The Role
Lead data science and machine learning initiatives, bridging technical infrastructure with business goals, managing teams, and ensuring project delivery.
Summary Generated by Built In
At MissionWired, we help our partners create revolutionary fundraising strategies that advance their mission, change our country, and have a positive impact on the world.
MissionWired is the only wholly integrated direct marketing agency for nonprofits and Democratic organizations. We help our partners tell big, ambitious stories that invite their supporters into communities to raise mission-changing revenue. Our results are unrivaled, having converted more than $4.5 billion in donations to the world’s most trusted philanthropies and groundbreaking campaigns. We do it over email and SMS, in the mail, across social media, everywhere. We don’t think in terms of channels; we’re single-minded in pursuit of your success.
We’re innovative, progress-obsessed, do-gooders who care deeply about social change and continuing to push the limits on what we can accomplish together. We’ve brought strategies to life for nonprofit organizations working around the world, including Sandy Hook Promise, Human Rights Watch, The Humane Society of the U.S., Save the Children, and Friends of the Earth. Over the years, we have worked with various progressive political organizations and believe that each election cycle is an opportunity for us to support organizations across the country and elect Democrats to legislative bodies up and down the ballot.
We’re an equal-opportunity employer and take seriously our commitment to equality and equity. Our efforts to be inclusive and create opportunity don’t end when someone joins us – they begin.
We’ve set our sights on changing the world through our work and with our clients, and representation is at the foundation of what we do. We know that diversity of thought and background makes us stronger. That’s why we’re committed to building and maintaining a diverse community.
Every new team member broadens our perspective and allows us to think bigger. We’ll be at our best when people from underrepresented communities and people with a range of perspectives and lived experiences want to come, stay, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Overview: We are seeking an experienced Vice President of Data Science & Machine Learning Strategy to lead our data science and machine learning initiatives. This role will lead in bridging the gap between our complex technical infrastructure and our business objectives. This role is crucial for defining and scoping projects effectively, ensuring their technical feasibility and alignment with strategic priorities.
This role is ideal for a seasoned leader who possesses a unique blend of technical depth in software and machine learning engineering, a strong understanding of business imperatives, and exceptional people management skills. You will be instrumental in guiding our team through complex technical challenges, leveraging our existing expertise, and fostering an environment of innovation and successful project delivery.
You will be responsible for:
- Strategic Leadership: Providing strategic management, staffing and direction for the Data Science & Engineering team, aligning efforts with overall business goals and priorities;
- Technical & Business Acumen: Acting as the primary liaison between technical teams and business stakeholders, translating complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies and vice versa. Understand the current tech stack deeply and anticipate future needs and limitations;
- Project Definition & Scoping: Leading the definition, scoping, and prioritization of data science and machine learning projects, ensuring they are technically feasible, impactful, and aligned with business value;
- Team Leadership & Development: Mentoring and developing a high-performing team of data scientists, machine learning engineers, and product managers. Foster a collaborative environment that encourages innovation, continuous learning, and professional growth;
- Technical Mastery: Helping provide technical help to build and develop machine learning models, debug complex problems, and provide surge capacity;
- Technical Guidance: Providing expert guidance on complex technical issues, architectural decisions, and best practices in data science, software engineering, and machine learning. Conducting quality assurance checks on the team’s work and connecting pieces to define broader goals;
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborating closely with product management, engineering, analytics and other business units to integrate data science solutions seamlessly into products and operations, constantly improving data reliability and quality;
- Roadmap & Delivery: Owning the data science roadmap, ensuring timely and effective delivery of projects that drive measurable business outcomes.
Must-have qualifications:
- To qualify for this role, candidates must have a combination of necessary experience, technical skills, and leadership skills as outlined below.
- Proven experience (5+ years) in data science leadership roles, with a track record of scaling and managing small or large teams of technologists;
- Prior experience in a role that required bridging technical and business understanding;
- Significant experience with both data science and software engineering, demonstrating an understanding of the entire development lifecycle;
- Experience managing complex technical projects from conception to deployment;
- Strong project management skills and the ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects at once;
- A passion for statistical methodology, including an ability to unpack the assumptions and interpretations of various approaches, an openness and critical eye to the latest techniques, and a willingness to lead collaborations to find the right tools to solve our technical challenges.
- Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and data engineering principles;
- Proficiency in programming languages commonly used in data science (e.g., Python, R) and experience with relevant software development practices;
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and big data technologies;
- Familiarity with the MLOps lifecycle and the ability to evaluate tooling available for feature engineering, lifecycle modeling, and model serving;
- Solid software engineering background with understanding of the full tech stack.
- Exceptional leadership and people management skills, with the ability to inspire, motivate, and develop a diverse team;
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, capable of effectively engaging with technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levels;
- Demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions and to scope projects effectively based on priorities, team abilities, and business impact;
- Strategic thinker with a pragmatic approach to problem-solving.
Experience:
Technical Skills:
Leadership & Soft Skills:
Nice-to-have qualifications:
- Working knowledge of Pandas and ideally PySpark;
- Experience building and deploying deep-learning models;
- Experience managing data warehouses and/or data lakes;
- Ability to build and optimize data pipelines, architectures, and data sets;
- Experience working with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment.
The salary floor for this role is $195,000 per year.
Location
We are currently working remotely with no return to office date. Applicants may reside in the following states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, LA, MA, ME, MD, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, and WA. Due to FL legislation, MissionWired is required to participate in e-verify.
Benefits
100% employer-paid premiums for platinum-level medical plan on a national health care network
100% employer-paid life insurance and short term disability
50% employer-paid vision and dental insurance
401(k) with 3% employer contribution
17 vacation days in addition to 12 paid holidays, sick days, bereavement leave, and a volunteer day off.
Paid parental leave at 100% of your salary
Financial support for reproductive and transgender care
Flexible telecommute and remote work policies
Company issued Mac products for home offices
Cell phone service reimbursement, meal and ride-share reimbursement, and other perks available
*Supporting your team on some nights and weekends as we approach high-volume times such as elections may be required.
If you feel you can do the job and are excited about this opportunity but are not sure if you meet all the qualifications, consider applying anyway. We’d love to hear from you!
Top Skills
AWS
Azure
GCP
Mlops
Pandas
Pyspark
Python
R
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The Company
What We Do
At MissionWired, we harness the power of digital storytelling and connectivity. We’ve deployed millions of emails, motivated countless Facebook likes and shares and generated untold tweets and retweets. We’ve crafted strategic communications for dozens of members of both houses of Congress, large national nonprofit organizations and even The White House. We were at the vanguard of digital advocacy, inventing the tactics in wide use today.
We are a full-service agency that can tackle any challenge thrown our way. From online fundraising, acquisition advertising and analytics to coding, graphic design and writing, we have top-flight talent who’ve been recognized as the best in their fields.
Our clients include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the USO, Sandy Hook Promise, Democratic political committees and members of the U.S. Senate.
