Staff Data Scientist - AI & Intelligence Systems

<p><strong>Turn Data Into Decisions. Build Models That Ship. Lead the Science.</strong></p><p><strong>Location:</strong> San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)</p><div><hr></div><h5><strong>The Opportunity</strong></h5><div><p>Search Atlas powers autonomous marketing for Fortune 500s. Our AI agents make millions of optimization decisions daily - predicting search rankings, generating content, and managing ad spend without human intervention.</p><p></p></div><div><p><strong>We're not building dashboards. We're building the intelligence layer that replaces them.</strong></p><p></p></div><div><p>As our first Staff Data Scientist, you'll architect the models behind this agentic system. You'll own research roadmaps, mentor a growing team, and ship algorithms that directly drive revenue. No handoffs to "ML Engineering". You own the full lifecycle from notebook to production.</p><p></p></div><div><p><strong>Why this matters</strong>: We're bootstrapped and profitable. Every model you ship impacts our bottom line immediately. No VC pressure, no vanity metrics.</p></div><div><hr></div><h5><strong>What You'll Own</strong></h5><div><p>You'll lead data science for one of three core systems:</p></div><div><p><strong>🔮 Predictive SEO Intelligence</strong> Forecast rankings, predict algorithm shifts, and identify optimization opportunities before competitors. Build time-series models that process terabytes of crawl data.</p></div><div><p><strong>🤖 Agent Decision Systems</strong> Power autonomous agent behavior through reinforcement learning, multi-armed bandits, and reward modeling. Your models decide what actions agents take and learn from outcomes.</p></div><div><p><strong>🧠 Content &amp; Entity Intelligence</strong> NLP systems for semantic analysis, entity extraction, content quality scoring, and generative optimization. Make LLMs production-reliable at scale.</p></div><div><hr></div><h5><strong>Your First Year</strong></h5><div><p><strong>Month 1-2:</strong> Deep dive into our data architecture (ClickHouse, streaming pipelines). Ship first optimization to existing models.</p></div><div><p><strong>Month 3-6:</strong> Lead design of new ML system. Define research agenda. Mentor junior team members.</p></div><div><p><strong>Month 6-12:</strong> Own strategic ML roadmap. Influence product direction. Establish technical standards for the data science org.</p></div><div><p>We ship continuously, but we don't sacrifice rigor for speed.</p></div><hr><h5><strong>The Work</strong></h5><div><p><strong>Production ML Systems</strong></p><ul><li><p>Build models serving millions of predictions/day with &lt;100ms latency.</p></li><li><p>Own full lifecycle: feature engineering, training, validation, A/B testing, drift monitoring.</p></li><li><p>Design experiments that measure revenue impact, not just accuracy.</p></li></ul></div><div><p><strong>Data Architecture</strong></p><ul><li><p>Architect pipelines for terabyte-scale datasets (ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, streaming).</p></li><li><p>Build evaluation frameworks that catch degradation before customers do.</p></li></ul></div><div><p><strong>Research Leadership</strong></p><ul><li><p>Define what we predict and optimize. Your scientific judgment sets priorities.</p></li><li><p>Mentor data scientists and ML engineers through code review and research review.</p></li><li><p>Translate complex methodologies into clear business impact for leadership.</p></li></ul></div><div><p><strong>AI-Native Workflow</strong></p><ul><li><p>Leverage Claude Code, Copilot, and custom agents to accelerate research.</p></li><li><p>Build internal tools that democratize data science across the company.</p></li></ul></div><div><hr></div><h5><strong>Who You Are</strong></h5><ul><li><p><strong>7+ years</strong> applied data science, with <strong>3+ years</strong> shipping production ML systems.</p></li><li><p><strong>Deep Python fluency</strong>: NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, PyTorch or TensorFlow.</p></li><li><p><strong>SQL at scale</strong>: Complex queries against terabyte datasets, query optimization.</p></li><li><p><strong>ML Engineering mindset</strong>: Feature stores, model serving, A/B testing, monitoring, drift detection.</p></li><li><p><strong>AI-native workflow</strong>: You use AI coding tools to accelerate research and automate analysis.</p></li><li><p><strong>Scientific communication</strong>: You explain complex methodologies to executives with clarity.</p></li><li><p><strong>Research leadership</strong>: You've mentored others, defined research agendas, shipped cross-functional projects.</p></li></ul><div><p></p></div><div><p><strong>Bonus</strong>: NLP/LLM expertise, SEO/search domain knowledge, reinforcement learning, published research, Kaggle/GitHub presence.</p><hr><h5><strong>Our Stack</strong></h5><div><p><strong>ML/Data:</strong> Python, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, NumPy, Pandas.</p></div><div><p><strong>Data Infrastructure:</strong> ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, Redis, Feature Stores.</p></div><div><p><strong>MLOps:</strong> Model serving, A/B testing frameworks, drift monitoring, experiment tracking.</p></div><div><p><strong>AI Tools:</strong> Claude Code, Copilot, custom research agents.</p></div><div><p><strong>Scale:</strong> Terabytes of search data, millions of daily predictions, sub-100ms inference.</p><hr><h5><strong>Compensation &amp; Benefits</strong></h5><div><p><strong>Base Salary:</strong> $280,000 – $360,000 (experience-dependent).</p></div><div><p><strong>Health:</strong> 100% medical (Aetna), 99% dental/vision.</p></div><div><p><strong>Time Off:</strong> Unlimited PTO, paid parental leave.</p></div><div><p><strong>Additional:</strong> 401(k) via Deel, pet insurance, flexible wellness stipend.</p><hr><h5><strong>How We Work</strong></h5><div><h6><strong>Hybrid in San Francisco</strong></h6><ul><li><p>2-3 days/week in-office for deep collaboration and whiteboarding</p></li><li><p>Flexible remote days for focused research and coding</p></li></ul></div><div><h6><strong>Our Rhythm</strong></h6><ul><li><p>Weekly model releases, continuous research, constant measurement.</p></li><li><p>End-to-end ownership: you build it, you ship it, you monitor it.</p></li><li><p>Direct access to founders and executive team.</p></li></ul></div><div><h6><strong>Our Culture</strong></h6><ul><li><p><strong>Autonomy:</strong> We hire experts and trust them to make decisions.</p></li><li><p><strong>Impact:</strong> Every model connects to business outcomes.</p></li><li><p><strong>Craft:</strong> We value scientific rigor and elegant engineering.</p></li></ul><hr><h4><strong>About Search Atlas</strong></h4><div><p>We build autonomous marketing software for Fortune 500s and high-growth startups:</p></div><div><p><strong>OTTO SEO - </strong>Fully autonomous technical optimization</p></div><div><p><strong>Content Genius - </strong>Semantic AI content generation</p></div><div><p><strong>Site Explorer - </strong>Real-time search intelligence</p></div><div><p><strong>BrandVault - </strong>AI-driven knowledge graphs</p></div><div><p><strong>GBP Galactic - </strong>Local SEO automation</p></div><div><p><strong>Smart Ads - </strong>Autonomous PPC management</p><p></p></div><div><p><strong>Recognition:</strong> Inc. 5000, Nevada's #1 Small Business Workplace, Great Place to Work Certified</p></div><div><p><strong>$32M ARR. Bootstrapped. Profitable. Growing fast.</strong></p><hr><p><strong>Search Atlas is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.</strong></p></div></div><hr></div></div></div><p><strong>No cover letters. No generic applications. Just evidence of scientific craft.</strong></p><p><em>Search Atlas is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.</em></p><p><em>Must be currently authorized to work in the US without future sponsorship.</em></p>