Data Scientist

The Intersection of Calling & Career

World Vision is now hiring for Data Scientist.

00 At a Glance

Role: Data Scientist

Level: Senior (individual contributor, requires at least 5 years of experience)

Required Experience: Master's degree in business, statistics, or related field, or Certification in data science, or 10 years of equivalent work experience. Experience should include use of supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques and a growing knowledge of generative AI. A minimum of 5 years of experience programming in Python, R, SAS, or SQL, including preprocessing and cleaning data. Experience effectively visualizing data in PowerBI, Tableau, Excel, or similar tool, and effectively presenting to laypeople. Requires strong grasp and proper usage of business statistics.

Salary Range: $98,427.27 - $161,275.29. Applies to locations with a market similar to our U.S. HQ in the Greater Seattle area. A different range may apply based on your work location. The typical hiring range is $115,000 - $140,000. Job offers within the range are based on relevant job qualifications and pay equity. See the “Salary Range & Benefits” section below for more details on our compensation and benefits.

Benefits: Yes. Click here to learn more.      

Location: Remote within the United States. The role can be based in over 40 states. 

Company Size/Type: 1000+. Non-profit charitable organization. Together, we empower the most vulnerable children to overcome poverty and experience the fullness of life. We help children of all backgrounds, even in the most dangerous places, inspired by our Christian faith.  

01 Join Purpose-Driven Professionals At World Vision USA you’ll join people who are all-in to impact the lives of the world's most vulnerable children. Our recipe includes love of all people, fiscal responsibility, and targeting the root causes of poverty. Our purpose includes human transformation for the most vulnerable and for the donors who support them.   

And the impact is real. Every day we see donors’ hearts draw closer to God's heart for children, families, and communities affected by poverty and injustice. The work you'll do here will help make it possible that every 60 seconds a family gets water, a hungry child is fed, and a family gets the tools they need to overcome poverty.

02 The Job We are looking for a seasoned Data Scientist with a passion for building AI/data solutions that help our fundraisers inspire our donors and provide a better life for hundreds of thousands of children in 100 countries. You will be joining a team of two other data scientists to innovate and leverage both traditional and generative AI for marketing and fundraising initiatives. Responsibilities include:

• Helping define our evolving vision and AI/machine learning tactics for all World Vision marketing functions.  
• Leveraging generative AI as well as machine learning to take modeling projects from ideation to feature creation, training, and implementation.  
• Monitoring and managing models over time to ensure we are continually putting our best foot forward for our faithful donors.   
• Serving as analytical consultants to our marketers by setting up and reading market tests, producing actionable insights from deep-dive analyses, and applying best practices in information visualization. 
• Applying sound statistics that help the organization make reliable data-driven decisions.   
• Keeping Christ central in our individual and corporate lives. Attending and participating in weekly devotions, chapel services, and regular prayer.  

03 You Bring 

• Heart for service because we are not just working with data, we are working with valuable donor dollars and impacting the livelihood of the world’s neediest children.  
• Team spirit because we collaborate and function as a body of Christ, not lone rangers or unicorns. Yet you also bring a “figure it out” attitude because you are a resourceful professional working with rapidly evolving technologies.  
• Passion for continual learning because our industry, our organization, and the data science world will never stop changing. 
• Creative problem-solving with generative AI and machine learning and the fortitude to follow through to the end because our data and our projects won’t be easy.  
• Real-world experience in marketing data science (including digital marketing). This means you can build models, but have experimented with gen-AI, wrestled with defining training sets, creating features, and monitoring models over time because you know the building part is only the tip of the iceberg.  
• Fluency in SQL and Python to pull and transform data, conduct descriptive analysis, and perform machine learning. There will be a lot of coding for sure and it won’t always be the glamorous machine learning type. 
• Familiarity with automated machine learning because we’re a non-profit trying to do more with less by embracing DataRobot to do the work of 5x more people than we have.  
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills that resonate with lay people because you’ll be working with marketers who put tremendous value in words and images.  

04 What success look like

1. Develop and implement a comprehensive machine learning strategy for World Vision's marketing functions, aligning with the organization's vision and goals, within the first 90 days of employment.
2. Successfully create and deploy predictive models using automated machine learning techniques and programming skills, resulting in a measurable improvement in fundraising initiatives' effectiveness within the first six months.
3. Continuously monitor and optimize the performance of machine learning models, ensuring their accuracy and relevance over time, with a focus on maximizing donor engagement and retention rates quarterly.
4. Provide actionable insights derived from in-depth market analyses and test setups, enabling the marketing team to make data-driven decisions that enhance campaign performance and outreach efforts, with at least three high-impact recommendations implemented per quarter.
5. Demonstrate proficiency in statistical concepts and their practical application within World Vision's context, effectively communicating complex ideas to non-technical stakeholders, and fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making across the organization within the first year of employment.
6. Provide thought leadership on implementing new and emerging data science methods, tools, and ways of working that will provide a greater impact on our fundraising efforts.

05 Salary Range & Benefits Your compensation and benefits are important to you so they’re important to us. The full salary range for this role is $98,427.27 - $161,275.29. The typical hiring range is $115,000 - $140,000. Job offers within the range are based on relevant job qualifications and pay equity. Please indicate the range you're targeting when asked during the application process. In addition, we have a robust and comprehensive benefits package to round out our total compensation package. Click here to learn more (this position is a grade 228). World Vision employees see our Salary Administration Guidelines and My Life My Benefits pages on our organization intranet known as The Vine. 

06 Where this job could take your career World Vision U.S. is a part of the larger World Vision International partnership. Globally, we have 34,000+ staff working in nearly 100 countries. About 1000 of us call World Vision U.S. home. You'll have opportunities to enhance your skills within the field of data science by working with leadership that cultivates a growth mindset and supports professional development through activities like certification programs, conferences, and webinars.

07 About World Vision U.S. When you work at World Vision, your passions and talents come together to help meet the greatest needs in the world today. We tackle poverty at its roots, with a focus on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience the fullness of life. Our staff around the world are committed to demonstrating God’s unconditional love for all people by serving every child we can, of any faith or none. And we are one of the world’s most trusted charities, with more than 70 years of experience working alongside communities, donors, partners, and governments to create opportunities for better futures for vulnerable children ... even in the toughest places. Are you feeling called to explore joining us?    

08 Let your work be your faith in action In 2021 an estimated 5 million children under the age of 5 years died, mostly from preventable and treatable causes (USAID, WHO). That’s why we’re looking for someone who is ready to place their expertise behind helping the world’s most vulnerable children experience life in all its fullness. Your impact will be felt by the most vulnerable in over 100 countries, including right here in the United States. 

09 To Apply Press the appropriate button on this page.   

10 What happens next? Glad you asked. We owe you that and strive to not leave you wondering. We review applications nearly every day assessing the strength of fit for the role. Sometimes questions arise on our end, so we message you to learn more. Short-listed candidates are contacted for an initial conversation with our recruiting staff. Moving deeper into our selection process you can expect to interview 1:1 with a hiring manager. Finalists normally participate in a panel interview where the opportunity to meet additional members of our staff lends itself to a 360-degree view of the role. Our most valuable resource is our talented staff. Our goal is to fill this vacancy with the right person in the shortest amount of time, so we have all hands on deck to move this important work forward.