Senior Data Scientist, Payment Risk

Company Description

Since we opened our doors in 2009, the world of commerce has evolved immensely, and so has Square. After enabling anyone to take payments and never miss a sale, we saw sellers stymied by disparate, outmoded products and tools that wouldn’t work together.

So we expanded into software and started building integrated, omnichannel solutions – to help sellers sell online, manage inventory, offer buy now, pay later functionality through Afterpay, book appointments, engage loyal buyers, and hire and pay staff. Across it all, we’ve embedded financial services tools at the point of sale, so merchants can access a business loan and manage their cash flow in one place. Afterpay furthers our goal to provide omnichannel tools that unlock meaningful value and growth, enabling sellers to capture the next generation shopper, increase order sizes, and compete at a larger scale.

Today, we are a partner to sellers of all sizes – large, enterprise-scale businesses with complex operations, sellers just starting, as well as merchants who began selling with Square and have grown larger over time. As our sellers grow, so do our solutions. There is a massive opportunity in front of us. We’re building a significant, meaningful, and lasting business, and we are helping sellers worldwide do the same.

Job Description

We are looking for a Data Scientist to join our Risk Data Science and Analytics Team. You will improve our risk controls through advanced statistical and analytical techniques. You will also manage core operational metrics, advise senior stakeholders on Risk controls, and build processes to root out high-risk activity across the Square platform of products. 

The Risk Data Scientist will identify and prevent fraud on our most valuable sellers. You will lead experiments at scale to protect our diverse ecosystem of sellers from sophisticated bad actors. You will have a chance to own the key metrics, develop data and ETL pipelines. You will also directly impact our key success metrics via building machine learning solutions and risk detection rule development and deployment. Furthermore, you will partner with product, engineering, operations, policies, and sales to influence Square’s global Buyer Fraud road map and procedures. 

You Will:

• Diagnose problems and develop compelling, data-driven recommendations

• Design and implement experiments on features and changes within the Risk domain

• Develop and maintain multiple data pipelines and ETLs

• Partner with Product, Engineering, and operation teams to design solutions to business problems, influence product roadmaps, and solution new products/processes

• Experiment with machine learning tools to develop data-driven solutions.

• Promote creative risk solutions through third-party evaluation and integration with a focus on improving the seller experience

• Develop executive presentations for Square’s leadership

Qualifications

• A BS/BA in Statistics, Mathematics, Operations Research, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics, or a related quantitative/technical field

• 8+ years of relevant experience (or masters and 6+ years)

• Experience with SQL, Python, and Looker

• Strong statistics knowledge, especially in experimentation, hypothesis testing, and causal inference 

• Experience with machine learning model development

• Experience driving data-driven solutions and project-managing their implementation

• Experience answering unstructured questions and managing projects and tasks to a conclusion

• A passion for Square’s mission

• Experience in risk, trust and safety, payments, or spam prevention

Additional Information

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: USD $171,800 – USD $257,600
Zone B: USD $163,200 – USD $244,800
Zone C: USD $154,600 – USD $232,000
Zone D: USD $146,000 – USD $219,000

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this salary-zones”>resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information. 

Full-time employee benefits include the following:

• Healthcare coverage (Medical, Vision and Dental insurance)
• Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Plans including company match 
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness programs, including access to mental health, 1:1 financial planners, and a monthly wellness allowance 
• Paid parental and caregiving leave
• Paid time off (including 12 paid holidays)
• Paid sick leave (1 hour per 26 hours worked (max 80 hours per calendar year to the extent legally permissible) for non-exempt employees and covered by our Flexible Time Off policy for exempt employees) 
• Learning and Development resources
• Paid Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits 

These benefits are further detailed in Block’s policies. This role is also eligible to participate in Block’s equity plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies, and may be eligible for a sign-on bonus. Sales roles may be eligible to participate in a commission plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

US and Canada EEOC Statement

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. 

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Additionally, we consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, and always assess candidates on an individualized basis.

We’ve noticed a rise in recruiting impersonations across the industry, where individuals are sending fake job offer emails. Contact from any of our recruiters or employees will always come from an email address ending with @block.xyz, @squareup.com, @tidal.com, or @afterpay.com, @clearpay.co.uk.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

While there is no specific deadline to apply for this role, on average, U.S. open roles are posted for 70 days before being filled by a successful candidate.