Product Data Scientist at Viator - Grow in Causal ML in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
Role Level & Market Position: This is a mid-to-senior individual contributor data science role embedded within a product pod. Tripadvisor/Viator operates at scale with a two-sided marketplace, meaning your analyses will have real commercial impact. Market benchmarks for a Product Data Scientist at this level typically range from $90K–$140K USD in the US, or equivalent local rates in Europe — no salary is disclosed here, so negotiation research is essential.
Skills You'll Build: This role offers strong growth in high-demand areas:
- Causal inference (DiD, propensity scoring, synthetic controls) — increasingly valued in tech and academia
- Marketplace analytics and LTV modeling — transferable to fintech, e-commerce, and SaaS
- A/B testing at scale — a core skill for any senior data science or product analytics role
- Stakeholder communication and "data storytelling" — critical for progression to Staff/Principal levels
Green Flags: The posting explicitly encourages product analysts upskilling in data science to apply — a signal of a growth-oriented and inclusive culture. The emphasis on intellectual honesty ("voice of inconvenient truths") suggests a psychologically safe environment for rigorous analysis.
Watch Points: No mention of team size, reporting structure, or explicit career ladder — worth clarifying in interviews. The role breadth (measurement, experimentation, self-service tooling, stakeholder comms) is wide; confirm whether support resources (data engineers, analytics engineers) exist to avoid being spread too thin.
About Tripadvisor
The Tripadvisor Group connects people to experiences worth sharing, and aims to be the world's most trusted source for travel and experiences. We leverage our brands, technology, and capabilities to connect our global audience with partners through rich content, travel guidance, and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants and other travel categories. The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP) include a portfolio of travel brands and businesses, including Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork.
About the Role
At Tripadvisor Experiences, the only thing we love more than travel is data. We slice it, we dice it, and we use it to empower our decision-making.
As a Product Data Scientist, you'll be the analytical backbone of one or more product pods. You'll own measurement and reporting, support experimentation, and surface the insights that drive product decisions — while actively developing your skills in more advanced analytics methods. This is a role for someone with strong foundational data science skills who is energised by the opportunity to grow.
What You'll Do
Experimentation
- Design and analyse A/B tests across Viator's marketplace, applying sound statistical methods to interpret results and support confident decision-making.
- Champion experimentation best practices: power calculations, guardrail metrics, and multiple testing corrections.
- Develop your mastery of causal inference and advanced experimentation techniques (e.g., difference-in-differences, propensity scoring, synthetic controls) as you apply them to answer questions that can't be randomized — such as measuring the impact of pricing changes on supplier retention or the long-term effect of personalization on traveler LTV.
Strategic Analysis & Measurement
- Own the measurement framework for your product area: define key metrics, build the instrumentation to track them, and surface insights that move the needle.
- Conduct exploratory analyses and deep dives into data using various data science approaches to inform product decisions; for example, using tree-based or regression modeling to identify signals of high LTV.
- Enable self-service through scalable datasets, metrics, dashboards, and reporting frameworks.
- Translate analytical outputs into actionable insights and clear product recommendations: not just "here's the data," but "here's what it means for the next sprint and how we should test it."
Stakeholder Management & Communication
- Act as a thought partner with product managers and engineers to ensure the right data questions are being asked.
- Translate analyses into clear narratives that are accessible to non-technical audiences — emphasising actionable insights and "so what" over technical detail.
- Be a champion of unbiased, rigorous analysis — including when the data doesn't support a stakeholder's hypothesis; willingness to be the voice of inconvenient truths is a core expectation of this role.
What You'll Bring
- Several years in a data science, analytics, or quantitative research role at a data-driven organization; strong product analysts who are actively upskilling in data science methods are encouraged to apply.
- Advanced SQL skills and hands-on experience querying and manipulating large datasets.
- Proficiency with data visualisation tools (Tableau, Looker, or equivalent).
- Experience with the full A/B testing process, from test design to results interpretation.
- Some proficiency in Python for analysis, experimentation, and exploratory modeling.
- A track record of using data insights to influence product or business decisions.
- Comfort with ambiguity: you can define a question when it isn't handed to you, and you're energised by incomplete information rather than paralysed by it.
- A growth mindset: you're actively upskilling in more advanced analytics methods and always willing to learn new tools and techniques.
Nice to Have
- Exposure to more advanced statistical methods and causal inference techniques — e.g., propensity scoring, synthetic controls, difference-in-differences, Bayesian approaches.
- Familiarity with LLMs or NLP tooling for analytics use cases (e.g., content classification, dataset enrichment).
- Experience in travel or e-commerce; understanding of two-sided marketplace dynamics, geo-based demand variation, or supplier/consumer trade-offs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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