Senior Applied Scientist Jobs

A home is the biggest investment most people make, and yet, it doesn't come with a manual. That's why we're building the only app homeowners need to effortlessly manage their homes — knowing what to do, when to do it, and who to hire. With Thumbtack, millions of people care for what matters most, and pros earn billions of dollars through our platform. And as one of the fastest-growing companies in a $600B+ industry — we must be doing something right.

We are driven by a common goal and the deep satisfaction that comes from knowing our work supports local economies, helps small businesses grow, and brings homeowners peace of mind. We're seeking people who continually put our purpose first: advocating for pros and customers, embracing change, and choosing teamwork every day.

At Thumbtack, we're creating a new era of home care. If making an impact and the chance to do good inspires you, join us. Imagine what we'll build together.

Thumbtack by the Numbers

• 4 million customers in the last 12 months
• More than 9 million 5-star reviews for our stellar pros
• Pros earn billions on our platform
• 75 million projects started on Thumbtack
• Available nationwide in all 3,143 U.S. counties
• 1000+ employees and $3.2 billion valuation (June, 2021)

About The Applied Science Team

We're looking for applied scientists with deep expertise in machine learning, optimization, building data products, and/or statistics. As part of a small product team you will have full ownership over your domain, so you should be a person who dreams big, then executes well.

At Thumbtack, the Applied Science team is responsible for a wide variety of problems spanning machine learning, statistics, and computer science:

• Characterize marketplace dynamics. Thumbtack's marketplaces consist of thousands of active markets across our service categories and U.S. cities. Via exploratory data analysis and experimental design, our team works to understand trends and behaviors within these markets.
• Improve customer and service provider matching. Matching and optimization algorithms are fundamental to Thumbtack's product: we now service millions of matches per week. Identifying better matches between customers and service providers has an incredible impact on the experience of customers and professionals transacting on our platform.
• Model complex relationships in the presence of many confounding factors. Predictive modeling problems are everywhere across our product. Our team works to scope, design and implement machine learning models to support Thumbtack's product.

Challenge

Our team is at the forefront of a massive amount of user data. We need to think a lot about both scaling as well as how to provide experiences for a wide set of users that we don't necessarily know a ton about immediately. We are building experiences into our apps to onboard, engage, and re-engage our users and are constantly experimenting to produce delightful and consistent user experiences.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with engineering, marketing, and economists to use sound statistical practices.
• Design and implement metrics that align with company goals
• Design and execute experiments, collect and analyze data to characterize our product
• Analyze a wide variety of data: structured and unstructured, observational and experimental
• Architect and deploy machine learning systems to production

Must-Have Qualifications

If you don't think you meet all of the criteria below but still are interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box, and we're looking for someone excited to join the team.

• Ability to effectively read, write, and debug code in programming languages such as Python
• Expert knowledge of machine learning techniques: regression and classification, clustering, neural networks, boosted decision trees, etc.
• Good knowledge of probability and statistics, including experimental design, optimization, and causal inference
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills
• 3 plus years of industry experience, M.S. or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Math, Statistics, or other relevant technical field

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience with large-scale distributed systems
• Expert knowledge of probability and statistics, including experimental design, predictive modeling, optimization, and causal inference

Thumbtack is a virtual-first company, meaning you can live and work from any one of our approved locations across the United States, Canada or the Philippines.* Learn more about our virtual-first working model here.

Benefits & Perks

• Libraries (collaborative workspaces) in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, and Manila
• Stipends for remote work support, home office set-up and Thumbtack services (North America)
• 20+ company-wide holidays including two week-long shutdowns
• Cell phone reimbursements (North America)
• Virtual-first working model coupled with in-person events
• WiFi reimbursements
• Employee Assistance Program for mental health and well-being

Learn More About Us

• How Thumbtack is embracing virtual work
• Follow us on LinkedIn
• Life @ Thumbtack Blog
• Meet the pros who inspire us

Thumbtack embraces diversity. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, state, or local law. We also will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable law.

Thumbtack is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition or disability during any part of the application process, please contact: [email protected].

If you are a California resident, please review information regarding your rights under California privacy laws contained in Thumbtack's Privacy policy available at https://www.thumbtack.com/privacy/ .