Senior Manager, Machine Learning at Upstart

Job description

About Upstart At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence. As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 3,000 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress. We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City, you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you. If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you. The Team Our Core ML organization is looking for an exceptional, hands-on Machine Learning Manager to join our leadership group. Because our ML teams share common codebases and modeling pipelines, we are searching for generalist ML leaders who can be deployed to the areas of our business where they will have the most impact. Rather than hiring for one specific silo, we match candidates to the right team based on their unique background, technical strengths, and interests. Depending on your expertise, you could step in to lead one of several high-priority teams, such as: Cash Line: Leading the 0→1 ML innovation for our brand new subscription-based line of credit, building core underwriting and customer behavior models (churn, draw, default) in a domain with limited data and long feedback loops. Auto Retail Lending (ARL): Tackling unique, deep-modeling challenges such as competing risk, collateral, and recovery modeling for dealership-based auto lending. Underwriting: Managing MLE-heavy engineering and research efforts to optimize our core unsecured personal loan models. This is a highly technical player-coach role . You will not be managing a massive organization; instead, you will lead a small, nimble team of individual contributors (Research Scientists, Data Scientists, or Machine Learning Engineers). This role is designed for a builder who wants to retain meaningful strategic scope, maintain a roughly 50/50 split between technical execution and management, and act as the definitive ML owner for their product space. How you'll make an impact: Act as a Player-Coach: Dive deep into the data and code. You will spend a significant portion of your time making direct technical contributions, reviewing code/PRs, and understanding the mathematical nuances of your team's models. Lead Strategic Initiatives: Take ownership of a specific product area (like Cash Line or Auto) and serve as the de facto ML leader in cross-functional strategy meetings. Drive 0→1 and Scaling ML Efforts: Depending on your team placement, you may build out entirely new capabilities from scratch or optimize highly mature models dealing with massive scale and shifting macro-economic regimes. Translate Models to Business Impact: Design and refine decision engines that translate model predictions into accurate, transparent, and customer-friendly lending outcomes. What we're looking for: Minimum Qualifications Experience 6+ years of experience developing and deploying machine learning models in production with direct business impact. Proven track record of leading high-impact ML initiatives from research through productionization. Advanced degree in a quantitative field (e.g., computer science, statistics, economics, operations research, etc). Technical abilities and attitude Strong technical judgment and ability to dive deep into model design, data analysis, and evaluation. Keen statistical, economic and business intuition, and comfort with reasoning under uncertainty and data limitations. Knowledge of production ML, ability to adapt to new tech stacks and get in the weeds of work output from the team. Excited and able to make direct technical contributions when needed. Leadership Exceptional leadership skills with experience developing teams of highly technical ML scientists. Attract, mentor, and grow a top-tier team of ML scientists passionate about expanding access to credit. Proven ability to influence and collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Capital Markets and other teams. Strong project management skills with experience scaling processes and operational workflows. Preferred Qualifications PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Economics or a related field. Proven success building and scaling new ML products from inception. Familiarity with lending, lines of credit, or other consumer finance products. Hands-on familiarity with end-to-end ML infrastructure, including experimentation pipelines, feature stores, and model monitoring. Ability to uplevel team’s engineering practices and drive cross-functional engineering design. Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: US Remote Time Zone Requirements - This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones. Travel Requirements - This team has regular on-site collaboration sessions. These occur 3-4 days per quarter at one of our offices. If you need to travel to make these meetups, Upstart will cover all travel related expenses. #LI-REMOTE #LI-MidSenior At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k). United States | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range $238,400 — $330,200 USD At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k). Canada | Remote - Anticipated Base Salary Range $220,200 — $277,000 CAD What you'll love At Upstart, our benefits for full-time employees are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect: Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly Retirement benefits to help you plan for the future, including a 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan with a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually (USD in the US, CAD in Canada) Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only) Comprehensive health coverage designed to support you and your family, including medical, dental, vision, and wellness resources for US and supplemental health coverage for Canada. Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only) Income protection benefits, including life insurance and disability coverage for added financial security Paid time off, sick leave, and company holidays, in line with local requirements Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments (duration varies by country) Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service (US Only) Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from Connection and community through team events, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs) Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our offices in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City For roles based in Canada, please note that we are not currently able to hire in Quebec. Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email candidate_accommodations@upstart.com upstart.com

Requirements

Must-haves

Lead Strategic Initiatives: Take ownership of a specific product area (like Cash Line or Auto) and serve as the de facto ML leader in cross-functional strategy meetings.
Translate Models to Business Impact: Design and refine decision engines that translate model predictions into accurate, transparent, and customer-friendly lending outcomes.
6+ years of experience developing and deploying machine learning models in production with direct business impact.
Proven track record of leading high-impact ML initiatives from research through productionization.
Advanced degree in a quantitative field (e.g., computer science, statistics, economics, operations research, etc).
Technical abilities and attitude
Strong technical judgment and ability to dive deep into model design, data analysis, and evaluation.
Keen statistical, economic and business intuition, and comfort with reasoning under uncertainty and data limitations.
Knowledge of production ML, ability to adapt to new tech stacks and get in the weeds of work output from the team.
Excited and able to make direct technical contributions when needed.
Exceptional leadership skills with experience developing teams of highly technical ML scientists.
Attract, mentor, and grow a top-tier team of ML scientists passionate about expanding access to credit.
Proven ability to influence and collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Capital Markets and other teams.
Strong project management skills with experience scaling processes and operational workflows.
At Upstart, our benefits for full-time employees are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:
Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only)
Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans (US only)
Family-centered benefits to support fertility, parenthood, and caregiving needs

Nice-to-haves

PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Economics or a related field.
Proven success building and scaling new ML products from inception.
Familiarity with lending, lines of credit, or other consumer finance products.
Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: US Remote
Time Zone Requirements - This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones.
Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly

Application prep

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Keywords to mirror

aimlmachine learning

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Benefits

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Dental

Vision

401k

401(K)

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

Wellness