Senior Data Scientist (Ads)

Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games.

At Discord, we're building something special - a place where hundreds of millions of people connect, play, and belong.  Our ads business is entering an exciting growth phase, and we're looking for a Senior Data Scientist who's passionate about building advertising technology that respects our users while delivering real value to brands. We are establishing the groundwork for advanced advertising capabilities that uphold user privacy and simultaneously achieve outstanding results for advertisers - now that’s true win-win-win!

You'll be the data science lead on a cross-functional ads product squad, working alongside Product, Engineering, and Sales to shape the future of ads on Discord. This role reports to the Director of Data Science, Analytics for Ads. If using data to build world-class advertising experiences that enhance rather than interrupt the magic of Discord communities sounds exciting, we'd love to hear from you! 

What you'll be doing

• Drive ads measurement and experimentation, including designing and building MVPs for geo-based experiment measurement and incrementality testing (conversion lift), creating the foundation for how we understand true advertising impact on Discord
• Partner directly with PM and Engineering leadership to shape our signals and measurement ads product strategy using a mix of rich first-party and third-party data.
• Continuously improve our third-party attribution reporting and analytics, partnering with attribution vendors and data partners to deliver accurate, actionable performance insights for advertisers
• Build expertise in our ads tech ecosystem to deeply understand how each product influences measurement eg. auction-based delivery, real-time bidding, audience data integrations, and attribution methodologies in privacy-first environments
• Help design, build, and maintain the reporting data infrastructure that powers our self-serve campaign manager, DS analytics, and cross-functional stakeholder reporting - including billing and finance systems.
• Build executive-level dashboards and reports using Looker (or similar tools) that surface insights to help inform product strategy, diagnose issues, and evaluate performance.
• Lead cross-functional data projects to deepen our understanding of users, communities, and advertiser performance that directly inform better ad products.
• Apply 80/20 thinking to prioritize the highest-impact initiatives while championing user privacy and data governance standards across the company.

What you should have 

• 4+ years of data science experience in ads tech, with preference for gaming, social media, or community platforms
• Deep understanding of the ads tech ecosystem: auction-based delivery, real-time bidding, measurement methodologies, targeting systems, audience data integrations, and data partnerships
• Strong experimentation background: 3+ years designing, running, and analyzing A/B tests for large-scale consumer products - geo experiments and incrementality/lift testing experience is a strong plus
• Hands-on experience with third-party attribution partners and measurement in privacy-first environments (incrementality testing, multi-touch attribution, campaign effectiveness)
• 4+ years writing excellent SQL in large data platforms
• Experience building and maintaining reporting data pipelines and architectures that serve multiple downstream consumers (product, analytics, finance/billing)
• Proven experience building performant dashboards and executive-level reports in Looker, Tableau, or similar tools
• Strong communication skills - you can translate technical complexity into clear narratives for both engineers and business stakeholders
• Comfort with ambiguity and a collaborative mindset; you thrive when solving hard problems with great teammates

Bonus Points

• You're an active Discord user or have deep knowledge of gaming and creator communities
• Background in privacy-preserving measurement technologies and ethical advertising practices
• Experience mentoring junior data scientists or leading technical initiatives
• Familiarity with social graphs, community dynamics, and user-lifecycle analysis on social or gaming platforms

_The US base salary range for this full-time position is $196,000 to $220,500 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits._

Why Discord? 

Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!

Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.

Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.