Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s work marketplace. We help connect companies large and small with top independent talent from around the world. Simply put, our mission is to create economic opportunities so people have better lives.

Every year, more than $2 billion of work is done through Upwork by skilled independent professionals who want the freedom of working anytime, anywhere.

Are you an experienced Data, Machine Learning and Engineering leader who is up to the challenge of running the core of a work marketplace that is at the center of the professional lives of millions of freelancers and clients around the world? Do you relish leading teams through solving seemingly impossible problems? Do you love identifying potential scalability issues, and helping your teams come up with creative solutions to both technical and interpersonal challenges? Do you enjoy working in large multi-functional teams to solve grand challenges spanning across Product, Analytics, Data, Machine Learning and Application Engineering? If so, we’d love to hear from you!

As the world’s largest work marketplace for independent talent, we have 10+ years of data on how people work online! As a leader in our Data Science organization, you will play a critical role in optimizing the conversion funnels for all of the marketplace delivery models as well as handling the core marketplace to help all freelancers and clients on Upwork.

Improving the quality of marketplace matching (search applications and recommender systems), optimizing the acquisition funnel and marketing budget, automating and improving the efficiency of operations via AI-assistance and steering marketplace dynamics (supply, demand, pricing), are the core areas where we always face new & exciting challenges.

Your Responsibilities

• Lead multiple Data Science teams responsible for the entire Data Science product lifecycle from building data pipelines to developing Machine Learning based proof-of-concepts.
• Identify new opportunities and set directions for the collaboration with Product, Marketing and Operations teams.
• Be in charge of the team’s technical strategy, planning and execution, and establish rituals to be aligned with partners.
• Advise, mentor and learn from team members in all the relevant areas from Product Engineering to Analytics, Data and Machine Learning.
• Drive a high standard of excellence for Machine Learning Researchers, Data Scientists and Engineers to continuously achieve innovations while also ensuring high scalability and availability of current product systems.
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced, iterative environment and lead the parallel development and delivery of features on multiple related product areas.
• Strong focus on the customer and the business, coupled with a burning desire to learn, respond to feedback and grow. We’re looking for people who thrive with learning new technologies and don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Our teams are widely distributed, and you will be required to communicate with technical and non-technical audiences across different cultures.

What It Takes To Catch Our Eye

• Tried leadership experience, leading Data and Machine Learning and Engineering teams.
• Experience working with high-performing distributed teams.
• Strong technical expertise in all aspects of Data Science product development, including Product Thinking, Machine Learning, Analytics, Experimentation and Application & Platform Engineering.
• Strong background of working across team boundaries to deliver fabulous customer experiences across the full Data Science stack.
• Strong background in delivering ML-based innovations and validated products.
• Experience handling a platform running on Spark, Databricks, MLlib, Tensorflow and microservice architecture.

Come change how the world works.

At Upwork, you’ll shape talent solutions for how the world works today. We are a remote-first organization working together to create exciting remote work opportunities for a global community of professionals.  While we have physical offices in San Francisco and Chicago, currently we also support hiring of corporate full-time employees in 15 states in the United States. Please speak with a member of our recruitment team to determine whether you are located in a state in which we are hiring corporate full-time employees. 

Our vibrant culture is built on shared values and our mission to create economic opportunities so that people have better lives. We foster amazing teams, put our community first, and have a bias toward action. We encourage everyone to bring their whole selves to work and grow together through development opportunities, mentorship, and employee resource groups. Oh yeah, we’ve also got amazing benefits.

Check out our Life at Upwork page to learn more about the employee experience.   

Upwork is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.