Data Scientist (Virtual)

Job Description
Over 20 years ago, Stride was founded to provide personalized learning - powered by technology. We reached students where they were in their own journeys. We knocked down their barriers to great education. And we gave every learner equal opportunity to succeed - however they defined success. Stride innovated the learning experience with online and blended learning that prepared them for their lives ahead.
Stride is a community of passionate leaders. Whether teachers, engineers, curriculum writers, or financial managers - whatever your expertise or role, we all work to empower futures through learning. And changing the trajectory of learning itself is one of our greatest missions. Join us in developing more effective ways to learn and helping learners build the skills and confidence they need to make their way forward in life.
The Data Scientist will own responsibility for end to end modeling and data product creation based on machine learning over vast data sets. The Data Scientist will be responsible for model design, evaluation, and deployment using standardized Stride coding best practices. Data Scientist will provide technical guidance to other analysts on cross-functional projects and develop understanding the Stride business and the use of this data to improve student retention and academic outcomes. The Data Scientist is deeply experienced, passionate about solving problems through quantitative analysis, comfortable manipulating and summarizing data, and able to set their own priorities and facilitate collaborative work on complex projects. He/she will drive the increased production of data products directly linked to actionable business decisions.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• Apply expertise in quantitative analysis, data mining, and the presentation of data to see beyond the numbers and understand how our users interact with our core products;
• Provide strategic influence with Product and Engineering teams to solve problems and identify trends and opportunities;
• Interface with IT managers, data stewards and data engineers to ensure that their work is efficiently provisioned and informed;
• Inform, influence, and support product decisions;
• Ensure that data science output is measured, documented, reproducible, and monitored for performance drift;
• Mine massive amounts of data and extract useful product insights;
• Manage development of data resources, gather requirements, organize sources, and support product launches;
• Hold key thought leadership role on team responsible for defining and evaluating strategies to improve academic outcomes;
• Align Stride's data capabilities with the needs of our schools & school services teams that will drive the adoption and use of actionable data to deliver improved outcomes;
• Identify and define strategic opportunities for leveraging data science across other businesses and functions in support of Stride's mission, vision and long-term strategy;
• Demonstrate a passion for education and the Stride experience

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Math, Physics, Engineering, or related quantitative field AND
• Six (6) years' related experience; OR
• Equivalent combination of education and experience

Certificates and Licenses: None required.
OTHER REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Strong understanding of analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Expert in Machine learning frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with large language models like GPT, LLAMA, BERT.
• Knowledge of NLP techniques like tokenization, embeddings.
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Experience with large data sets, distributed computing and cloud platforms (eg. AWS, Azure).
• High attention to detail and high level of accuracy.
• Strong customer service orientation.
• Professional integrity necessary to maintain confidentiality.
• Strong planning skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent verbal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to complete assigned duties within critical deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and working experience with Linux.
• Experience with modern reporting platforms and tools.
• Ability to grasp complex platform concepts and business models, in a digital context.
• Ability to clear required background check

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's/Doctorate preferred

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This is a home-based position

Compensation & Benefits: Stride, Inc. considers a person's education, experience, and qualifications, as well as the position's work location, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value when determining a new employee's salary level. Salaries will differ based on these factors, the position's level and expected contribution, and the employee's benefits elections. Offers will typically be in the bottom half of the range.

• We anticipate the salary range to be $60,000 to $129,000. The upper end of this range is not likely to be offered, as an individual's compensation can vary based on several factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, geographic location, experience, training, education, and local market conditions. Eligible employees may receive a bonus. Stride offers a robust benefits package for eligible employees that can include health benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off.
  

The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor. All employment is "at-will" as governed by the law of the state where the employee works. It is further understood that the "at-will" nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer.
Stride, Inc. is a Federal Contractor, an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and a Drug-Free Workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected Veteran status age, or genetics, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Job Type
Regular
The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor. All employment is "at-will" as governed by the law of the state where the employee works. It is further understood that the "at-will" nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer.
Stride, Inc. is a Federal Contractor, an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and a Drug-Free Workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected Veteran status age, or genetics, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)