Head of Data, Octave
$239.3-280k
Actual salary range is dependent on location. Offers equity in the form of stock options and an annual bonus for all
More information about location
Specialized therapy, coaching & workshops
Be an early applicant
Specialized therapy, coaching & workshops
501-1000 employees
Be an early applicant
$239.3-280k
Actual salary range is dependent on location. Offers equity in the form of stock options and an annual bonus for all
More information about location
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To create a new standard for mental health care that's both accessible to people and sustainable for providers.
Role
Who you are
- 8+ years of experience in data analytics/data science, with 4+ years in a leadership role scaling teams and delivering cross-functional impact
- Expertise with analytics reporting and data platforms Tableau, SQL, Adverity
- Fluency in SQL and Python; experience with modern data stacks (e.g. BigQuery, dbt, Metabase, Mixpanel)
- Proven leadership experience overseeing multi-disciplinary data teams (engineering, analytics, science)
- Track record of hiring and scaling teams at high-growth startups or scale-ups
- Experience shipping ML/AI solutions into production with measurable business impact
- Strong technical background: modern data stacks (dbt, Snowflake, Airflow), programming (Python, SQL), ML/AI frameworks
- Strategic thinker who can roll up sleeves when needed
- Excellent communication skills and ability to ‘translate’ between the data and the business via layman’s terminology of complex analytical methods to deliver a clear story to influence your recommendations with data and insights
- Established track record of building and leading high-performing data teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and knowledge sharing; strong desire to lead and grow the team’s expertise and leadership skills
- Self-motivated to work with diverse business scenarios, handle multiple priorities, and have a business & consultancy mindset while being technically (data) savvy
- Advanced modeling techniques, strategic analysis skills, and understanding of SaaS metrics
- Proven ability to drive business intelligence initiatives across the full data stack, from automated pipelines (Fivetran, dbt, Coalesce) through warehouses (Snowflake, ClickHouse, Databricks) to visualization tools (Sigma, Power BI, Tableau, Hex); ensuring organizational data integrity and strategic insight generation
- In-depth understanding of modern data governance, security, and compliance best practices, with the ability to balance data accessibility with data integrity for data-driven projects
- Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to frequently communicate with others through virtual meeting applications such as Zoom and Google Meet
- Must be able to observe and communicate information on company provided laptop
- Move up to 10 pounds on occasion
What the job involves
- As Head of Data, you will own our end-to-end data function: analytics, data engineering, and data science
- You will set the vision and roadmap for how we use data and AI/ML across the company, ensure our infrastructure is reliable and scalable, and lead the development of product- and business-facing AI applications
- This role is both strategic and operational: you’ll partner with executives to shape company direction, while also ensuring your teams deliver reliable pipelines, actionable insights, and production-ready models
- You’ll also be a team builder, responsible for developing current talent and hiring externally to close skill gaps in critical areas like advanced data science, ML engineering, and data governance
- Develops, coordinates, and implements systems, policies, procedures, and productivity standards
- Provide leadership and guidance to the team, ensuring the achievement of goals and objectives
- Foster a positive and collaborative work environment
- Oversee the planning, execution, and completion of projects and initiatives within the team
- Establish and monitor operational processes and workflows to enhance efficiency and productivity
- Streamline operational processes, enhance efficiency, and improve overall organizational performance
- Implement best practices, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), and develop strategies to achieve operational excellence
- Ensures a safe, secure, and compliant work environment
- Accomplishes staff results by communicating job expectations; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results
- Build and manage a high-performing team, including hiring, training, and development
- Provide leadership to the team, including setting goals, providing guidance, and ensuring the team's overall success
- Set performance expectations and goals for team members. Conduct regular performance evaluations, provide feedback, and address performance issues
- Identify skill gaps within the team and develop strategies for filling those gaps. Support employee development through training, mentoring, and coaching. Identify high-potential employees and create succession plans
- Define and drive the company-wide data & AI/ML vision, aligned with business and product strategy
- Partner with executives across Product, Engineering, Growth, and Finance to ensure data informs key decisions and creates competitive advantage
- Evangelize data culture — making data and AI central to how we operate and build
- Oversee pipelines, warehouse, and infrastructure for reliability, observability, and scale
- Establish a single source of truth for KPIs and reporting
- Implement governance for data quality, security, and compliance
- Lead analytics team to deliver insights that drive product, growth, and operations
- Scale self-serve analytics adoption while maintaining consistency and quality
- Build frameworks for experimentation (A/B testing, causal inference)
- Launch and scale high-impact AI/ML initiatives, from pilots to production
- Build the foundation for ML operations: monitoring, retraining pipelines, feature store
- Ensure responsible AI practices around bias, fairness, and explainability
- Explore emerging AI capabilities (LLMs, generative AI) to keep us ahead of the curve
- Lead, mentor, and develop a growing team of analysts, engineers, and scientists
- Identify gaps and hire externally for critical expertise (e.g., ML engineers, senior scientists)
- Define career ladders and growth paths to retain and motivate top talent
- Build the company’s reputation as a top destination for data and AI talent
- This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice
Our take
With roughly 50 million adults suffering from mental illness in the United States, a new generation of startups are aiming to help people ease conditions like depression, grief, anxiety, and stress, by increasing access to mental health care.
Octave is one of these companies, classing itself as a national behavioral health practice. It offers therapy, coaching, and group classes both virtually and through in-person sessions, with virtual services available in a number of US states. And because of its strong relationship with insurance providers, 96% of Octave clients use insurance, making mental health care more accessible and affordable for a wider range of individuals.
In just a short time, Octave has experienced impressive growth, tripling the number of clients it serves by transitioning its in-person offerings online and launching an exclusive virtual therapy and coaching practice. This continued success is driven by strategic partnerships and an expanding network, with a clear focus on growth.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
90% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)
Feb 2024
$5m
LATE VC
May 2023
$52m
SERIES C
Total funding: $125.3m
Company benefits
- Company-sponsored life insurance
- Disability and AD&D plans
- 401k Retirement
- Medical, dental and vision
- FSA & HSA
- Dependent care and commuter/parking options
- Generous PTO
- Paid parental leave
Company HQ
Yerba Buena, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Sandeep Acharya
(Founder & CEO)Obtained an MBA from Harvard and then joined Bain as a Senior Associate Consultant. Eventually became VP of Bain Capital, and was also VP of Strategy at One Medical Group.
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