Senior Applied Scientist, Thumbtack
Search & Matching
$180.6-275k
Salary may vary by loation.
Local services marketplace app
Be an early applicant
Local services marketplace app
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$180.6-275k
Salary may vary by loation.
1001+ employees
Company mission
Thumbtack's mission is to help homeowners care for their homes, all the way from minor retouching to fundamental remodelling projects.
Role
Who you are
- We're looking for applied scientists with deep expertise in machine learning, optimization, building data products, and/or statistics
- As part of a small product team you will have full ownership over your domain, so you should be a person who dreams big, then executes well
- We are looking for someone with deep expertise in applying scientific techniques to consumer products
- Expert knowledge of machine learning techniques, particularly as applied to search, ranking, and matching problems
- Experience with NLP techniques, including familiarity with modern LLM designs and tools
- Ability to effectively read, write, and debug code in programming languages such as Python
- Good knowledge of probability and statistics, including experimental design, optimization, and causal inference
- Experience with technical mentorship of other applied scientists
- Demonstrated ability to create and drive technical and impactful roadmaps for the business, and lead seamless execution
- Ability to break down complex problems rigorously and understand the tradeoffs necessary to deliver impactful projects
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively to cross functional partners of various technical levels
What the job involves
- At Thumbtack, the Applied Science team is responsible for a wide variety of problems spanning machine learning, statistics, and computer science, including:
- Improving customer and service provider matching
- Matching and optimization algorithms are fundamental to Thumbtack’s product: we now service millions of matches per week
- Identifying better matches between customers and service providers has an incredible impact on the experience of customers and professionals transacting on our platform
- Modeling complex relationships in the presence of many confounding factors
- Predictive modeling problems are everywhere across our product
- Our team works to scope, design and implement machine learning models to support Thumbtack’s product and marketing
- Characterizing marketplace dynamics
- Thumbtack’s marketplaces consist of thousands of active markets across our service categories and U.S. cities
- Via exploratory data analysis and experimental design, our team works to understand trends and behaviors within these markets
- Building a healthy marketplace
- We evolve and manage the monetization mechanics of our marketplace, including defining the parameters that affect the prices we charge
- This person will work on our search experience, our ranking and matching algorithms, and the end-to-end hiring experience for users of our marketplace
- We need to bring homeowners and service professionals together in matches that work for both sides, where the skills of professionals match with the project needs of homeowners, and where scheduling and pricing align to make these successful jobs done
- We need to make the most of all the information we know about projects and professionals in a seamless user experience that guides and informs homeowners
- You'll initiate and drive applied science initiatives to completion, with a focus on the business impact of those projects
- Architect and deploy machine learning systems and algorithms to production
- Design and execute experiments, collect and analyze data to characterize our product and marketing
- Analyze a wide variety of data: structured and unstructured, observational and experimental
- Collaborate with engineers, data scientists, and economists to use sound statistical practices
- Maintain the right balance between speed of execution and scientific rigor when designing solutions
- Technical mentorship of other applied scientists
Our take
ThumbTack is a local services marketplace app that pairs customers with skilled professionals. Instead of simply searching for a professional, users provide ThumbTack with details of the job they need completing and the professionals then pitch their services to the potential customer using credits. ThumbTack makes its money by charging the professional for these credits.
It positions itself as something a little different in a saturated local services space that is dominated by companies like Angie’s List, TaskRabbit, Yelp, eBay, and Amazon. It also focuses on a broad range of professionals, from traditional home services like electricians and painters to photographers, personal trainers, and birthday party magicians.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a boost in business for ThumbTack as more people stayed at home and made changes to their properties, increasing the demand for home professionals. In fact, after 2019, the company doubled in value to $3.2 billion with its 2021 raise. Now its updated app has 30 new features, and the company is partnering with the likes of trade-powering platform and Unicorn ServiceTitan, indicating Thumbtack's sustained sway in the market.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-5% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Jun 2021
$275m
LATE VC
Jul 2019
$150m
SERIES F
Total funding: $699.4m
Company benefits
- Parental leave
- Health insurance
- Community matters | Sure, our ways of connecting have changed. But we haven’t missed a beat, from virtual concerts to “TTversary” celebrations to weekly catch-ups
- Always be improving | We bring out the best in our colleagues — and our product — by pushing each beyond what we believe we’re capable of. We give honest feedback, even when it’s hard
- Wellness is a way of life | We promote balance with generous PTO and company-wide holidays — and find our centers every Wellness Wednesday with yoga featuring a Thumbtack pro
- A worthy mission | In a world where tech is often seen as eroding good jobs, we’re helping small business owners thrive. Our product makes entrepreneurship accessible to everyone
- Driven by our values | Our values are the compass by which we make all our decisions. Each one matters: Lead with why, Make it count, Own it, Choose teamwork, and Say what you mean
- Plus, amazing benefits | All the benefits you’d expect, plus a few more: generous parental and fertility benefits, $1800 for Thumbtack services per year and a $1200 remote work stipend
- Virtual-first working model coupled with quarterly in-person events and Camp Thumbtack
- 20+ company-wide holidays including two week-long shutdowns
- Libraries (collaborative workspaces) in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, and Manila
- Cell phone and WiFi reimbursements
- Subscriptions and Employee Assistance Program for mental health and well-being
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Marco Zappacosta
(CEO)Having studied at Columbia University, Marco co-founded Thumbtack in August 2008. He has served as CEO since January 2009.
Jonathan Swanson
(Chairman)Jonathan started his career creating financial market reports for the White House before co-founding Thumbtack in 2008. Currently Founder at Powerset and Athena.
Share this job
View 9 more jobs at Thumbtack