Director, Data Science

Destination Pet is launching a new, PE-backed business unit focused on building a differentiated data platform for the pet health and pet services ecosystem. This new business unit will collect, organize, analyze, and commercialize data related to dogs and cats through veterinary partners, pet care centers, boarding and daycare facilities, grooming locations, wellness providers, and other pet care channels. We are seeking a Director of Data Science to help build the analytical foundation of this business from the ground up. This is a unique opportunity for someone who wants to operate in a newly formed, high-growth business while benefiting from the backing, scale, and resources of an established, private-equity-backed platform. The ideal candidate is a hands-on data science leader who can work with complex and fragmented data, build commercially valuable insights, and help turn pet health and pet care data into scalable products. We are looking to add a Data Science Director to our team! LOCATION: Remote US TRAVEL: Less than 10% REPORTS TO: Chief Executive Officer PAY: $180 K -$210K + 20 %Bonus Destination Pet does not provide any Visa Sponsorship. Role Overview: Destination Pet is launching a new, PE-backed business unit focused on building a differentiated data platform for the pet health and pet services ecosystem. This new business unit will collect, organize, analyze, and commercialize data related to dogs and cats through veterinary partners, pet care centers, boarding and daycare facilities, grooming locations, wellness providers, and other pet care channels. We are seeking a Director of Data Science to help build the analytical foundation of this business from the ground up. This is a unique opportunity for someone who wants to operate in a newly formed, high-growth business while benefiting from the backing, scale, and resources of an established, private-equity-backed platform. The ideal candidate is a hands-on data science leader who can work with complex and fragmented data, build commercially valuable insights, and help turn pet health and pet care data into scalable products. CORE RESPONSIBILITES: - Help define and build the data science strategy for a newly formed pet health data business unit. - Analyze large, complex, and multi-source datasets related to pet health, veterinary care, pet services, customer behavior, and service utilization. - Build predictive models, segmentation models, forecasting tools, and other analytical solutions to identify trends, patterns, and commercial opportunities. - Partner with product, technology, commercial, operations, and executive stakeholders to identify data products and insights that can be monetized. - Support the development of data products that may be sold to external customers, partners, or industry stakeholders. - Work with internal and external data sources, including veterinary partners, pet care centers, customer systems, and third-party datasets. - Lead cross-functional efforts in data cleaning, normalization, deduplication, taxonomy creation, and quality control to ensure data integrity and support ongoing monitoring. - Translate complex analytical findings into clear, actionable insights for non-technical audiences. - Help establish best practices for responsible data use, privacy, governance, de-identification, and data quality. - Operate comfortably in an entrepreneurial environment where business models are still being developed. - Drive the creation of novel, statistically differentiated predictive models, supported by a strong track record in research and data science. - Help shape the future structure, tools, and capabilities of the data science function as the business scales. REQUIREMENTS: Education & Experience: - Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Economics, Bioinformatics, or a related quantitative field. - 6-10+ years of experience in data science, advanced analytics, machine learning, statistical modeling, or a related quantitative role. - Strong proficiency in Python and/or R. - Strong SQL skills and experience working with relational databases and large datasets. - Experience working with messy, fragmented, or multi-source data and turning it into usable analytical assets. - Demonstrated experience building predictive models, segmentation frameworks, forecasting models, machine learning models, or other advanced analytical solutions. - Strong understanding of data quality, feature engineering, statistical inference, experimentation, model validation, and analytical best practices. - Ability to communicate complex analysis clearly to executive, commercial, product, and non-technical stakeholders. - Comfort working in a newly formed business, startup-like environment, or high-growth setting with ambiguity and evolving priorities. Preferred Qualifications - Master's degree or PhD in a quantitative discipline. - Experience in a newly formed company, startup, venture-backed company, PE-backed company, or corporate incubation environment. - Experience building data products, commercial analytics products, data platforms, data marketplaces, or monetizable insight products. - Experience in healthcare, veterinary medicine, pet care, life sciences, insurance, consumer health, retail, marketplace businesses, or multi-site services. - Experience working with regulated, sensitive, privacy-conscious, or consumer data environments. - Familiarity with privacy-preserving analytics, de-identification, aggregation, consent frameworks, and responsible data-use practices. - Experience with cloud data platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, AWS, GCP, Azure, or similar. - Experience with BI and visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, Looker, Sigma, or similar. - Experience partnering with product, engineering, commercial, legal, operations, and executive teams. Ideal Candidate Profile - Builder mindset with the ability to create structure in an early-stage environment. - Commercially curious and interested in turning data into revenue-generating products. - Comfortable working hands-on while also helping define strategy and future team capabilities. - Strong business judgment and ability to prioritize the highest-value analytical opportunities. - Comfortable operating in a PE-backed environment with a focus on speed, accountability, value creation, and measurable outcomes. - Able to work independently in a fully remote environment while collaborating effectively across functions. - Passionate about the opportunity to transform pet health and pet care data into meaningful insights. Skills - Data science and machine learning - Predictive modeling and statistical analysis - SQL, Python, and/or R - Data cleaning, normalization, and quality control - Data product development - Commercial analytics and data monetization - Executive-level storytelling and insight presentation - Privacy-aware and ethical data use - Cloud data platforms - Startup, new business unit, or PE-backed operating experience - Cross-functional collaboration Why Join Us - Join at the ground floor of a newly formed, PE-backed business unit. - Help build a new data platform in the pet health and pet services ecosystem. - Work on a commercially meaningful opportunity with the potential to shape a new category of pet health intelligence. - Build the data science foundation, analytical roadmap, and future data products from the beginning. - Operate with startup-like agility while benefiting from the backing of an established platform. - Help turn fragmented pet care data into insights, products, and long-term enterprise value. PERKS: - Health, vision, dental, long & short-term disability, and Life insurance - A Startup mentality company with stable funding - 401k match - Pet Care discounts - Flexible Time Off - Opportunity to grow your career with a network of like-minded professionals