Self Financial is a venture-backed, high-growth FinTech company with a mission to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience by empowering people to build credit and build savings.
We challenge the status quo of the credit industry by giving people accessible tools to take control of their credit, with a focus on the 100 million+ Americans who have no or low credit. We're looking for people who share our passion, tackle challenges, find solutions, and make the financial space better for the communities we serve.
Staff Data Scientist
TeamCredit Analytics. Builds the predictive models that drive our credit and lending decisions. We turn deep knowledge of our data into models that are deployed in production, and we work closely with Risk, Finance, Product, and Engineering to improve how we underwrite, price, and manage our customers’ credit.
Location: Austin, TX
Work Arrangement: Austin – Hybrid or Remote
About the Role
You’ll build the models, take them into production, and show what they changed for the business. We’re a small company, so you’ll wear many hats and work with engineering to put your models into our decisioning engine. We care less about “here’s the model and here’s what it does” and more about the dollars and percentages it moved, the context behind it, and how clearly you explain it.
What you’ll do:
- Design, build, and validate predictive models in Python that inform credit and lending decisions
- Partner with engineering to deploy models into our decisioning engine and monitor them after launch
- Dig into the data to understand why a model behaves the way it does, and keep digging until the answer holds up
- Measure and communicate the business impact of your work in dollars and percentages
- Work with Risk, Finance, Product, and other stakeholders to turn business questions into modeling problems and recommendations
- Evaluate and work with the data vendors and tools we use
- Set the technical bar for the team through code and model review, and mentor other analysts and data scientists
- 8+ years of professional data scientist experience
- Strong Python skills and a record of building predictive models
- Statistical rigor, shown in at least one accomplishment on your resume
- Business impact you can quantify, with the dollars and percentages to show it
- Curiosity that goes past “here’s a cool model,” and the habit of asking why until you understand the context
- Clear communication with both technical and non-technical audiences
- Experience taking models from development to production
- Experience in credit and lending with fintech as a plus
- Experience working with third-party data vendors
- Experience at a small or scaling company where you owned work end to end
- Comfort moving between hands-on modeling, stakeholder partnership, and mentoring
- Generous health, dental, and vision insurance coverage
- Employer-paid benefits including life, disability, and cost-containment resources
- Hybrid work arrangement
- Flexible vacation
- Company performance-based bonuses
- Paid parental leave
- Company equity in the form of stock options
- Education reimbursement program
- Relocation bonus to move to Austin
- Gym membership options through ClassPass or monthly reimbursement
- Lunchdrop stipend
- Paid parking
- ERG and inclusion opportunities
- Casual dress code
- Team building events and activities
- Referral program
Self Financial is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to an inclusive environment. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under applicable law. If you need an accommodation during the application or interview process, please let us know.
Work AuthorizationWe can only consider candidates who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents (green card holders). We are unable to offer visa sponsorship of any kind, now or in the future. All new hires must successfully pass a background check.
Self Financial is an AI-forward company. Our interview process is designed to understand your own career experience, technical acumen, and communication skills. Please do not use AI tools to generate or assist with your answers during interviews unless we explicitly invite you to. If we have reason to believe AI was used in a way that misrepresents your own abilities, we may remove you from the interview process and from consideration for future opportunities at Self.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of professional data scientist experience
- Strong Python skills and experience building predictive models
- Statistical rigor demonstrated through at least one resume accomplishment
- Quantifiable business impact demonstrated through dollars and percentages
- Clear communication with technical and non-technical audiences
- Experience taking models from development to production
- Experience in credit and lending or fintech
- Experience working with third-party data vendors
- Experience at a small or scaling company with end-to-end ownership
- Experience mentoring analysts and data scientists
- U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status
- Successful completion of a background check
Self Financial Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Self Financial and has not been reviewed or approved by Self Financial.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage are extensive, complemented by wellness and mental health programs.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, family medical leave, and a structured return-to-work program indicate strong caregiver support.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Flexible or unlimited PTO, alongside paid holidays and sick time, provides broad time-away options for work-life balance.
Self Financial Insights
What We Do
Everyone deserves the chance to improve their financial future. We believe financial progress should be within reach for everyone. We exist to enable people to build credit, build savings, and reach their goals. Every role here connects directly to that purpose, and you'll see the impact of your work in real outcomes for real people.
Why Work With Us
It's not every day you have the opportunity to work for a company with a strong mission that has meaningful impact on people's lives. If you're searching for a higher purpose and you're passionate about helping to improve people's financial situation, then Self is just the place.
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