[Remote] Director, Data Science

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. PURE Insurance is a member-owned property and casualty insurer seeking a Director of Data Science to lead and professionalize their data science practice. The role involves architecting development standards, driving model development, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure the successful deployment of data science solutions.

Responsibilities

• Architect and enforce a cohesive development standard across the data science team — from exploratory analysis through experimentation, deployment, and ongoing monitoring — so that every model is built on a consistent, reusable foundation rather than in isolation
• Lead by example as a code-first practitioner, building modular, well-documented Python frameworks and tools that make it dramatically easier for the team to work in consistent patterns and extend prior work without reinventing it
• Drive experiments and model development with a “fit-for-deployment” mindset from day one — designing solutions in close partnership with Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, MLOps, IT, and business stakeholders so that what we build can and does make it into the front-end systems where underwriters, claims handlers, risk managers, and sales staff actually do their work
• Serve as a principal participant in our cross-functional tech lead forum, rapidly estimating effort, shaping high-level designs, and helping build a rigorous but lightweight prioritization and roadmap process — so IDEAS always knows what it could work on, what it should work on, and exactly what is in flight
• Establish clear success criteria, measurement frameworks, and monitoring standards for every model — both technical (drift, accuracy, bias) and business (KPI achievement, adoption) — because a deployed model that no one is watching isn’t really deployed
• Champion documentation-as-a-habit, not documentation-as-an-afterthought, and help embed that discipline across the team
• Mentor and elevate colleagues, including more junior data scientists, raising the bar on engineering standards, communication habits, and professional maturity across the team
• Collaborate deeply with Analytics Engineering to prototype Gold Layer data assets for new models and ensure that no model reaches production on anything less
• Manage competing priorities with clarity and transparency, helping ensure the team never quietly works on the wrong things and always surfaces tradeoffs early

Skills

• 8+ years of experience in applied, code-first data science and analytics within insurance or a closely adjacent industry (financial services, risk, or similar)
• Demonstrated success building and enforcing reusable ML frameworks and engineering standards across a team — Python modules, shared pipelines, consistent documentation patterns, and the discipline to maintain them
• Hands-on expertise in the full model lifecycle: from problem framing and data exploration through feature engineering, training, validation, deployment into production systems, and continuous monitoring
• A collaborative instinct — someone who genuinely enjoys working across Data Engineering, Analytics Engineering, MLOps, IT, and business partners to design solutions that are feasible, integrated, and lasting, rather than self-contained
• Experience in or strong appetite for structured cross-functional work — tech lead forums, lightweight CBAs, roadmap estimation, and the kind of prioritization rigor that keeps a team focused on the highest-value work
• Strong mentorship instincts, with a track record of raising the technical bar of the people around them — not by telling them what to do, but by building frameworks that make the right way the easy way
• The intellectual honesty to know when a model isn't ready — to not skip steps, not paper over gaps in the data, and not declare victory before the business is actually using what was built
• Familiarity with P&C insurance is strongly preferred but not required for the right candidate

Benefits

• Opportunities to stretch and grow: your professional and personal development matters to us. We’re committed to providing experiences through on-the-job learning and professional development that increase your impact and rewards.
• Clarity and kindness: you can rely on us to be open, honest and supportive, offering clarity on what success looks like.
• Support in good times and bad: we believe in showing up for each other consistently, not only when it’s easy. You can expect a thoughtful partner, even when we disagree.
• A community that cares: we are committed to sustaining a community in which each person feels cared for as an individual. We lift each other up, celebrate wins together and support one another through challenges in work and life.

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