Principal Data Scientist
As a core member of the Data Science team at CarGurus, the Principal Data Scientist will lead the design and development of high-impact machine learning systems that power the company's core products and strategic initiatives. This role involves owning models and data pipelines end-to-end, from problem framing and experimentation through production deployment, monitoring, and continuous improvements. Potential areas of support and ownership include recommendations, search ranking, Instant Market Value algorithms, and new machine learning-driven product capabilities.
Key responsibilities include designing and implementing production machine learning models and systems, developing and maintaining data pipelines in partnership with Data and Analytics teams, and collaborating with engineering leaders on system and API design to ensure machine learning solutions meet requirements for latency, reliability, observability, and maintainability in production. The role also involves applying best practices for experimentation and model evaluation, including offline metrics, A/B testing design, and post-launch analysis, as well as communicating solutions to stakeholders through written documentation, demos, presentations, and data visualizations tailored to both technical and non-technical audiences.
The ideal candidate will have over seven years of experience in data science or machine learning roles, with a consistent track record of shipping, owning, and iteratively improving production machine learning systems that drive material business impact. Deep expertise in machine learning techniques for supervised and unsupervised learning across structured and unstructured datasets is required, along with comprehensive knowledge of measurement, evaluation, and testing of models. Proven experience deploying and maintaining machine learning services in production, ideally in a cloud environment such as AWS, SageMaker, or Snowflake, is essential. High proficiency in Python (or similar languages widely used in the data science community) and SQL is necessary, as well as experience establishing coding, testing, and reproducibility standards. The ability to communicate technical details, trade-offs, and analytical findings to audiences ranging from engineers to senior business leaders, using clear narratives and data-driven recommendations, is also important. An advanced degree (or proven experience) in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, or any quantitative science that utilizes advanced data analytics or statistical or machine learning techniques is preferred.
CarGurus offers a competitive salary range of $170,000 to $212,000 per year for this position. The company provides best-in-class benefits and compensation, including equity for all employees, both when they start and as they continue to grow with the company. Career development and corporate giving programs, as well as employee resource groups and communities, help employees build connections while making an impact in personally meaningful ways. A flexible hybrid model and robust time-off policies encourage work-life balance and individual well-being. Thoughtful perks like daily free lunch, a new car discount, meditation and fitness apps, commuting cost coverage, and more help employees create space for what matters most in their personal and professional lives.
CarGurus fosters a people-first culture that emphasizes kindness, collaboration, and innovation, empowering employees with tools to fuel their career growth. The company strives to be a place where individuals can bring the ultimate expression of themselves and their potential, starting with the hiring process. CarGurus does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The company values people for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives, encouraging applications even if candidates do not check every box listed in the job description.