Head of Data Science - Monetization

Nextdoor (NYSE: NXDR) is the essential neighborhood network. Neighbors, public agencies, and local businesses use Nextdoor to connect around information that matters in more than 340,000 neighborhoods across 11 countries. We build technology that helps people foster local community, share important news, and create neighborhood connections at scale. Download the app and join the neighborhood at nextdoor.com. 

As Nextdoor’s Monetization Data Science Lead (Senior Manager/Director), you will be a co-owner in shaping our monetization strategy and outcomes. You’ll also contribute to the broader senior leadership group by helping connect product strategy, business goals, and data-informed direction.

Your work will directly impact how Nextdoor creates value for businesses of all sizes—from multinational brands to the dry cleaner and babysitter down the street—while balancing advertiser outcomes with neighbor experience and long-term platform health.

The Data Science team operates in a semi-embedded model: data scientists are closely aligned to product pillars and work day-to-day with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to drive decision-making through rigorous measurement, experimentation, and modeling. Our team brings diverse backgrounds and perspectives; we act as decision scientists for product development and marketing, and play an active role in building, improving, and evaluating the product and business.

At Nextdoor, we offer a warm and inclusive work environment that embraces a hybrid employment model, blending an in office presence and work from home experience for our valued employees. The hiring team will go over these expectations with you if you are being considered for a role near one of our offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and London.  

In this role, you will be responsible for developing, communicating, and leading execution of the data science strategy across Nextdoor’s monetization products. This leader will set a high bar for the Data Science craft and team effectiveness—combining strong hands-on technical and business judgment with the ability to scale impact through others. While people management and growth are key to this role, it is not a pure management position; strong technical and domain expertise are strongly preferred.

You’ll help build a culture where asking the right questions, high velocity, and proactivity in leveraging data are the norm. This role has the potential to materially influence Nextdoor’s growth trajectory by improving how we identify opportunities, measure progress, and make decisions across monetization.

Your responsibilities will include: 

• Owning the monetization DS roadmap: identify the highest-impact opportunities and risks, define clear success metrics, and align stakeholders on priorities
• Raising the bar on DS craft excellence: establish standards for strong analysis, experimentation, and impact-orientedness; provide high-quality review and mentorship; and help the team deliver work that is rigorous, decision-relevant, and well-communicated
• Being a hands-on technical leader: contribute on the framing and execution of the most strategic, ambiguous, and high-leverage problems (e.g., measurement strategy for new products, experiment design standards, causal questions, marketplace dynamics)
• Driving experimentation and measurement: design and evaluate experiments, ensure sound interpretation, and strengthen the end-to-end measurement system (instrumentation, definitions, dashboards, and decision forums)
• Partnering cross-functionally to move strategy forward: serve as a thought partner to Product, Engineering, Sales, and other functions—bringing clarity, structure, and constructive data-informed judgment, especially when tradeoffs are complex
• Building scalable systems and leverage: improve team throughput through reusable frameworks (metric definitions, analysis templates, audience definitions, and tooling) and by reducing repeated, one-off work
• Leading, growing, and developing the team: hire and develop data scientists, create an inclusive and high-performing culture, and ensure strong career growth and performance coaching
• Representing Data Science and a data-informed POV in leadership discussions: communicate clearly to varied audiences—from deep technical reviews to executive narratives—while maintaining rigor and intellectual honesty

• 10+ years in data science, product analytics, applied statistics, machine learning, or equivalent experience; advanced degree in a quantitative field strongly preferred
• Hands-on experience in advertising or monetization data science for consumer products (e.g., ads marketplaces, targeting/relevance, measurement, auction dynamics, yield optimization, budgeting/pacing, attribution, or related domains)
• Proven people leadership experience, including hiring and managing a team of data scientists across multiple problem areas, with a track record of growing others and raising team standards
• Strong DS craft fundamentals: expertise in experimentation, measurement, and statistical reasoning; ability to choose the right method for the question and to anticipate pitfalls and bias
• Experience leading complex analyses end-to-end (problem framing → data requirements → analysis/modeling → recommendations → iteration)
• Comfort partnering across the product development spectrum (strategy, ideation, instrumentation, experimentation, and—where appropriate—model development)
• Exceptional communication: ability to explain complex ideas clearly, influence decisions, and write narratives that drive alignment and action
• Appetite for applying AI and emerging tools to increase productivity and reimagine how DS teams deliver impact (without sacrificing rigor and decision quality)
• Eagerness to explore and apply AI and emerging technologies to reimagine how work gets done

Rewards

Compensation, benefits, perks, and recognition programs at Nextdoor come together to create our total rewards package. Compensation will vary depending on your relevant skills, experience, and qualifications. 

The starting salary for this role is expected to range from $199,000 to $300,000 on an annualized basis, or potentially greater in the event that your 'level' of proficiency exceeds the level expected for the role. The salary range will be determined by the candidate’s geographic location.

We expect to award a meaningful equity grant for this role. With quarterly vesting, your first vest date will take place within 3 months of your start date.

When it comes to benefits, we have you covered! Nextdoor employees can choose between a variety of health plans, including a 100% covered employee only plan option, and we also provide a OneMedical membership for concierge care.

At Nextdoor, we empower our employees to build stronger local communities. To create a platform where all feel welcome, we want our workforce to reflect the diversity of the neighbors we serve. We encourage everyone interested in our mission to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or any other trait that unfairly targets a group of people. In accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we always consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

For information about our collection and use of applicants’ personal information, please see Nextdoor's Personnel Privacy Notice, found here.