Sr. Data Scientist, Performance

We are looking for an experienced data scientist to work on performance measurement initiatives. At Slack, performance is a table-stakes feature - it’s at the heart of the product experience. You will work primarily with the Foundations product team which builds and maintains the core product features that make Slack the place for teams to get work done. The Foundations team is responsible for the core user experiences within Slack such as writing messages, retrieving and organizing information, and bringing files into Slack.

In this highly cross-functional role, you will define how Slack measures the performance of key user experiences. You’ll work with product managers and designers to scope and prioritize key user interactions within Slack. You’ll also work with engineers on instrumentation of these measurements and build user-centric metrics from this data. You’ll be an org-level authority on the speed and responsiveness of our users’ experience.

Slack has a positive, diverse, and supportive culture—we look for people who are curious, inventive, and work to be a little better every single day. In our work together we aim to be smart, humble, hardworking and, above all, collaborative. If this sounds like a good fit for you, why not say hello?

What you will be doing

• Partner with key decision makers to define the standards by which Slack will measure performance for key user experiences
• Define standards of measurement (from log design to sampling techniques) that ensure Slack has appropriate strategies to measure the impact of targeted performance optimizations
• Apply various statistical methods to identify the most meaningful drivers of a user’s Slack performance and evaluate the efficacy of infrastructure optimizations
• Identify and clearly communicate potential opportunities to improve performance across all of Slack
• Bridge the gap between software instrumentation and user perceptions of Slack and build a powerful narrative around Slack’s efforts to improve user experience

What you should have

• 5+ years of data science or engineering experience doing quantitative analysis, with preferred experience examining user-facing software performance data
• An advanced degree (MS, PhD) in a quantitative field (e.g. Computer Science, Economics, Physics) a plus
• Expertise in at least one programming language for data analysis (e.g. Python, R, Scala)
• Knowledge of relevant statistical techniques (density estimation, reservoir sampling) in the area of distributed sampling
• Experience working with data technologies that allow analysis of large amounts of data (e.g. Spark, Presto, Hive, Hadoop, etc). Familiarity with Apache Airflow is a plus.
• Experience with statistical and machine learning methods to build descriptive and predictive models
• Plus: Experience with technologies that enable online analysis on distributed data (e.g. Honeycomb)
• Plus: Experience instrumenting large scale client and server-side logging for low latency applications

For Colorado-based roles: Minimum annual salary of $142,400*. This base pay is for illustrative purposes only. This position is eligible for additional compensation and benefits including: incentive compensation; health benefits; flexible spending account; retirement benefits; life insurance; commuter benefits; paid time off (including PTO, emergency time off, paid sick leave, medical leave, volunteer time off, civic duty leave, bereavement leave, floating holidays and paid holidays); parental leave and benefits; mobile phone and internet allowance; perks stipend; and other employee perks and benefits. *

The actual offer, reflecting the total compensation package and benefits, will be at the company’s sole discretion, and determined by a myriad of factors including, but not limited to, years of experience, depth of experience, and other relevant business considerations. The company also reserves the right to amend or modify employee perks and benefits at any time.

Slack is registered as an employer in many, but not all, states. If you are not located in or able to work from a state where Slack is registered, you will not be eligible for employment. Visa sponsorship may not be available in certain remote locations.

Visa sponsorship is not available for candidates living outside the country of this position.