$137,300–$251,800 Per Year
Analysis Skills, Apache Spark, Best Practices, Career Counseling, Computer Science, Cross-Functional, Data Analysis, Data Science, Economics, Industry/Trade Analysis, Leadership, Machine Learning, Machine Tool, Mathematics, Mentoring, Metrics, Operations Research, Quality Assurance, Quality Engineering, Quality Management, Statistical Modeling, Statistics, Technical Leadership, Technical Strategy, Technical/Engineering Design
We are looking for a Lead Staff Data Scientist to join the Marketplace Quality Engineering (MQE) team. MQE is a cross-functional team responsible for the integrity, performance, and trustworthiness of The Trade Desk's inventory marketplace. We build systems that detect and prevent fraud, measure and improve inventory quality, and optimize marketplace dynamics to deliver better outcomes for advertisers, publishers, and consumers.
In this role,you willprovide technical and strategic leadershipwithin MQE bydefiningdata scienceroadmap and execution plans, owningend-to-enddevelopment ofadvanced modeling, analytical,and measurement systems,
and partnering closely with engineering, product, and business leaders to translate complexrequirementsinto trusted, scalable solutions.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
Technical Ownership
- Own the data science vision and roadmap forMQEinitiatives, aligningtechnical direction with strategic goals and industry trends.
- Design, build, andproductionizestatistical and machine learning models to detect fraud, invalid traffic, and low-quality inventory in adversarial, large-scale environments.
- Define andmaintainmetrics, experimentationprocedures, and monitoring systems to ensure long-term performance.
- Develop analytical and explainability frameworks that provide clear visibility into how quality initiatives impact inventory supply, advertiser spend, and marketplace dynamics.
Cross-Functional Impact
- Collaborate withproduct andbusiness stakeholders to translate analytical insights into clear, defensible decisions and marketplace enforcement strategies.
- Partner closely with engineering to deploy scalable, performant models.
- Anticipate emerging marketplace risks and proactively develop data-driven solutions to protect marketplace integrity.
Leadership & Mentorship
- Act as a staff-level technical leader, setting standards for analytical rigor, model evaluation, and scientific best practices across MQE.
- Mentor and develop data scientists through design reviews, technical guidance, and career coaching.
- Influence technical direction across teams by driving alignment, knowledge sharing, and a culture of high-quality decision-making.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
- Advanced degree (MS or PhD)in a quantitative field such as Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, Applied Math, Operations Research, or similar.
- 7+ years of experience working in a DS role that involvesbringing products from ideation to production.
- Deepexpertisein statistical modeling, machine learning, and large-scale data analysis.
- Strong understanding of experimentation, causal inference, and metric design in complex systems.
- Familiarity with large-scale data and ML tooling (e.g.Spark, distributed training, real-time inference systems).