Staff Data Scientist - AI & Intelligence Systems
Search Atlas
San Francisco, California
Turn Data Into Decisions. Build Models That Ship. Lead the Science.
Location: San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)
The Opportunity
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.
We're not building dashboards. We're building the intelligence layer that replaces them.
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.
Why this matters: We're bootstrapped and profitable. Every model you ship impacts our bottom line immediately. No VC pressure, no vanity metrics.
What You'll Own
You'll lead data science for one of three core systems:
Predictive SEO Intelligence Forecast rankings, predict algorithm shifts, and identify optimization opportunities before competitors. Build time-series models that process terabytes of crawl data.
Agent Decision Systems Power autonomous agent behavior through reinforcement learning, multi-armed bandits, and reward modeling. Your models decide what actions agents take and learn from outcomes.
Content & Entity Intelligence NLP systems for semantic analysis, entity extraction, content quality scoring, and generative optimization. Make LLMs production-reliable at scale.
Your First Year
Month 1-2: Deep dive into our data architecture (ClickHouse, streaming pipelines). Ship first optimization to existing models.
Month 3-6: Lead design of new ML system. Define research agenda. Mentor junior team members.
Month 6-12: Own strategic ML roadmap. Influence product direction. Establish technical standards for the data science org.
We ship continuously, but we don't sacrifice rigor for speed.
The Work
Production ML Systems
Build models serving millions of predictions/day with <100ms latency.
Own full lifecycle: feature engineering, training, validation, A/B testing, drift monitoring.
Design experiments that measure revenue impact, not just accuracy.
Data Architecture
Architect pipelines for terabyte-scale datasets (ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, streaming).
Build evaluation frameworks that catch degradation before customers do.
Research Leadership
Define what we predict and optimize. Your scientific judgment sets priorities.
Mentor data scientists and ML engineers through code review and research review.
Translate complex methodologies into clear business impact for leadership.
AI-Native Workflow
Leverage Claude Code, Copilot, and custom agents to accelerate research.
Build internal tools that democratize data science across the company.
Who You Are
7+ years applied data science, with 3+ years shipping production ML systems.
Deep Python fluency: NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, PyTorch or TensorFlow.
SQL at scale: Complex queries against terabyte datasets, query optimization.
ML Engineering mindset: Feature stores, model serving, A/B testing, monitoring, drift detection.
AI-native workflow: You use AI coding tools to accelerate research and automate analysis.
Scientific communication: You explain complex methodologies to executives with clarity.
Research leadership: You've mentored others, defined research agendas, shipped cross-functional projects.
Bonus: NLP/LLM expertise, SEO/search domain knowledge, reinforcement learning, published research, Kaggle/GitHub presence.
Our Stack
ML/Data: Python, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, NumPy, Pandas.
Data Infrastructure: ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, Redis, Feature Stores.
MLOps: Model serving, A/B testing frameworks, drift monitoring, experiment tracking.
AI Tools: Claude Code, Copilot, custom research agents.
Scale: Terabytes of search data, millions of daily predictions, sub-100ms inference.
Compensation & Benefits
Base Salary: $280,000 – $360,000 (experience-dependent).
Health: 100% medical (Aetna), 99% dental/vision.
Time Off: Unlimited PTO, paid parental leave.
Additional: 401(k) via Deel, pet insurance, flexible wellness stipend.
How We Work
Hybrid in San Francisco
2-3 days/week in-office for deep collaboration and whiteboarding
Flexible remote days for focused research and coding
Our Rhythm
Weekly model releases, continuous research, constant measurement.
End-to-end ownership: you build it, you ship it, you monitor it.
Direct access to founders and executive team.
Our Culture
Autonomy: We hire experts and trust them to make decisions.
Impact: Every model connects to business outcomes.
Craft: We value scientific rigor and elegant engineering.
About Search Atlas
We build autonomous marketing software for Fortune 500s and high-growth startups:
OTTO SEO - Fully autonomous technical optimization
Content Genius - Semantic AI content generation
Site Explorer - Real-time search intelligence
BrandVault - AI-driven knowledge graphs
GBP Galactic - Local SEO automation
Smart Ads - Autonomous PPC management
Recognition: Inc. 5000, Nevada's #1 Small Business Workplace, Great Place to Work Certified
$32M ARR. Bootstrapped. Profitable. Growing fast.
Search Atlas is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.
No cover letters. No generic applications. Just evidence of scientific craft.
Search Atlas is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members.