Data Science Manager

Company Overview

Zicasso is a leading luxury travel company that creates personalized, life-enriching experiences for discerning travelers. Founded in Silicon Valley, our unique approach to travel blends cutting-edge technology and the unsurpassed destination expertise of our top travel specialists worldwide.

As a member of our team, you'll contribute to creating experiences that consistently earn us thousands of 5-star reviews. You'll be part of a company recognized as "Best in Travel" by TRAVEL+LEISURE magazine and regularly featured in notable publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, and CNN. By joining Zicasso, you'll play a key role in bringing travel dreams to life – pushing the boundaries of what's possible in luxury travel experiences.

As a fully remote company spanning five continents, we foster a dynamic, progressive global work environment that values creativity, initiative, and continuous learning. We're seeking passionate, data-driven individuals who thrive in a high-performance environment and are eager to contribute to our innovative company culture underpinned by the pursuit of excellence, integrity, and teamwork.

Our global team comes together bi-annually for an international company retreat in various locations, providing a unique opportunity to share ideas, collaborate in person, and strengthen our culture. This event embodies our commitment to both professional growth and the transformative power of travel.

Join us in shaping the future of luxury travel while working towards our vision: to create a more connected humanity through travel. To learn more, visit www.zicasso.com/careers.

The Role

As a Data Science Manager at Zicasso, you will lead a team of talented data scientists, leveraging your expertise to guide the development of data-driven solutions that directly impact the company's strategic decision-making. You will be responsible for both hands-on technical contributions and people management, mentoring your team to deliver high-impact insights that improve operations, enhance customer experiences, and optimize business performance.

This is an international, fully-remote, freelance contractor position, working from home, at a location outside of the United States. We are particularly seeking candidates who are based in Latin America.

There is flexibility in your work hours but we expect that you will generally maximize your overlap with California hours (eg. until 3pm Pacific Time Zone).

The work will be conducted in English.

Key Responsibilities

People Management and Leadership:

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of data scientists, providing coaching and professional development opportunities to foster their skills and career paths.
• Manage project allocation, set priorities, and define project roadmaps to ensure the team's work aligns with business objectives and delivers maximum value.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the data science team and cross-functional stakeholders, translating business needs into technical requirements and communicating complex insights effectively to both technical and executive audiences.
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and results-oriented team culture.

Technical and Strategic Responsibilities:

• Maintain hands-on expertise by leading the design, development, and validation of complex predictive models and data driven solutions, including machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) techniques.
• Guide the team in analyzing large, complex datasets to uncover strategic insights that drive product innovation and business growth.
• Oversee the design, implementation, and interpretation of A/B tests and multi-variant experiments to evaluate and optimize product and operational initiatives.
• Collaborate closely with data engineering teams to ensure the development of scalable data infrastructure and maintain data quality and consistency.
• Provide training and guidance on utilizing data analysis and reports to foster a data-centric culture across the organization.

Required Experience

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience as a Data Scientist or in a related role, with at least 2 years of experience leading or managing a team of data professionals.
• Demonstrated experience in mentoring and coaching junior and mid-level data scientists.
• Help shape the data science strategy in line with organizational goals, while establishing clear objectives and benchmarks.
• Proficiency in Python or R, with demonstrated experience implementing ML pipelines and frameworks.
• Advanced SQL skills, with experience working on large-scale, relational and/or distributed datasets.
• Experience with data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
• Proven hands-on experience with performing statistical analysis, predictive modeling and data mining on large and complex datasets.
• Hands-on expertise in AI, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP) techniques, including model development, tuning, and validation preferred.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate ambiguous business challenges into actionable analytics projects and team roadmaps.
• Effective collaborator with experience working independently in remote team environments.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a quantitative field such as Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative discipline.
• Strong understanding of statistical modeling, data analysis techniques, and experimental design.
• Proficiency with various data science tools and programming languages (e.g., Python, R, SQL) and experience working with large datasets.
• Exceptional communication skills with a proven ability to translate complex data insights into clear, actionable recommendations for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to translate analytical findings into clear actionable insights and strategic recommendations that drive business decision-making.

What We Offer

• Remote work from your home base and flexible hours that allow you to enjoy a great work-life balance.
• Innovative, fast-paced and collaborative culture that values diverse voices and opinions.
• Learning and development annual budget.
• Two company-sponsored business trips each year at international destinations we serve!