Title: Founding Data Scientist
Location: Headquartered Reno – 100% Remote USA – must be open to work PST MST or CST time zone
Terms: Direct Hire / Perm
Salary: Commensurate with Start Up Founder Data Science Experience – Plus equity options/incentives.
Status: Employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
Level of Experience: 3+ Years in researching/developing data science and ML focused products
Tech Stack: Python, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Databricks, Probability, Statistical Analysis, JavaScript, full stack/back-end development understanding
Industry: Healthcare, Finance, Elderly Care
Start Time: Immediate
Reports to: CEO

https://joinwaterlily.notion.site/Join-Waterlily-Founding-Data-Scientist-Remote-External-a682c7c16b2542dcb39c85508f4a0898

Our client is looking for people who are excited about being personally responsible for making a positive impact in the world and who might be passionate about Elder Care as well.  Our client’s leader is a positive, enthusiastic, uber intelligent, mission-driven focused CEO who is building a cutting-edge “never seen before but needed by everyone” SaaS platform.  

Our client is a pre-seed elder care startup focused on helping families navigate the complexities of caring for our aging parents. Waterlily is backed by some of the top VCs and angels in Silicon Valley. They recently raised $1.5M on a $50M cap to build out an AI and data platform to help families predict and prepare for our aging loved one’s cost and care trajectory.

We’re looking for our first founding Data Scientist to be a thought leader and exceptional operator to co-drive execution of the company data and product direction.

ROLE OVERVIEW:

Data science at Waterlily brings to life what was formerly impossible – a scalable way to tell each person’s story as it relates to the devastation of elder care today.

The Founding Data Scientist position is a high intensity role — you’ll work closely with me almost everyday, architecting the data models and systems that power our algorithms that help families navigate the big question: how can we predict and prepare for our aging parents’ cost and care trajectory?

Dealing with now to take care of our aging parents is a massive global problem

1. This is a problem every single family will face, and we plan to touch every single one of them.
2. Data science at Waterlily brings to life what was formerly impossible – a scalable way to tell each person’s story as it relates to the devastation of elder care today.

Thoughts on Data Science at Waterlily – why this is so important:

Most data scientists will misclassify the type of data science problem we’re actually solving for the user. Like most problems they train on, they treat this like a prediction accuracy problem. They think users want really high accuracy on predicting certain insights we think are important. However, in the eldercare/caregiving space, most of our target users aren’t convinced it’s a real problem that affects them personally. Even if they are convinced of that, they aren’t convinced that they need to work on it now vs later.

Most data scientists will misclassify the type of data science problem we’re actually solving for the user. Like most problems they train on, they treat this like a prediction accuracy problem. They think users want really high accuracy on predicting certain insights we think are important. However, in the eldercare/caregiving space, most of our target users aren’t convinced it’s a real problem that affects them personally. Even if they are convinced of that, they aren’t convinced that they need to work on it now vs later.

REQUIREMENTS:
 

1. Must be able/eager to build & ship predictions and insights.
   1. You will lead the data build of Waterlily’s alpha version. We can’t emphasize this enough: You’ll thrive as a self-starter who is passionate about building something 0 - 1 (and can do so) and is excited about the space!
       

REALLY NICE TO HAVE:

Skill sets they deeply appreciate but not all are requirements:
 

1. You have a strong grasp of fundamental data science concepts.
2. You have built 0 → 1 products before.
3. You have 3+ years researching and developing data science and machine learning focused products in the in the healthcare or financial space.
4. You have deep understanding of machine learning operations and backend/full stack development.
5. 3-7 years of experience in a production environment, developing beautiful products that leverage:

 

1. Our Favored model management: Databricks (likely migration to AWS in the near future)
2. Favored language: Python
3. In depth knowledge in secure coding practices and strong passion in helping other technical members to adopt them.
4. Experience in managing a production machine learning life cycle (research to shipment)
5. Have hands-on experience in AWS leveraging best security practices.
6. Experience leveraging data architectures and components for iterative model versioning and development.

 

6. BONUS POINTS - 3-7 years of experience working as a Data Scientist in a fast-paced complex environment
    

WHY YOU MIGHT BE EXCITED ABOUT US:
 

1. They are a mission-driven company serious about solving a massive global problem.  This is a problem every single family will face, and we plan to touch every single one of them.
2. They do not have a ton of meetings. If they can effectively solve a problem asynchronously, they do. When they do meet synchronously, you will always have the opportunity to contribute, in fact, you are encouraged to do so.
3. Their team has a wide range of experiences with innovation and a successful track record, and are excited to learn from you, too.
4. You will be able to work remotely and set your own schedule. They do not micro-manage and will help you do great work.
5. They will mold your role to shape a career you are excited about. The client cares a lot about your satisfaction and job happiness and will help prep you for whatever you are looking for in the future, whether that is growing within the company or elsewhere.
6. They work hard and highly value a balanced work/life load. They care about family and your own personal development and do not expect you to be always engaged with work.
7. They actively work to create and maintain a positive, friendly, politics-free work environment.
8. The culture that our client has established is supportive, collaborative, helpful, and fun. They are remarkably chaos-free.
9. You thrive under pressure of delivering meaningful results on tight deadlines given data science / machine learning is inherently experimental and nothing is guaranteed. It shows the strength of knowing that a great reason for failing won’t get you a new customer, preserve the existence of the business.  All the mental energy you use to elaborate your anxiety and worries would be far better used trying to find the one seemingly impossible way out of your current problem/mess.
10. You also thrive in people-first environments. At Waterlily, treating people well >>>> building the best product. Of course, people and product don’t have to be competitive to one another, but in times when they are, we choose people with the utmost confidence, kindness, and respect. Putting on a more outside-focused lens, we believe the most meaningful and interesting problems to solve are finding markets where it makes a ton of economic sense to positively impact an individual’s quality of life. For these two reasons, Waterlily exists to be a good company for both its employees and for the world.
     

WHY YOU MIGHT NOT BE EXCITED ABOUT US:
 

1. Our team is super small (we’re currently two operators with 20+ advisors), so if you like more established companies, it’s not (yet) the right time.  You’ll help build the company’s culture.
2. Since we’re an early stage startup, projects and priorities may shift and there is no guarantee of success.
3. We are learning what customers will love us, and there's a lot we will be improving on. It's a great place to be but means there's going to be some jank in our product and our operations. The word we use is "scrappy." 😃
4. While you won't be micro-managed, that also means you'll need to be self-directed. We're here to help, but we expect you to find the work that needs to be done and do it.
5. Some of our work processes—such as documenting everything or closing the loop on communications—may be unfamiliar. You'll need to embrace new ways of doing things and make them work for you.
6. Some of our work processes—such as documenting everything or closing the loop on communications—may be unfamiliar. You'll need to embrace new ways of doing things and make them work for you

Shannon McInnis
Sr. Technical Recruiter
shannon.mcinnis@covenant-consulting.com
713-705-1880