AI / Data Science Lead

Block is a renovation platform transforming the $450 billion renovation industry. Our mission is to enable millions of homeowners to create spaces they love and thousands of contractors to build thriving businesses. We're well on our way, serving customers coast to coast with our technology platform and contractor network. We're using the latest in data science and AI to help our users design their spaces and manage their projects.

We are seeking an entrepreneurial data scientist to lead our applied AI/ML efforts that power our most innovative products. This person will report directly to the Chief Product Officer and work closely with product, engineering, and operations to help us improve existing features and launch new 0 to 1 products. They'll leverage a scientific approach to build, evaluate, and refine our models (including LLM/Diffusion models) that ultimately help us deliver on our mission and grow our business.

Responsibilities include:

• Leading Block's data science and AI efforts as subject matter expert
• Leading model and prompt design, evaluation, and optimization; including leveraging both third party AI models as well as developing proprietary models over time
• Partnering with product, design, and software engineering colleagues to build and launch user facing products harnessing our AI/ML capabilities
• Collaborating with leadership to translate business goals into technical solutions
• Assisting with our AI and LLM Ops infrastructure to support research, development, deployment and scaling efforts
• Informing and advising on our data strategy and the implementation of our data layer to collect actionable data

Required skills and qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Applied Data Science or related technical or scientific field.
• 4+ years of data science experience, building, deploying, and optimizing models in production
• Experience in defining processes and ML Ops best practices for deploying, improving, and scaling our models in production
• Excellent communications skills and ability to collaborate with cross-functional leadership
• Preference for experience in early stage product development, building systems and teams from the ground up
• Industry experience not required; but preference for experience working in the domains of construction, home improvement, and/or home services
• Comfort with ambiguity paired with a desire to dream big and invent

This is a full-time position reporting to the Chief Product Officer. Preference will be given to candidates who are enthusiastic to work a hybrid schedule based in our Brooklyn, NY office.

Block wants all employees to be supported in their personal and professional development, so we take a comprehensive approach to compensation and benefits. The initial annual salary for this position is expected to range from $170,000 - $200,000. Actual compensation will depend on numerous factors such as: experience, knowledge and skills, qualifications, location, and other job-related factors.

To further support your growth, Block offers the following:

• Earn equity in the company
• Subsidized health insurance, including dental and vision coverage
• 12 weeks universal fully paid family leave
• Competitive PTO and company holidays
• 401k retirement savings plan with matching employer contribution
• HSA with employer contribution & FSA plans
• Employee discount on renovation services
• Budgeted learning and development stipends
• Working alongside an ambitious, kind, no-drama team

Block is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in all its forms, and we encourage our employees to participate as their authentic selves in our work environment. We strive to build better for all, towards a more open, inclusive space. Come as you are.