Principal Data Scientist, Operations

missionlane

Remote, United States · Remote · United States

Posted Apr 19, 2026

Full-time
Remote
Data

Job description

Mission Lane is combining the power of data, technology, and exceptional service to pave a clear way forward for millions of people on the path to financial success. By attracting top talent and leveraging cutting-edge technology, we’re enabling people to unlock real financial progress. Sound like a mission you can get behind?

About the Role

As a Principal Data Scientist, you will innovate and improve the machine learning models we rely on to make billions of dollars of efficient and accurate decisions and to enable financial progress for our customers.

As a Principal Data Scientist, you’ll:

Design, develop, and deploy machine learning models to solve practical problems and help our business and customers reach their financial goals. You’ll partner with business leaders and technical experts across the company to develop new data sources, improve our modeling methodology, and apply models with sound risk management.

You are a person who:

Has created, deployed, and managed supervised learning models in production systems for vital applications and enjoys being a technical mentor
Has a PhD in a quantitative field and 3+ years of experience in a related role
Has a BS / MS in a quantitative field and 7+ years of experience in a related role
You share best practices for software engineering and can help smart, experienced data scientists with complex technical problems - especially operationalizing and evaluating models for real-world applications
Considers themself a generalist data scientist more motivated by practical solutions than theoretical elegance
Practices solid fundamentals with software engineering (test-driven development, code review, refactoring) and the PyData stack (numpy, scikit-learn, pandas, etc.)
Is interested in a wide range of ML solutions, including established tools (e.g. Spark, Kubernetes, Airflow, MLFlow), emerging tools (like Chalk, BentoML, or DVC), and developing in-house tools

You get bonus points for:

Experience building predictive models end to end
Experience solving problems in consumer lending or fintech
Interest in developing ways to train, interpret, and deploy neural network architectures for time series classification tasks

We’re offering:

We’re committed to ensuring our team members have balance in their lives. Our comprehensive benefits package provides the support you need to thrive at work and at home.

Work: An engaging culture with access to training programs and advancement opportunities
Life: Full health, dental, and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Account (for medical and childcare expenses), paid parental leave, and a 401k Company Match
Balance: Generous PTO, flexible schedules, a Calm App subscription, and more

Compensation:
Annual full-time starting base salary range: $185,000 - $204,000

This role is eligible for additional compensation in the forms of participation in our annual incentive and equity programs.

Pay is based on factors such as work experience, education, certification(s), training, skills, and competencies related to the role. Mission Lane also offers a comprehensive benefits plan, which includes paid time off, 401(k) match, a monthly wellness stipend, health/dental/vision insurance options, disability coverage, paid parental leave, flexible spending account (for childcare and healthcare), life insurance, and a remote-first work environment.

About Mission Lane:

Founded in December 2018, Mission Lane is a purpose-driven fintech company based in the U.S., with headquarters in Richmond, Virginia.

It all started with a realization: nearly fifty percent of the adult population in the U.S. doesn’t have access to a clear line of credit. Most traditional credit card companies either overlook or overcharge this group because they have less-than-perfect credit scores or no scores at all. We decided this just wouldn’t do.

In partnership with our sponsor banks, we offer credit cards under the Mission Lane brand name, with better, clearer terms, and a more refined customer experience than the alternatives available to people working hard to improve their credit. To date, over four million consumers have chosen Mission Lane, earning high customer ratings on Credit Karma for its market segment and industry leading Net Promoter scores.

Mission Lane has cumulatively raised over $600 million of equity from leading investors, including Invus Opportunities, QED Investors, LL Funds, funds affiliated with Oaktree Capital Management, and other leading investors.

Our commitment to a workplace built on respect and dignity is guided by our core value of Unity. We believe that everyone plays a vital role in our shared purpose, and we actively cultivate an environment where all individuals have the opportunity to do their best work. By fostering a culture of empathy and collaboration, we create a strong sense of belonging and support for every team member.

Mission Lane is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other protected status.

Mission Lane provides reasonable accommodations to applicants who need them for medical or religious reasons, as required by law. Applicants can initiate an accommodation request by contacting peopleexperience@missionlane.com.

Mission Lane is not sponsoring new applicant employment authorization and please, no third-party recruiters.

Application Integrity:

Our cardholders trust us with their financial well-being, and this trust starts with the integrity of the people on our team. We're looking for team members who share our dedication to transparency and truth. Please verify that the information in your application is accurate and complete.

Providing any information to Mission Lane that is not completely truthful at any point during the application or hiring process may result in removal from the hiring process, disqualification from future opportunities, withdrawal of an offer or other sanctions for candidates and, in addition for employees, disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.