Sr. Manager, Data Science

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 Summary:

This job will design and implement advanced data science models to support business needs. You will work with stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver solutions. Your role involves driving best practices in data science, ensuring data quality, and mentoring junior scientists.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities:

• Lead complex data science projects, ensuring they meet business objectives and deliver actionable insights.
• Develop advanced data models and algorithms to analyze large datasets and solve complex business problems.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to identify data-driven opportunities for business growth and efficiency.
• Implement best practices for data management, analysis, and visualization.
• Ensure data governance and compliance with relevant regulations and standards.
• Provide mentorship and technical guidance to the data science team.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 8+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience leading others

Role Summary

• Own End-to-End Global Collections Strategy: full ownership from early delinquency through recovery, with P&L accountability
• Portfolio Segmentation & Data-Driven Decision Making: risk-based segmentation, champion/challenger frameworks, ML model partnerships using merchant-specific signals (TPV, cash flow, transaction velocity, business bureaus)
• Multi-Channel Contact Strategy Optimization: digital self-service, SMS/email, outbound phone calls, with a digital-first approach
• Loss Mitigation & Recovery: familiarity with developing and refining payment plans, loan restructuring, third-party agency collections, legal collections and debt sales
• Regulatory Compliance & Risk Governance: Familiarity with navigating regulatory environment: FDCPA, CFPB, FCA, EU directives, UDAAP, fair lending across all geographies
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Stakeholder Influence: Product, Tech, Risk, Legal, Compliance and Operations partners
• Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement: KPI ownership, roll rates, cure rates, root cause analysis
• Team Development & Organizational Leadership: building the team, coaching, career development

Preferred Qualification

• At least 5 years of people leader experience, with a track record of building, developing, and scaling high-performing collections strategy teams.
• Preferred experience in fintech or experience handling business loan portfolio credit risk or collections in large banks.
• Direct experience building or scaling merchant or small business lending collections programs, ideally from early-stage or greenfield environments where a founder's mentality was essential.
• Demonstrated ability to design and optimize multi-channel collections strategies spanning digital self-service (email, SMS, in-app), outbound dialing, and third-party agency placement.
• Strong analytical background with hands-on experience using data to segment portfolios, build decision trees or champion/challenger frameworks, and quantify dollar-level impact of strategy changes.
• Track record of delivering measurable P&L improvements through loss reduction, operational cost savings, or recovery rate uplift, with the ability to articulate results in financial terms.
• Experience partnering cross-functionally with Product, Legal, Compliance, Credit Risk, Fraud, and Operations teams to navigate regulatory requirements while driving innovation.
• Familiarity with collections regulations across multiple jurisdictions (FDCPA, CFPB guidance, FCA requirements, EU consumer credit directives, state and local licensing) and experience ensuring strategies remain compliant at scale.
• Ability to bring industry best practices in collections strategy, channel optimization, and loss mitigation into the organization, benchmarking performance against market standards and adapting proven approaches to PayPal's merchant lending portfolio.
• Strong customer experience orientation with a proven ability to balance recovery goals against merchant experience, reducing friction in repayment pathways.
• Proficiency with analytics tools (SQL, Python, or similar) and collections platforms; comfort translating data insights into actionable strategy recommendations for senior leadership.
• Experience operating across multiple geographies (US, UK, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, France) is a plus, with an understanding of regional regulatory landscapes, cultural nuances in collections practices, and localized borrower behavior.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. When making an application directly, we will never ask you to share passwords, one-time passcodes (OTP), or verification codes.  Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. All communication regarding your application will come from official PayPal email domains. If you suspect fraudulent activity, please report it immediately.  To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us. 

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset-you. That’s why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing—physical, emotional, and financial—delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected].  

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.