Manager, Data Science

About Us:

Rent the Runway (RTR) is transforming the way we get dressed by pioneering the worlds first Closet in the Cloud. Founded in 2009 RTR has disrupted the $2.4 trillion fashion industry by inspiring women with a more joyful sustainable and financially-savvy way to feel their best every day. As the ultimate destination for circular fashion the brand now offers infinite points of access to its shared closet via a fully customizable subscription to fashion one-time rental or ownership. RTR offers designer apparel and accessories from hundreds of brand partners and has built in-house proprietary technology and a one-of-a-kind reverse logistics operation. RTR has been named to CNBCs Disruptor 50 five times in ten years and has been placed on Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies list multiple times.

About the Team:

Data is core to our growing business and has been ingrained in the companys DNA since its founding. As a member of the Data Analytics team you will partner closely with Product Engineering and other business stakeholders to identify opportunities where machine learning AI and advanced analytics can create meaningful customer and business value.

The Data Science team develops machine learning solutions recommendation systems experimentation frameworks and AI-powered capabilities that directly influence how customers discover engage with and rent and buy inventory on Rent the Runway. Our work spans personalization predictive modeling decision systems and intelligent customer experiences.

As RTR continues investing in personalization and AI Data Science plays a critical role in bringing new customer experiences to life - from recommendation engines and intelligent styling and fit experiences to future agent-driven and AI-powered products.

About the Job:

We are looking for a hands-on Data Science Manager to lead our growing Data Science function while remaining deeply involved in solving high-impact machine learning problems. While this role will initially focus on personalization recommendation systems and AI-powered customer experiences you will also have the opportunity to contribute across a broad range of high-impact machine learning initiatives as business priorities evolve.

As the technical leader and manager of the Data Science team you will partner closely with Product Engineering and business stakeholders to translate ambiguous business problems into scalable production-ready machine learning solutions that directly improve customer experience and business outcomes. You will provide technical direction mentor Data Scientists help prioritize the teams work and help shape the long-term evolution of Data Science at Rent the Runway.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will be expected to remain actively involved in designing building and reviewing machine learning solutions while coaching and growing a high-performing Data Science team.

Were looking for someone with strong technical expertise product intuition analytical rigor leadership skills and the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment.

What Youll Do:

• Lead coach and develop the Data Science team providing technical guidance feedback and career development while fostering a high-performing collaborative culture.
• Define the technical direction and priorities of the Data Science function ensuring work is aligned with business strategy and delivers measurable customer impact.
• Lead strategic data science initiatives by partnering closely with cross-functional teams to identify scope and solve complex business problems.
• Analyze customer product and inventory data to identify high-impact opportunities where machine learning and AI can improve customer and business outcomes.
• Partner closely with Product and Engineering to identify customer problems shape product strategy and bring intelligent AI-powered customer experiences to life.
• Design build deploy and continuously improve recommendation systems personalization solutions and ranking models that enhance customer engagement conversion and retention.
• Design and analyze experiments A/B tests and causal inference frameworks to measure product and business impact.
• Develop customer similarity models behavioral segmentation and ranking approaches to improve personalization throughout the customer journey.
• Partner across Product Engineering and the broader Data organization to deliver scalable production-ready machine learning solutions.
• Help shape hiring strategy evaluate talent and build a high-performing Data Science organization as the team continues to grow
• Communicate insights trade-offs and recommendations clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders including executive leadership.
• Drive best practices across the Data & Analytics organization around experimentation statistical rigor model governance and machine learning development.

About You:

• 7 years of hands-on experience in Data Science Machine Learning Applied Statistics Product Analytics or a related quantitative field or equivalent combination of education and experience including 2 years leading Data Science teams or technical initiatives or demonstrated experience providing technical mentorship and project leadership in a collaborative team environment.
• Bachelors degree in a quantitative field (e.g. Computer Science Statistics Mathematics Economics Physics Operations Research) or equivalent practical experience; advanced degrees and/or specializations are a plus.
• Experience leading mentoring or managing Data Scientists or other technical professionals.
• Strong proficiency in Python and experience developing predictive statistical or machine learning models.
• Strong proficiency in SQL with the ability to write efficient and optimized queries against large-scale datasets.
• Strong foundation in statistics experimentation hypothesis testing and causal inference.
• Proven relevant experience designing building and deploying recommendation systems personalization solutions ranking models customer segmentation frameworks or similar machine learning applications.
• Demonstrated ability to provide technical leadership while balancing hands-on machine learning work with coaching mentoring and people management.
• Strong expertise with cloud AI/ML platforms and services (e.g. GCP AWS or Azure) including experience deploying fine-tuning and optimizing managed models. Experience with GCP is a strong plus.
• Experience working with large-scale datasets in BigQuery Snowflake or similar cloud data platforms. Familiarity with dbt and modern analytics engineering practices is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex projects from problem definition through implementation and stakeholder communication.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences including business stakeholders product managers engineers and executive leadership.
• Extremely curious and excited to dive into complex problems.
• Self-driven proactive and comfortable operating with ownership and ambiguity.

Benefits:

At Rent the Runway were committed to the wellbeing of our employees and aim to create a workplace that fosters both personal and professional growth. Our inclusive benefits include but are not limited to:

• Paid Time Off including vacation paid bereavement and family sick leave - every employee needs time to take care of themselves and their family.
• Comprehensive health vision dental FSA and dependent care from day 1 of employment - Your health comes first and weve got you covered.
• 401(k) match - an investment in your future.
• Exclusive employee subscription and rental discounts - to ensure you experience the magic of renting the runway (and give us valued feedback!).
• Universal Paid Parental Leave for both parents flexible return to work program - because we know your newest family member(s) deserve your undivided attention.
• Paid Sabbatical after 5 years of continuous service - Unplug recharge and have some fun!
• Company-wide events and outings - our team spirit is no joke - we know how to have fun!
• Office-centric work - our corporate employees and technical leaders have the option to work remotely on Fridays in accordance with Company policies.

Rent the Runway is an equal opportunity accordance with applicable law we prohibit discrimination against any applicant or employee based on any legally-recognized basis including but not limited to: race color religion sex (including pregnancy lactation childbirth or related medical conditions) sexual orientation gender identity age (40 and over) national origin or ancestry citizenship status physical or mental disability genetic information (including testing and characteristics) veteran status uniformed service member status or any other status protected by federal state or local law.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $160000 to $195000. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors including without limitation the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position years of relevant experience level of education attained certifications or other professional licenses held.

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