Staff Research Scientist - Growth

  • R-5732
  • Machine Learning
Add to favorites Favorited View favorites

About Upstart

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload.

Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California; Columbus, Ohio; and Austin, Texas.

Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you!

The Team: 

Upstart’s Growth Team  engages in marketing and borrower acquisition through direct mail (DM) campaigns and targeted loan offers on partner sites, leveraging machine learning to drive growth. The Growth ML team develops models to optimize borrower targeting, predict conversion probabilities, and refine pricing strategies across these channels. We’re also beginning to explore a new concept known as “always on underwriting.” The idea is to continuously evaluate borrowers’ credit worthiness and determine what loan products are available at any given time, and then proactively make those offers to them when we determine it’s the right time to do so. 

As the Research Scientist  at Upstart, you will help to build the foundational models that power always-on underwriting across our product portfolio. You will understand the core underwriting model for each product and build models that can approximate their behavior using less data and/or somewhat outdated data. You will help determine whether/when new data needs to be gathered before an offer can be made, and when an “always on” offer should be honored vs. updated based on new information. 

 

How you’ll make an impact:

  • Launching an entirely new customer experience that will transform Upstart from a “one-time” option to get a loan at a discrete point in time to a relationship based model in which borrowers are continuously made aware of credit options that meet their needs.
  • Collaborate with and influence partner teams, ensuring that data-driven recommendations lead to strategic business decisions.
  • Build scalable models and associated metrics and monitoring  processes..
  • Quickly prototype and test  new models that can improve accuracy  and borrower experience with always-on offers. 

 

Minimum Qualifications: 

  • 3+ years of experience building and deploying ML models in a production environment
  • Strong academic credentials with a master's degree in statistics, mathematics, economics, computer science, or other quantitative areas of study
  • Programming skills in Python 
  • Proficiency in a broad array of mathematical, statistical learning and machine learning concepts and applications
  • Ability to proactively and effectively communicate results and methodologies to both technical and non-technical stakeholders 
  • Strong sense of intellectual curiosity balanced with humility, drive and teamwork
  • Experience building performant and large scale ML models at a tech company
  • Experience working as part of a diverse, cross-functional team.

 

Preferred Qualifications:

  • 5+ years of experience building and deploying ML models in a production environment
  • PhD in statistics, mathematics, economics, computer science, or other quantitative areas of study
  • Experience building and launching zero-to-one product
  • Full-stack expertise with all steps of the modeling process from ideation to productionalizing code
  • Deep expertise in statistical modeling and machine learning
  • Knowledge of MLops, pipelines, and engineering architecture 

Time zone requirements The team operates on the East/West coast time zones.

Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

#LI-REMOTE

#LI-MidSenior

At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package.  The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).

United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range
$178,400—$246,800 USD

Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to ensuring that underrepresented classes receive better access to affordable credit, and are just as committed to embracing diversity and inclusion in our hiring practices. We celebrate all cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, and know that we can only become better together. 

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email candidate_accommodations@upstart.com

https://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy

Apply now!

Sign up for job alerts!

Not You?

Thank you

Similar Jobs

Licensing Specialist/Paralegal

R-5921 Compliance
About Upstart Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval ra...

Head of Collections Vendor Management

JR102279 Operations
About Upstart Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval ra...

Senior Software Engineer, Auto Retail Lending

R-5823 Engineering FTE - Salaried
About Upstart Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval ra...

Current Upstart employee?

Click Here

Ready to Apply?

As a digital-first company, we are providing our employees with the opportunity to work remotely across the US and/or from one of our physical office locations.

Please select from the list below your primary work location preference(s).  Primary work location is defined as where you will spend more than 50% of your time working. Before making your selection(s), please check to make sure that the location is listed as an option in the job’s description above. Multiple selections can be made if multiple locations are available. Remote is considered a location. 

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Voluntary Self-Identification


For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Upstart’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Not You?

Thank you for applying!