and Lending Club, Highnote is an embedded finance company that sets the standard in modern card platform management. As an all-in-one card issuer processor and program management platform, we provide digital-first organizations with the flexibility to seamlessly issue and process payment cards, embed virtual and physical card payments, and integrate ledger and wallet functionalities—empowering businesses to drive growth and profitability.

We’ve raised $145M+ and have grown our team to 125+ employees. Headquartered in San Francisco, we’ve managed to build one of the most advanced payments teams in the industry, with team members in 25+ US states. 

Operating through our core values of customer obsession, executional excellence, intentional inclusion, we’re helping businesses grow for the future by creating the payment products demanded by tomorrow, with the ability to solve for use cases that don’t exist yet.

We are fast-moving, hands-on, and strongly believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. We believe we’re unlocking incredible opportunities that can change the future of payments, as long as we have the right people to make it happen. 

Job Description

We are a leading issuing and acquiring payments processor dedicated to providing secure and efficient payment solutions. Our Risk and Fraud Management team plays a critical role in ensuring the integrity and trustworthiness of our services by proactively identifying and mitigating fraud while delivering exceptional experiences for our customers. We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Senior Data Scientist to lead our efforts in combating fraud and managing risk across our payment processing platforms. This individual contributor role is highly technical and strategic, requiring a deep understanding of fraud detection in the payments industry, coupled with strong business acumen. As the team grows, you will have the opportunity to build and lead a team of talented professionals.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Data Analysis and Model Development:
   
• Analyze large and complex datasets to uncover patterns, trends, and insights related to fraud and risk.
• Develop, validate, and deploy machine learning models and algorithms to detect and prevent fraudulent activity.
2. Technical Implementation:
   
• Collaborate with engineering teams to operationalize fraud detection models, ensuring scalability and performance.
• Build and maintain pipelines for real-time fraud detection and risk scoring.
3. Strategic Leadership:
• Proactively identify emerging fraud patterns and design strategies to address them.
• Provide thought leadership on best practices in fraud prevention and risk management.
4. Industry Expertise:
• Leverage in-depth knowledge of payment systems, credit card fraud, and fraud mitigation tools.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, tools, and techniques to continuously enhance fraud management capabilities.
5. Collaboration and Communication:
• Partner with business stakeholders to understand fraud-related challenges and deliver actionable insights.
• Communicate findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences, including executives.
6. Team Development:
• Act as a mentor and thought leader within the organization, with the potential to build and lead a dedicated team over time.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in data science, with significant expertise in fraud detection and risk management within the payments industry.
• Hands-on experience developing and deploying machine learning models, including real-time systems.
• Proficiency with programming languages such as Python, R, or Scala, and machine learning frameworks.
• Strong SQL and data manipulation skills.
• Familiarity with fraud detection tools and technologies used by payment providers, such as rule-based systems, behavior analytics platforms, and consortium data.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and a proactive mindset.
• Outstanding communication and visualization skills.
• Strong and demonstrated experience with Looker 
• Knowledge of risk scoring, identity verification, and anomaly detection techniques.
• BS in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with big data tools and technologies such as Big Query, or similar.
• Exposure to regulatory compliance requirements in the payments industry.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, who is able to form relationships while also getting results.
• Action oriented; no task is too small or insignificant for you.
• Take ownership and deliver results in a fast-paced and sometimes ambiguous environment.

Why Join Us?

• Work on cutting-edge challenges in fraud and risk management within the dynamic payments industry.
• Influence the development of innovative solutions to combat fraud at scale.
• Opportunity to grow with the organization and build a world-class team.
• Collaborative, inclusive, and forward-thinking workplace culture.

Why Highnote?

• We’re a startup that allows for our employees to truly build from the ground up and impact every layer of our organization. 
• We’re a team of payments obsessed individuals. While some of us come from the fintech world, some of us don’t. We value the varied backgrounds and the diverse perspectives of our employees. 
• We’re small on hierarchy and big on growth. We’re a flat organization that allows everyone to have direct exposure to our leadership team. We are looking for builders who thrive in ambiguity. 
• We’re backed by Oak HC/FT, Costanoa Ventures, Adams Street Partners, Westcap, and Pinegrove Venture Partners. Angel Investors include Bill Ready (CEO at Pinterest) and Renaud Laplanche (Co-Founder & CEO of Upgrade).

Highnote benefits

• Flexible Paid Time Off 
• 100% healthcare coverage + 75% coverage for dependents
• 401k program
• Paid Parental Leave: Up to 16 weeks paid leave for the birth parent, and up to 6 weeks paid leave for the non-birth parent
• Equity in Highnote
• Stipend to build out your home office; internet and phone reimbursement
• At Highnote we have built a total rewards philosophy that includes fair, equitable, geo-based compensation that is performance and potential based. Our compensation packages are competitive based on robust market research and are a combination of a cash salary, equity, and benefits. In compliance with the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the annual salary range for applicants is $180,000-$220,000. 

Please note that positions located in San Francisco are hybrid and include core working days of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in office.  We provide flexible work options based on distance from our downtown SF office. Highnote believes in the power of face-to-face, personal connection. As a result, we prioritize in-person candidates. 

Highnote is a diverse and inclusive company committed to growing a diverse and inclusive team. We invite people from all backgrounds and identities to apply. We do not discriminate based on gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race, religion, age, national origin, citizenship, disability, pregnancy status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected by US federal state or local laws, or the laws of the country or jurisdiction where you work. Additionally, we encourage everyone to share which pronouns you wish for us to use when addressing you (i.e.: she/her, he/him, they/them, etc).