Director of Data Science, Pinterest
Ads Measurement & Attribution
$226.6-466.6k
+ Equity
More information about location
1-2 days a week in office
Visual bookmarking tool for saving & discovering creative ideas
Open for applications
Visual bookmarking tool for saving & discovering creative ideas
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$226.6-466.6k
+ Equity
More information about location
1-2 days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
To bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love.
Role
Who you are
- 10+ years of experience in data science, statistics, or applied ML, with substantial time in ads measurement, attribution, or experimentation at scale
- 5+ years leading DS teams, including managing managers and senior ICs; proven track record of building high-performing, inclusive teams
- Demonstrated success driving cross-functional impact with Product, Engineering, Sales, and Legal/Privacy
- Exceptional communication skills—able to explain complex methods to executives and customers and to translate business needs into scientific work
- Strong foundation in causal inference and experimentation (A/B testing, geo experiments, quasi-experimental designs, variance reduction)
- Hands-on experience with attribution and calibration (rule-based and data-driven MTA, counterfactual estimation, aggregation and identity challenges)
- Familiarity with MMM and triangulation approaches that reconcile MMM, MTA, and lift tests
- Proficiency in Python or R; strong SQL; comfort reviewing production code and collaborating with platform/ML engineers
- Experience with privacy-centric measurement: clean rooms, aggregation frameworks, differential privacy, on-device/edge signals, and privacy regulations
- Evidence of turning science into durable, scalable products with clear customer value
- Fluency in metric design, north-star definitions, and guardrails that align with advertiser outcomes
- Experience with ad platforms, retail media, or e-commerce measurement
- Knowledge of identity resolution, SKAN/ATT, and browser privacy changes
- Publications or talks in causal inference, experimentation, or ads measurement
- Advanced degree in Statistics, Econometrics, CS, or related quantitative field
What the job involves
- As the Director of Data Science for Ads Measurement & Attribution, you will set the vision and lead the science strategy behind how advertisers understand the value of Pinterest
- You’ll own the roadmap for causal measurement, attribution, and incrementality—spanning first- and third-party solutions, experiment design (including incrementality studies), and model innovation that is privacy-safe and aligned with evolving industry standards
- You’ll grow and lead a high-performing team of data scientists and analysts, partner tightly with Eng and Product, and represent Pinterest science externally with customers and the ecosystem
- Define and drive the end-to-end science strategy for ads measurement and attribution across on-platform, off-platform, and partner surfaces
- Establish a coherent framework that integrates incrementality testing, causal inference, calibrated attribution, MMM, and geo experimentation
- Champion privacy-centric methodologies (e.g., clean rooms, aggregation, differential privacy, conversion modeling under signal loss)
- Lead the design and governance of lift studies where merchants run A/B tests to estimate lift and guide investment decisions
- Build standardized experiment design patterns, power calculators, guardrails, and experiment-quality diagnostics
- Develop causal estimators (e.g., CUPED, DR/DML, synthetic controls) and variance reduction techniques to improve sensitivity and speed to signal
- Evolve our multi-touch and data-driven attribution approaches to be durable with cookie deprecation, ATT, SKAN, and cross-device fragmentation
- Partner with Eng to productionize calibrated models that reconcile observational and experimental evidence; define success metrics and calibration protocols
- Advance conversion modeling, identity-resilient matching, and probabilistic methods where deterministic signals are sparse
- Partner with Product and Engineering to shape the measurement product roadmap; translate science into advertiser-facing solutions and clear narratives
- Collaborate with Sales, Marketing Science, and Partnerships to position our methods with advertisers and measurement partners
- Engage with Legal/Privacy to ensure compliance and responsible AI practices across data usage and modeling
- Hire, lead, and mentor a diverse team of DS managers and senior ICs; foster a culture of scientific rigor, reproducibility, and impact
- Set standards for code quality, experimentation hygiene, documentation, and peer review across the DS org
- Represent Pinterest science in customer briefings, industry forums, and with third-party measurement partners and clean-room providers
- Contribute to publications, whitepapers, and internal tech talks that raise the scientific bar
Our take
Inspiration and ideas can pop into your head at any time, and with the growth of social media and networking, sharing these interests and gaining exposure has never been easier. Pinterest exists to display these moments visually, as a kind of digital pinboard allowing users to save and share digital images which have inspired them.
Pinterest's emphasis on visual discovery has differentiated it from competitors and created a more positive and fulfilling experience for its users. Pinterest in many ways provides a respite from the ceaseless negativity that plagues social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and this is perhaps responsible for its userbase expanding to 450 million users in 2022, driven by uptake mostly outside of North America.
Pinterest has not been immune to woes affecting the global tech sector and made about 5% of its workforce redundant at the end of 2022 and the start of 2023. Having restructured to face a challenging climate, it is well-positioned to resume its growth, which has increased consistently year on year. Its immediate goals are to continue to grow its user base and expand the uptake of its short video product, which it aims to monetize.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
9% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Ben Silbermann
(CEO)Worked as a Product Specialist at Google for 2 years before leaving to work on his own apps, which led to founding Pinterest
Salary benchmarks
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