Senior Data Scientist at UpGuard

Who are we? UpGuard’s mission is to make life easier for security teams. We meticulously create robust solutions that enable our customers to identify, assess, and remediate cybersecurity risk across their attack surface, vendor ecosystem, workforce, and trust relationships. Our integrated cyber risk posture management platform combines comprehensive security ratings, instant risk assessments, templated security questionnaires, threat intelligence capabilities, and agentic AI to give organizations a holistic view of their risk surface. Our Product team at UpGuard comprises of our Product Management, Product Support, Engineering, Design, Data Leaks Detection, and Third Party Risk Management Services. Our Product team’s vision is to become the leader in the Cyber VRM category by providing a best-in-class SaaS platform for organizations to manage their third-party risk and external attack surface. Our purpose as a Product team is simply to build a product that enables this. We aim to build a product that users love and come to rely on, and one that regularly and consistently improves. Where does this role fit in?  We’re looking for a Senior Data Scientist to lead the evolution of our scoring algorithms, provide data-driven insights to our product squads, and help shape how AI is applied across our products. This role bridges analytics, data science, and applied AI, helping turn complex security data into actionable, trustworthy intelligence. What will you do? • Own the design, evolution, and validation of UpGuard’s scoring algorithms across all surfaces - Vendor, Attack Surface, Breach, and User Risk. • Develop statistical and ML models that translate raw security data into meaningful, calibrated scores. • Measure and improve score accuracy, stability, and interpretability. • Work with engineers to deploy and monitor models in production environments. • Partner with PMs and designers to define success metrics and measure product outcomes. • Conduct in-depth analyses of adoption, engagement, and retention to guide roadmap priorities. • Build reusable datasets, dashboards, and frameworks for self-serve analytics. • Establish best practices for experimentation and data-driven decision making across squads. • Collaborate with squads building AI-powered features, from automated vendor assessments to breach intelligence and risk summarization. • Prototype and evaluate new AI/ML techniques (including LLMs, embeddings, and anomaly detection). • Define standards for safe, efficient AI usage, including model evaluation and prompt testing. What will you bring? • 5+ years of experience applying quantitative methods, ideally within a high-growth company, with practical exposure to risk modelling and uncertainty analysis. • Advanced analytics expertise: Proven track record in building complex statistical or actuarial models (e.g., 5+ years of experience in data science, AI, actuarial science, or similar). • AI/ML proficiency: Hands-on experience implementing machine learning approaches (regression, classification, ensemble methods, NLP, deep learning, etc.) in real-world applications. • Strong statistical foundations: Deep understanding of regression analysis, probability theory, and inferential statistics to accurately model risk. • Engineering background: Comfortable working with Go, Python and relational and columnar databases (we use Postgres and BigQuery) • Collaborative mindset: Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills to align with product managers, engineers, and other cross-functional teams. • Leadership and ownership: Ability to define a vision, set clear objectives, and drive results in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. What will give you an edge? • Familiarity with or enthusiasm for cybersecurity, cyber risk management, or related fields is highly desirable. • Domain experience in actuarial science, credit risk, and threat intelligence What's in it for you? • Monthly Lifestyle subsidy: Use this for financial, physical, and mental well-being • WFH set-up allowance: To ensure you have the right environment to work in, we will help you get set up within your first 3 months at UpGuard • $1500 USD annual Learning & Development allowance: To support your career development, all team members will be able to expense development opportunities against this allowance • Annual leave: PTO plus two additional UpGuardian leave days to give you time to recharge your batteries. • 18 weeks paid Parental Leave: Irrespective of parenting role • Personal Leave Allowance: This includes sick & carer’s leave • Fully remote working environment: While we have physical offices in Sydney & Hobart, we do not mandate compulsory attendance • Top-spec hardware: All team members will be provided with top-spec laptops for their role • Generative AI subsidy: UpGuard provides paid subscriptions for all team members to access generative AI tools to support their work #LI-SR1 UpGuard is a Certified Great Place to Work® in the US, Australia, UK and India, establishing its position as a leading global technology employer. 99% of team members agree that UpGuard is a great place to work, apply now to find out why! As an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status. For applications to positions in the United States, please note, at this time we can only support hiring in the following US states: CA, MD, MA, IL, OR, WA, CO, TX, FL, PA, LA, MO, or DC.  Before starting work with us, you will need to undertake a national police history check and reference checks. Also please note that at this time, we cannot support candidates requiring visa sponsorship or relocation.