Senior Data Scientist

Introduction

TheZebra.com meets customers right where their search for car and home insurance begins: online. We provide easy-to-use tools and services, plus friendly, licensed agents who offer advice and guidance at any point along the way. The Zebra has helped customers compare over 74 million quotes since 2012. At its heart, both insurance and tech industry veterans collaborate together to simplify insurance shopping for customers. In today’s digital world, The Zebra’s customer-centered approach offers people the choices they want and simplicity they need.

The Zebra was recently named an Austin Business Journal's 2026 Best Place to Work. Our motto is "All Stripes Welcome.” Building the best product, the best teams, and the best company comes from inviting a diverse array of voices, backgrounds and perspectives to contribute, making everyone feel welcome. Our Zeebs are passionate about learning, growing, and working together to tackle exciting problems.

The Role

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will collaborate cross-functionally with Product Managers, Engineers, and Analysts to scope and deliver on Data Science opportunities. You’ll own the Data Science lifecycle from end to end - from wrangling data in our warehouse to building and deploying models to analyzing experiment results and quantifying model impact. At The Zebra, Data Scientists write the code for the models that run in production with platform support from software engineers - no handoffs involved!

Our ideal candidate is not just technically skilled but practical and impact-oriented as well, prioritizing simple solutions that we can iterate and improve on continuously. Strong product/business sense and the ability to frame and answer questions analytically are essential in this role. Successful Data Scientists at The Zebra quickly build trust and mutual understanding with stakeholders to reduce ambiguity and drive solutions that work for our business.

What You'll Do

• Build machine learning models to personalize our product and connect users with the policies that best fit their needs

• Work closely with cross-functional stakeholders to understand business needs and develop ML based solutions

• Analyze product data, design experiments, and drive the collection and integration of new data sources

• Write clean, maintainable production code to operationalize models using best practices from software engineering

• Perform peer code reviews, mentor other data scientists, and drive continuous improvement in our platform and practices

What We're Looking For

As we evaluate candidates across all roles, we look for folks with a strong sense of ownership, great communication and collaboration skills, and a dedication to continuous improvement.

• 5+ years experience in a technical data role with 3+ years of hands-on experience building machine learning / statistical models

• MS / PhD in a quantitative field is a plus but not required

• Proven mathematical foundation and knowledge of a variety of ML and statistical methods (e.g. regression, classification, clustering, experimental design)

• Solid foundation in software engineering with a strong proficiency in both core Python and the Python data ecosystem (sklearn, pandas/polars, etc)

• Comfortable owning models in production — CI/CD, testing, orchestration, monitoring, and retraining

• Experience mentoring junior data scientists is a plu

Experience that Will Impress the Heck Out of Us

• Experience modeling customer/human behavior in a B2C context

• Experience building ML for auction, bidding, or real-time allocation systems

• Experience designing and interpreting causal measurement: experiments, quasi-experimental methods, incrementality testing, geo tests, MMM

• Experience with reinforcement learning in production, especially contextual bandits: running exploration policies against live traffic, off-policy evaluation, and delayed reward attribution

• Experience building ML platforms

Location

Our company headquarters are in Austin, TX, but our employees work remotely across the US. For folks who live around Austin, we offer the option to join us in our office or opt for a hybrid setup. Whether you prefer the structure of an office, the convenience of remote work, or a mix of both, we support what works best for you!

Please note: at this time we are not able to hire in Massachusetts.

Benefits & Perks

Inclusive and healthy environments are crafted intentionally. All of our employees can join and participate in (or create your own!) Employee Resource Groups. Here are some other wonderful perks of working here:

• Competitive Compensation & Stock Option Offering

• Health, Dental, Vision & Disability Coverages

• HSA offering + employer contribution

• 401k plan + employer match

• Unlimited PTO (paid time off) - with a three-week minimum we actually track

• Paid Parental Leave Program

• Wellness perk ($100/month)

• Pet Adoption Reimbursement ($300/year)

• Learning & Development Opportunities

• Join a team that truly lives their values (outside of the office. Cliche, we know… but we really mean it)

The target base salary for this role is $160,000 - $180,000. The final salary amount will be determined based on a variety of factors, including experience, skills, internal equity, and insights gained throughout the interview process.

About The Zebra

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, The Zebra seeks to bring transparency and simplicity to car and home insurance shopping - it's Insurance in black and white.®

We've garnered attention across the industry and across the nation. Check out all of our awards & recognition!

Our core motto is "All Stripes Welcome." As part of our dedication to maintaining an inclusive and diverse workforce, we provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform core job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation!