Head of Data Science - Varo Money

Job Title: Head of Data Science
Job Location: San Francisco, CA
Job Listing URL: https://jobs.lever.co/varomoney/f7b4d3e0-4a6f-4cd2-97a6-d11d208fb8c3
Job Description: Varo is an entirely new kind of bank. All digital, mission-driven, FDIC insured and designed for the way our customers live their lives. A bank for all of us.

We are looking for an inspiring and technically deep Head of Data Science to lead our team in leveraging advanced analytics, machine learning, and causal inference to catalyze decision-making and propel Varo's growth. You will lead the Data Science function within Varo’s comprehensive Data organization (which includes Data Analytics, Data Product Management, Data Engineering, and ML Engineering). Your team will be the strategic partner and technical engine for solving our most complex business challenges across key verticals like customer acquisition, engagement, fraud prevention, and responsible lending.
What you'll be doing
Strategic Ownership: Define, own, and drive the comprehensive Data Science roadmap (including AI/ML and causal inference) that directly translates into commercial outcomes across Varo’s core business verticals.
Model Innovation & Delivery: Lead the development, validation, and production deployment of custom machine learning and statistical models that are critical for decision-making.
Business Partnership: Serve as a strategic data consultant to executive leaders and business stakeholders, translating ambiguous commercial problems into rigorous analytical frameworks and actionable solutions.
Data Integrity & Risk: Work closely with Data Engineering and Product teams to ensure the quality, accessibility, and lineage of new data sources. Ensure all models and analyses adhere to Varo’s risk framework and regulatory requirements for fairness and transparency.
Operational Excellence: Establish and own the ML Model Performance Monitoring processes, ensuring deployed models maintain accuracy and business impact over time and are governed appropriately.
Team Leadership & Mentorship: Attract, hire, mentor, and coach a high-performing team of Data Scientists, setting a high bar for technical rigor, business acumen, and cross-functional collaboration.
You'll bring the following required skills and experiences
8+ years of experience in Data Science, Applied Science, or a related quantitative field.
Deep Domain Expertise: Proven track record of delivering measurable business impact in the lending space.
Technical Fluency: Expert-level proficiency in Python and its scientific computing stack (Pandas, Scikit-learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow). Proven ability to apply a wide range of statistical methods, machine learning algorithms, and causal inference techniques to large, real-world datasets.
Data Ecosystem Experience: Hands-on experience working with distributed data and computing tools (e.g., Spark, Hive) and cloud web services (e.g., AWS, GCP, or Azure).
Leadership Acumen: Demonstrated ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, attract high-quality talent, and drive a data-informed culture.