Staff Data Scientist II

At Root, we’re on a mission to improve the lives of our customers by offering better insurance solutions. We challenge ourselves to think differently in order to reimagine insurance to make it smarter, more equitable, and a better experience for all.

We strive to “unbreak” the archaic insurance industry by using data and technology in innovative new ways. We believe we must be steadfast in our commitments to research, experimentation, and disciplined data-driven decision making in order to build products our customers love.

The Opportunity

We believe that a disruptive insurance company must have a principled quantitative framework at its foundation. At Root, we are committed to the rigorous development and effective deployment of modern statistical machine learning methods to problems in the insurance industry.

At Root, the Quantitative Science team owns the majority of all marketing capital allocation, using quantitative methods to test, maintain, and enhance our marketing strategies across numerous distribution channels. As a Staff Data Scientist II on the Growth team, you’ll lead research on lead segmentation and bidding optimization to boost marketing profitability. You’ll design and execute research programs, expand modeling capabilities, and deliver high-impact solutions into production. As a thought leader, you’ll model best practices and mentor peers in producing rigorous, production-ready work.

This role demands an ownership mentality, with the ability to independently drive work forward, mentor junior team members, and collaborate on large-scale projects. In this role, you will regularly engage with members of cross-functional departments as well as the executive team. Strong communication skills will be an important asset.  Join us to push traditional boundaries and set the future direction for a data-driven optimal marketing strategy.

Salary Range: $181,440- $226,800 (Bonus and LTI eligible)

Root is a “work where it works best” company, meaning we will support you working in whatever location that works best for you across the US.

How You Will Make an Impact

• Lead innovation in our bidding algorithms, leveraging data science models trained on millions of searches.
• Partner with the Lifetime Value team, Engineering, and external vendors to drive measurable value for Root.
  Set the strategic direction of the Direct Marketing Operations team by shaping and prioritizing our experimentation roadmap.
• Identify the highest leverage opportunities to optimize bidding strategies across a diverse channel portfolio.
• Mentor junior team members on best practices in research methodology and software development.
• Deliver high-quality, production-ready code through version control and CI/CD systems for seamless deployment.
• Develop monitoring triggers and thresholds to ensure model accuracy and detect performance drift across multi-component systems.

What You Will Need to Succeed

• Advanced degree in a quantitative discipline (Master’s or PhD preferred) and 8+ years of experience applying advanced quantitative techniques in industry.
• Demonstrated leadership in developing and deploying real-time models, emphasizing automation and innovation.
• Expert-level Python skills, including data querying, manipulation, and modeling.
• Extensive experience developing and applying advanced machine learning models, particularly ensemble methods.
• Skilled in version control (e.g., Git) with experience contributing to large-scale, collaborative projects,
• Hands-on experience with AWS tools (e.g., EC2, SageMaker, Redshift) or equivalent platforms for scalable compute and storage.
• Excellent business intelligence and visualization skills, with the ability to effectively communicate insights and technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ownership mentality, with a demonstrated ability to take initiative, drive work forward, and mentor others.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and influence strategic decisions.

As part of Root's interview process, we kindly ask that all candidates be on camera for virtual interviews. This helps us create a more personal and engaging experience for both you and our interviewers. Being on camera is a standard requirement for our process and part of how we assess fit and communication style, so we do require it to move forward with any applicant's candidacy. If you have any concerns, feel free to let us know once you are contacted. We’re happy to talk it through.