Lead Data Scientist

* Earnest empowers ambitious professionals to make confident financial decisions and build the life they envision.*

* Earnies are committed to helping borrowers move forward with confidence by offering smarter borrowing options with a clearer path to taking control of their debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together.*

The Lead Data Scientist will report to the Data Science Manager.

As the Lead Data Scientist, you will:

• Build and own end-to-end pricing systems—from experimentation to production—that directly shape revenue and unit economics.
• Lead high-impact pricing experiments and apply advanced methods to uncover what truly drives conversion, retention, and profitability.
  
  Act as a go-to expert in pricing and demand modeling, influencing strategy across Product, Risk, Finance, and Marketing.
• Drive cross-functional initiatives from idea to launch, partnering closely with engineering to deliver scalable, real-world solutions.
• Turn complex analyses into clear, compelling insights that guide leadership decisions.
• Mentor teammates and help raise the bar on experimentation, modeling, and technical rigor.

About You:

• You bring 6+ years of experience in data science, pricing, or quantitative modeling (or an advanced degree with relevant experience), with strong fluency in Python/R and SQL.
• You’ve built and shipped pricing or demand models that drive real business impact, and you’re comfortable owning problems end-to-end.
• You have deep expertise in pricing optimization, elasticity, and econometrics, and know how to apply causal inference and experimentation in real-world settings.
• You thrive in cross-functional environments, influencing partners and translating complex work into clear, actionable insights.
• You enjoy mentoring others and raising the bar for how teams approach modeling, experimentation, and decision-making.

Even Better:

• Experience in fintech, lending, or financial services with ownership of pricing models.
• Familiarity with financial metrics, risk-adjusted returns, and capital markets.
• Experience working with cloud platforms and modern data tools (e.g., AWS, DBT, Airflow, Looker).
• Exposure to LLMs or NLP applied to pricing or financial use cases.

Compensation:

A little about our pay philosophy:
We take pride in compensating our employees fairly and equitably. We are showcasing a range of your potential base salary based on the roles location. The successful candidate’s starting pay will also be determined based on job-related qualifications, internal compensation, candidate location and budget. This range may be modified in the future.

Salary Range: $180,000 - $225,000
USD.
Employees are also eligible for an annual performance-based bonus and equity.

Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including:

• Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans
• Mac computers + work-from-home stipend to set up your home office
• Monthly internet and phone reimbursement
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
• 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match
• Robust tuition reimbursement program
• $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world
• Competitive days of annual PTO
• Competitive parental leave

What Makes an Earnie:

At Earnest, our people bring our cultural principles to life. These principles define how we work, how we win, and what we expect of ourselves and each other:

• Every Second Counts
  :
  Speed is our competitive advantage. Our customers need better solutions, and the faster we execute, the greater our chance of success.
• Choose To Do Hard Things
  :
  We win by tackling the hard things that others avoid, fueled by grit and resilience.
• Pursue Excellence
  :
  Great companies, teams, and individuals never settle and are proud of the work that they do. What’s good enough today won’t be good enough tomorrow. Excellence isn’t a destination; it’s a mindset of continuous improvement.
• Lead Together
  :
  Our success comes from how we work together. Leadership is not about titles—it is about action. We take ownership, drive results, and move…