Founding Data Scientist

About the role

About Us

We're living through a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products. The next generation doesn't respond to traditional marketing -- they build relationships with brands through authentic social interactions, seek recommendations from communities they trust, and expect personalized experiences that feel human, not corporate.

At Nectar, we're building the AI-native social operating system that enables this new era of commerce. We believe every social interaction should deepen the relationship between brands and their communities while creating genuine value for both sides.

Founded by ex-Meta product and engineering leaders, we've raised over $30M in total capital from investors including GV and True Ventures. We work with brands like Oura Health, Caraway, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Kosas, OLIPOP, and many more. We're building the future of social commerce -- where community, conversation, and commerce converge.

Role Overview

As our First Dedicated Data Science Hire, you will have massive scope, high ownership, and direct influence on the future of social commerce. You will work directly with our engineering and product teams to translate vast, unstructured datasets, including full-spectrum Reddit networks, Meta creator ecosystems, and campaign data, into core product features and proprietary industry standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Product-Driven Data Science: Own core analytics features, including building our next-generation Earned Media Value (EMV) metric, multi-touch attribution modeling, and deep commerce platform integrations.

• Data foundations: Partner with Engineering to improve how our data is structured and retrieved, improving the efficiency and value of our reporting.

• Exploratory Analytics & R&D: Develop trend-forecasting algorithms and out-of-the-box analytical models on proprietary dataset architectures.

• Metric Creation: If you have ever wanted to own the metric rather than report on it, this role was designed for you. Define and standardize proprietary Nectar metrics that shape how consumer brands go to market.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with Product and Software Engineering to translate models into production code without relying on engineering teams to rewrite logic.

• Data Desk Support: Contribute technical leadership to our high-visibility Data Desk initiative, powering public reports cited by the likes of the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Forbes and contributing to data-driven customer acquisition.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience: 4–7 years of data science experience

• Education: Bachelor’s in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.

• Technical Skills: Advanced Python proficiency and expert SQL capabilities. Proven software engineering fundamentals with a track record of writing clean, production-ready code.

• Domain Adaptability: High comfort with ambiguity, fast-paced execution, and a rapid learning curve in new domain spaces.

• Written Communication: Exceptional writing skills, with a demonstrated ability to turn complex data and analysis into clear, compelling narratives for non-technical and public-facing audiences.

• Technical Rigor: Strong foundation in Python and SQL, with the capability to write clean, maintainable code independently.

• Technical Writing: Demonstrated ability to turn data analysis into clear, compelling writing for non-technical readers, such as reports, blog posts, or research summaries.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in social media ecosystems, influencer platforms, or creator economy tools (e.g., CreatorIQ, Meta).

• Background working with massive, unstructured text, media, or social network data.

• Experience in technical writing for external artifacts (blog posts, reports)

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation and early equity

• Health, vision, and dental benefits + 401(k) match

• ClassPass membership for fitness and wellness classes

• $50/month mobile stipend for all employees, and $50/month internet stipend for remote employees

For our Palo Alto Office

• Hybrid schedule: 4 days in office, plus 3 remote flex days per quarter (after your first 3 months)

• Free lunch in the office

• $1,000/month housing stipend for living near the office

• Fully paid for commuter benefits (train stipend or Palo Alto parking reimbursement)