Director, Data Science 1

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Description Summary:

We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Director of Data Science to lead our team of Data Scientists focused on building advanced fraud risk AIML Infra and Automation. This role involves overseeing the development of AIML infra and automation for core decision models and strategies for various aspects of fraud prevention, including identity, onboarding, authentication, abuse, scam, and product-specific models. The ideal candidate will guide the team, drive innovation, and ensure the successful MLOPS implementation and automation of anomality detection, supervised learning, and experiential learning techniques to create robust and effective fraud prevention solutions.

Job Description:

Responsibilities

• Leadership: Lead and mentor a team of Data Scientists, providing guidance, support, and professional development opportunities.
• Strategic Planning: Develop and execute a strategic vision for fraud prevention AIML infra and automation, aligning with organizational goals and objectives.
• MLOPS and Automation Oversight: Oversee the design and implementation of AIML infra and automation for core decision models and strategies for identity, onboarding, authentication, abuse, scam, and product-specific models.
• Innovation and Research: Drive innovation by staying current with the latest advancements in data science, machine learning, and fraud prevention techniques.
• Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, including tech, operations, and product teams, to integrate fraud prediction models and strategies automation into various systems and processes.
• Experimentation and Analysis: Oversee experiments, analyze results, and interpret findings to drive innovation and enhance decision-making processes.
• Data Integrity: Ensure data integrity and consistency by working closely with business stakeholders and engineers to address critical data challenges.
• Advocacy: Promote and maintain a data-driven culture by engaging with diverse internal teams and advocating for best practices in data science and fraud prevention.

Requirements

• Education: PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related quantitative field.
• Experience: 10+ years of experience in Data Science, ML Engineering, or AI Research roles, with demonstrated expertise in building and deploying real-world predictive models. Previous leadership experience is required.
• Skills: St