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Founding Data Scientist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

GRVTY

Data Scientist with Security Clearance

Fairfax, VA · On-site

... program since our founding in 2013. We've grown on this effort by providing the customer with ... GRVTY is seeking a Data Scientist with a TS/SCI + Poly clearance (acceptable to this customer) to ...

GRVTY

Data Scientist with Security Clearance

Fairfax, VA · On-site

... program since our founding in 2013. We've grown on this effort by providing the customer with ... GRVTY is seeking a Data Scientist with a TS/SCI + Poly clearance (acceptable to this customer) to ...

Helion Energy

Principal Plasma Data Scientist

Everett, WA · On-site

$230K - $270K/yr

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised $1.5 billion from long-time investors such as Sam ... Helion is hiring a Plasma Data Scientist specializing in physics‑grounded machine learning to ...

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Founding Data Scientist information

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How much do founding data scientist jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 6, 2026, the average yearly pay for founding data scientist in the United States is $122,738.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $98,500.00 and $136,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a founding data scientist?

To thrive as a Founding Data Scientist, you need expert knowledge in statistics, machine learning, and data analysis, often supported by an advanced degree in a quantitative field. Familiarity with tools such as Python, R, SQL, cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP), and experience with data pipeline and model deployment frameworks is typically required. Strong problem-solving abilities, entrepreneurial mindset, and the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly set exceptional candidates apart. These skills are crucial for building reliable data products from scratch, influencing company direction, and driving data-driven decision-making in an early-stage environment.

What is a founding data scientist?

Founding Data Scientists are data professionals who join a company at its earliest stages, often as one of the first technical hires. They are responsible for setting up the company's data infrastructure, developing initial machine learning models, and establishing best practices for data analysis. Their role is highly strategic, often collaborating closely with founders to influence product direction and data-driven decision-making. In addition to technical expertise, Founding Data Scientists need to be adaptable, entrepreneurial, and comfortable working in fast-paced, uncertain environments.

What are some unique challenges a founding data scientist faces in an early-stage startup environment?

As a Founding Data Scientist in an early-stage startup, you often wear multiple hats, balancing hands-on model development with strategic planning and infrastructure setup. You'll likely be responsible for establishing data processes, selecting tech stacks, and setting up data pipelines from scratch, often with limited resources. Close collaboration with engineering, product, and leadership teams is essential, as your insights will directly influence business strategy. This role demands adaptability, strong communication skills, and a proactive mindset, as priorities can shift rapidly in a startup setting.
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Founding Data Scientist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Data Scientist job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 83% Full Time, 12% Part Time, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $122,738 per year, or $59 per hour.

Data Scientist, Underwriting

Parafin, Inc

San Francisco, CA • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted 18 days ago

Job description

About Us:
At Parafin, we're on a mission to grow small businesses.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but traditional banks often don't have their backs. We build tech that makes it simple for small businesses to access the financial tools they need through the platforms they already sell on.
We partner with companies like DoorDash, Amazon, Worldpay, and Mindbody to offer fast and flexible funding, spend management, and savings tools to their small business users via a simple integration. Parafin takes on all the complexity of capital markets, underwriting, servicing, compliance, and customer service for our partners.
We're a tight-knit team of innovators hailing from Stripe, Square, Plaid, Coinbase, Robinhood, CERN, and more - all united by a passion for building tools that help small businesses succeed. Parafin is backed by prominent venture capitalists including GIC, Notable Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Thrive Capital. Parafin is a Series C company, and we have raised more than $194M in equity and $340M in debt facilities.
Join us in creating a future where every small business has the financial tools they need.
Our Impact
Data science is integral to Parafin's mission. Our platform partnerships and lending history provide rich insights into the financial health of small businesses around the world. This empowers us to create fair, automated, and broad access to financial services. As Parafin scales, the breadth and depth of our data grows with it, amplifying the impact we can have on customers and the trajectory of our business.
Our Team
Enthusiasm, skepticism, and respect for data are in our DNA - two of our co-founders were PhD data scientists at Robinhood. Since our founding, we have grown the team to include perspectives from graduate studies in physics, mathematics, bioengineering, economics, financial engineering, and electrical engineering and professional experience at Robinhood, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Faire, Segment, Facebook, and Google. We value first-principles thinking, attention to detail, and craftsmanship.
Our WorkThe underwriting team builds and relentlessly improves the systems that determine eligibility, sizing, and pricing for Parafin lending products. Every dollar originated by the company is derived from underwriting's business-critical assets. Our work ensures that Parafin stands out among lenders for its distinctive ability to use data and technology, and deliver a highly automated, accurate, and fair lending experience.
Our team partners closely with leaders across the company to shape what is possible: how can we make our underwriting more reliable? What data is most important to collect, to provide the best outcomes and growth? What new markets and products should we expand into? We look for teammates who balance the creativity and courage to implement new ideas, with the scientific rigor that helps ensure those ideas succeed.
Example projects:
  • Training a quantile regression model to forecast the distribution of SMB revenues and precisely size our financing offers
  • Using LLMs to help build a risk model and forecast that lets us underwrite merchants on banking transaction data
  • Performing risk-based pricing optimization and experimentation
  • Collaborating with engineering to build a modular real-time underwriting system
  • Building a simulation platform to model and evaluate conversion and risk exposure across varied configurations for our financing offers
  • Ingesting new data sources from both 3rd parties and partner platforms, and evaluate their use in improving our risk predictions

Beyond these focus areas, our team helps expand our impact by recruiting exceptional talent, improving our tools, and supporting each other through regular seminars and project reviews.
About You
Your Impact
You will make an outsized impact on Parafin's trajectory by leading projects from end to end. You will quickly learn new methods, apply them across diverse areas of the business, and implement them robustly. You will develop expertise in specific areas of the business, but may tackle projects across domains as our priorities evolve.
You'll own the full data-science lifecycle, from research to deployment, to power our underwriting engine. Specifically, you will:
  • Design, train, and deploy production underwriting models
  • Design experiments and metrics to drive risk and pricing decisions
  • Partner with engineering and product teams to architect automated underwriting systems
  • Identify business opportunities to improve growth and profitability via improvements to our underwriting posture

Your Background and Skills
We are open to candidates from a variety of academic backgrounds and professional experiences. We believe the most effective data scientists bring the following skills to their work:
  • Statistical Reasoning
    • Approach data analysis with a critical, intellectually honest eye
    • Design concise metrics that guide decision making
    • Employ robust experimental design and causal inference methods
    • Develop valid and predictive machine learning models
  • Business Acumen
    • Identify and effectively prioritize business problems
    • Solve business problems using appropriate data science techniques
    • Anticipate the impact of your work on our financial performance, customers, and compliance obligations
  • Engineering Mindset
    • Write legible, reliable, and tested code
    • Build or source tools to boost the team's efficiency
    • Architect technical systems that are highly scalable, reliable, and observable
  • Leadership and Collaboration
    • Model Parafin's values of efficiency, intellectual honesty, accountability, and empathy
    • Build trusted relationships with stakeholders
    • Document work, seek feedback, and share learnings proactively
  • Focused Execution
    • Prioritize high-impact use of your time
    • Scope projects rigorously
    • Act with urgency

What We Offer
  • Salary:
    DS/ Senior DS: $200k - $260k + EQ
    Staff/Principal: $265-330k+ EQ
  • Equity grant
  • Medical, dental & vision insurance
  • Work from home flexibility
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Commuter benefits
  • Free lunches
  • Paid parental leave
  • 401(k)
  • Employee assistance program

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please contact us.

Apply