Sr Data Scientist

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

The Consumer Engineering organization powers the experiences millions of PayPal customers use daily to send, spend, and manage their money safely and effortlessly. We design and build reliable, high-performance systems across PayPal's global ecosystem.

As a Senior Data Scientist on the Personalization Platform team, you'll design and develop machine learning models powering PayPal's next-generation personalization and recommendation systems. Working closely with ML Engineers, product partners, and data scientists, you'll explore data, prototype models, and drive measurable improvements in customer experiences.

You'll apply advanced analytical and modeling techniques to real-world problems in ranking, recommendations, retrieval, and contextual decisioning. This role is ideal for a hands-on, technically strong data scientist who enjoys experimentation, rigorous analysis, and translating insights into impactful ML solutions.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and implementation of advanced data science models.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to understand requirements.
• Drive best practices in data science.
• Ensure data quality and integrity in all processes.
• Mentor and guide junior data scientists.
• Stay updated with the latest trends in data science.

Expected Qualifications:

• 3+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications:

Additional Responsibilities 

• Contribute to the design and development of personalization and recommendation models, leveraging advances in ranking, retrieval, reinforcement learning, and generative/agentic AI. 

• Perform in-depth exploratory data analysis to identify new features, signals, and modeling opportunities that improve personalization outcomes. 

• Develop, prototype, and validate machine learning models with a strong focus on scientific rigor, statistical soundness, and measurable business impact. 

• Partner with product managers and engineering teams to operationalize models, define success metrics, and track experiment results. 

• Build and support robust experimentation frameworks, ensuring reliable evaluation of model performance through A/B tests and causal inference methods. 

• Communicate findings, insights, and technical recommendations to cross-functional stakeholders with clarity and influence. 

• Contribute to a culture of scientific excellence, staying current on developments in recommendation systems, ranking algorithms, and personalization techniques. 

Preferred Qualifications

• 4–7 years of experience in applied machine learning or data science, with hands-on experience building models for personalization, recommendations, ranking, or related areas. 

• Advanced degree (Master’s required; PhD a plus) in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field. 

• Strong grounding in machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and experimentation methodologies. 

• Proficiency with Python and core ML libraries (e.g., NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, TensorFlow/PyTorch). 

• Solid experience analyzing large datasets and writing performant SQL. 

• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex concepts to technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Demonstrated ability to drive meaningful model improvements through data-driven analysis and experimentation. 

• Experience with large-scale personalization or recommendation systems in production environments. 

• Knowledge of retrieval systems, learning-to-rank, uplift modeling, reinforcement learning, or contextual bandit approaches. 

• Familiarity with cloud ML environments (e.g., GCP, Vertex AI) and feature store concepts. 

• Experience with model monitoring, experimentation platforms, or observability tools (e.g., Datadog). 

• Publication record in ML, RecSys, IR, or related fields is a plus. 

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

-

The base pay for this role will depend on where you work and the relevant experience and expertise you bring. The expected range of pay for this role by location is:

Primary Location | Pay Range:

New York City, New York | ($143,500.00 - $212,850.00 Annually)

Additional Location(s) | Pay Range:

No other locations are assigned to this requisition currently.Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable. This role is also eligible for a range of benefits which may include, medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, parental and family leave, 401(k) savings plan, paid time off, and other benefits. For more information visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us.

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at paypalglobaltalentacquisition@paypal.com.

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.

Notice to Applicants and Employees who reside within New York City. Click here to view the notice.