Director, Data Science

About the role

In this Director, Data Science role, you will own the strategy and execution of data science initiatives that directly shape the future of our privacy-centric products. You will lead a team of data scientists, setting clear expectations and providing hands-on mentorship that drives both individual and collective growth. You will guide multiple projects involving statistical modeling, experiment design, and classifier implementation across search, instant answers, AI, and revenue optimization. You will act as a trusted advisor, collaborating cross-functionally to validate direction through data and building organizational trust by consulting on experiments and metrics. You will become an expert in our core metrics such as searches, installs, and revenue, ensuring that every initiative is grounded in quantitative rigor. Because of our strong privacy policies, you will need to think creatively and develop strategies for surfacing actionable insights in an evidence-first culture. This role offers the opportunity to drive improvement of the data pipeline and help shape our all-in-one privacy solution while joining a mission to show the world that protecting your privacy online can be simple.

Key facts

What you'll do

Drive the strategy and execution of data science initiatives that impact our search engine, instant answers, AI features, and revenue optimization.

Provide hands-on mentorship and direct, actionable feedback to experienced data scientists, helping them do the best work of their careers.

Guide and advise multiple data science projects to ensure timely delivery with maximum impact.

Set clear expectations and remove blockers so that your team can maintain high productivity and focus.

Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and business stakeholders to validate direction through data.

Build trust in organizational tactics and strategy by consulting on experiments and translating technical tradeoffs for executives and stakeholders.

Become an expert in core metrics such as searches, installs, and revenue, and use this expertise to influence product and business decisions.

Drive improvement of the data pipeline to support robust, privacy-conscious analysis and experimentation.

Develop strategies for surfacing actionable insights in an evidence-first culture where quantitative rigor is the baseline, not the exception.

Help shape our all-in-one privacy solution and contribute to a mission that shows the world protecting privacy online can be simple.

Lead the deployment and iteration of ML and NLP solutions in production, with deep knowledge of when to use which tools in constrained environments.

Write production-grade code in Python or a comparable high-level language, staying close to technical work when it matters most.

Apply advanced SQL and query optimization skills, with familiarity with columnar databases like BigQuery, Clickhouse, Redshift, or Druid.

Leverage strong LLM/AI experience including fine-tuning, LLM-as-judge evaluation, and AI-assisted development to design, implement, and analyze experiments across product surfaces using sparse or privacy-constrained data.

Requirements

You have 10+ years of experience in data science or ML engineering, with 4+ years leading teams and a track record of setting multi-team roadmaps and adapting swiftly as priorities shift.

You have driven organizational culture toward data-driven decision-making and can translate technical tradeoffs and risks clearly for executives and cross-functional stakeholders.

You enjoy coaching experienced data scientists who are already highly skilled, giving direct, actionable feedback and building teams where people do the best work of their careers.

You can deploy and iterate ML and NLP solutions in production at expert level, with deep knowledge of when to reach for which tools, especially in constrained environments requiring fast responses and strict privacy standards.

You write production-grade code in Python or a comparable high-level language and stay close to the technical work when it matters most.

You have advanced SQL and query optimization skills, with familiarity with columnar databases such as BigQuery, Clickhouse, Redshift, or Druid.

You have strong LLM/AI experience including fine-tuning, LLM-as-judge evaluation, and AI-assisted development, and can design, implement, and analyze experiments across product surfaces using sparse or privacy-constrained data.

Preferred: experience at a consumer-facing tech company where data or analytics is core to the product strategy.

Practical notes

Hiring works best when it's a two-way street. Learn how we help you get to know DuckDuckGo, envision your future role here, and find out more about how we hire at https://duckduckgo.com/how-we-hire.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

DuckDuckGo provides equal work opportunities to all team members and applicants, and it prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation