Develops machine learning models and production data science pipelines to improve subscription conversion, content recommendations, user understanding, workflow automation, and product decisions. Leads analytical projects and experiments, applies statistical methods to web-scale data, and collaborates with data, product, growth, and engineering teams. The role also communicates complex findings to diverse audiences and helps foster a strong data science culture.
About Us
Powered by one of the largest global newsrooms in sports media, The Athletic brings sports fans the most comprehensive stories about the teams, sports and athletes they love. The Athletic’s newsroom of 500+ full-time staff delivers in-depth coverage of hundreds of professional and college teams across more than 47 North American markets and all 20 football clubs in the English Premier League, as well as many Championship clubs.
We are looking for a data scientist who will bring a deep understanding of our sportswriting, our in-game experience, and the way our subscribers use The Athletic to help us make our best-in-class product even better. In this role, you will work closely with our data, product, growth, and engineering teams to develop advanced machine learning models. These models will help us understand our business, optimize and automate our workflows, and have our product make smarter recommendations. As a member of our data science team, your work will have a significant impact at The Athletic.
This role is 100% remote for candidates currently based in the United States or Canada.
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and implement mathematical models to drive key long-term product goals, like training a model that predicts which of our free users are most likely to subscribe, or recommending the right articles to the right users at the right time.
- Lead projects with hands-on analysis and modeling, drawing from multiple analytical methods to choose the right tool and right level of complexity appropriate for the job.
- Use quantitative analysis to deeply understand what our users are saying, and to develop recommendations based on that analysis.
- Design and develop data science pipelines in production.
- Guide complex experiments.
- Cultivate an outstanding data science environment.
Requirements
- 2-4 years of experience as a data scientist or data analyst with a proven ability to apply scientific methods to solve real-world problems on web scale data.
- A strong working knowledge of Python and how to use it to train machine learning models and put them into production.
- A solid understanding of SQL with an ability to efficiently pull and write to our data warehouses.
- An understanding of subscription media and recommendation engines, with the ability to turn it into insights and optimizations.
- Knowledge of statistical principles and how they apply to predictive modeling.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills with ability to build cross-functional relationships.
- Can explain sophisticated concepts to diverse audiences and craft compelling stories with data.
The annual base salary range for this role is $125,000.00 - $145,000.00 USD. The total compensation offered for this position may vary based on factors such as education, experience, skills, and location. It may also include non-cash rewards and benefits. The base salary range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.
For roles in the U.S., dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.
For roles outside of the U.S., information on benefits will be provided during the interview process.
We are excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process. If you are a candidate for a technical role, we will let you know what specific tools you are permitted to use for your technical assessment.
The Athletic Media Company is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically encourages people from all backgrounds and experiences to apply. The Athletic will consider all applicants without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical and/or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.
Click here to review our Applicant Privacy Notice, which describes how and when The Athletic Media Company collects, uses, and shares certain personal information of job applicants and prospective employees.
Beware of fraudulent job recruiting schemes! Our recruiters use [email protected] exclusively, and our team members will use an email address with @theathletic.com domain. We do not conduct interviews via text or instant message and we do not ask candidates to download software, to purchase equipment through us, or to provide sensitive personally identifiable information, such as bank accounts or social security numbers. If you have been contacted by someone claiming to be a member of the recruiting/HR team at The Athletic but operating from a different email address about a job offer, please report it as potential job fraud to the law enforcement and to [email protected].
Similar Jobs
Artificial Intelligence • Big Data • Healthtech • Information Technology • Machine Learning • Software • Analytics
Build and support an advocate performance data platform using scalable pipelines, semantic models, governed metrics, and machine learning capabilities. Develop AI-ready data products, integrate operational and coaching data, establish data quality and lineage controls, and enable near-real-time performance insights. Deploy and maintain production ML solutions through MLOps, automation, monitoring, and CI/CD while collaborating with and mentoring technical teams.
Top Skills:
Ci/CdDatabricksDelta LakeGithub ActionsInfrastructure-As-CodeKafkaMlflowMlopsPysparkPythonSnowflakeSparkSpark Declarative PipelinesSQL
.jpg){kind=logo}
Healthtech • Social Impact • Software • Telehealth
Own product analytics for a healthcare platform by translating business questions into research plans, uncovering insights, modeling feature impacts, defining success criteria, and leading A/B testing. Partner with Product, Data Engineering, Finance, Clinical, and Operations teams to influence roadmap decisions, improve provider experience and quality, and optimize marketplace performance.
Top Skills:
A/B TestingAirflowDbtHexLookerPythonRTableau
Artificial Intelligence • Big Data • Healthtech • Information Technology • Machine Learning • Software • Analytics
Leads Responsible AI data science initiatives by developing and validating AI testing protocols, automating analyses with Python, identifying PII and PHI vulnerabilities, and designing red-team scenarios for conversational AI. The role documents responsible AI practices, supports governance and regulatory compliance, communicates findings to legal, compliance, and technical stakeholders, and mentors colleagues. It requires expertise across traditional machine learning, generative AI, agentic techniques, AI ethics, fairness, and the full AI lifecycle.
Top Skills:
Adversarial TestingAgentic AiAi GovernanceConversational AiGenerative AiLarge Language ModelsPhiPiiPrompt EngineeringPythonResponsible AiSpeech-To-TextTraditional Machine Learning
What you need to know about the Boston Tech Scene
Boston is a powerhouse for technology innovation thanks to world-class research universities like MIT and Harvard and a robust pipeline of venture capital investment. Host to the first telephone call and one of the first general-purpose computers ever put into use, Boston is now a hub for biotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence — though it’s also home to several B2B software giants. So it’s no surprise that the city consistently ranks among the greatest startup ecosystems in the world.
Key Facts About Boston Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 269,000; 9.4% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Toast, Klaviyo, HubSpot, DraftKings
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, software, aerospace
- Funding Landscape: $15.7 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Summit Partners, Volition Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, MassVentures, Highland Capital Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: MIT, Harvard University, Boston College, Tufts University, Boston University, Northeastern University, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, National Bureau of Economic Research, Broad Institute, Lowell Center for Space Science & Technology, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories
