VP of Data Science
Attain
Chicago, IL · Posted August 28, 2026
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Where Chicago, IL placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for government pay after cost of living$146k · of 18
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the Midwest684 jobs · of 51
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the Great Lakes684 jobs · of 36
- #1Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Midwest1,140 openings · of 59
- #1Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Great Lakes1,140 openings · of 48
- #1Best all-round cities for mid-career professionals in the Midwest80 / 100 · of 20
Rankings about data & analytics jobs
- Best cities for data and analytics jobs #1 New York (1,713 openings)
- Best cities for data and analytics pay after cost of living #1 Foster ($232k)
- Most requested AI skills in data and analytics jobs #1 Machine learning engineering (17.1%)
- AI tools named most often in data and analytics jobs #1 Databricks (7.6%)
- Employers with the most data and analytics jobs #1 Amazon (711 roles)
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Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
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About the job
About Attain
Built for consumers and companies, alike
In a world driven by data, we believe consumers and businesses can coexist. Our founders had a vision to empower consumers to leverage their greatest asset—their data—in exchange for modern financial services. Built with this vision in mind, our platform allows consumers to access savings tools, earned wages and rewards without cost or hidden fees. In exchange, they give permission to use their real-time data for research, insights and targeted advertising.
At Attain, your contribution will help us build a more equitable and efficient data sharing ecosystem—whether helping consumers access modern financial services or businesses leverage data to achieve better outcomes. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with hands-on leaders and mission-driven individuals everyday.
About the role
As Attain's VP of Data Science, you'll own the science behind our products, and be the person clients and partners trust when they want to stress-test our numbers. Attain's differentiation isn't just that we have data; it's that our methodologies are defensible. You'll set the standard for what "defensible" means and be comfortable being the one in the room when a sophisticated buyer or a partner's data science team wants a peek under the hood to understand how our products work.
This role reports into the SVP of Engineering and sits at the intersection of methodology, product, and client trust. You'll work closely with product, engineering, and ML teams on how we model and validate at scale, and just as closely with commercial teams on how that science shows up in front of clients.
You'll be a great fit for the role if
You have deep expertise in causal inference, incrementality, attribution, and media mix modeling, and the statistical grounding (Bayesian methods, experimental design) to defend it under pressure
You've worked hands-on with large-scale consumer datasets (transaction, purchase, panel, or identity data) and know the real tradeoffs in imputation, matching, coverage gaps, and bias correction
You've built your career in AdTech/MarTech, and have personally owned methodology in front of both internal and external stakeholders
You know how to be a strong advisor, not just a decision-maker; you can lay out every question, concern, and limitation on a product or methodology choice clearly enough to ensure there is no ambiguity in the decision-making process
You have excellent communication and presentation skills, and can move comfortably between a technical ML/engineering audience and a commercial/executive one, and you're credible with both
You'd rather disclose the limits of a model proactively than get caught defending it after the fact
You're excited to lead a team of data scientists who combine methodological depth with a product and client mindset
What a typical week will look like
Define and maintain the standards for how Attain measures impact, proves causality, and validates modeled data
Own the modeling behind our products, e.g. census balancing, attribution, audience targeting, incrementality, and the validation regimes that back them
Set and document the standard for how core calculations (attribution windows, touch-model methodology, ROAS conventions) are implemented consistently and defensibly, once Product has decided what those calculations should be
Represent Attain's methodology to both engineering and commercial stakeholders, and sometimes externally as well
Translate advanced methods into product decisions and business recommendations for commercial teams, and translate commercial pressure back into a realistic scientific roadmap
Partner closely with Engineering and ML leadership on modeling infrastructure and standards, without owning that infrastructure directly
Develop and lead our team of data scientists
Partner with and manage engagements with external consultants who bring domain-specific expertise
Preferred Qualifications
10+ years in data science within AdTech/MarTech, with 4+ years leading a team
Track record owning measurement science or methodology at a senior level in AdTech, MarTech, or a data-driven consumer platform
Advanced degree (MS/PhD/MBA) in economics, statistics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent demonstrated depth
Experience presenting and defending modeling approaches to external clients, partners, or regulators
Strong Python and modern ML/statistical tooling; comfortable operating on a cloud data stack
Experience building and scaling a data science team
Prior experience with panel-based or modeled/synthetic consumer data specifically is a strong plus
We are excited to hear from you.
At Attain, we are passionate about finding people to continuously help us grow our organization. We encourage you to apply, even if your experience doesn’t match every detail on the job description. If we don’t see something that immediately fits, we will keep your resume on file for future opportunities.