Senior Data Scientist, Special Projects Watttime

Skills / Requirements

• Bayesian Approaches
• Causal Inference
• Data Assimilation
• ETL Pipelines
• Git
• Marginal Gains Analysis
• Optimization Techniques
• Python
• Quantitative Finance
• Regression Analyses
• Software Engineering
• Technical Communication
• Vibe Coding

Why Apply

The role suits AI-driven development because it involves rapid prototyping using AI-based vibe coding and leveraging advanced AI tools for emissions data analysis. Fast decision-making and data assimilation are key.

What You'll Be Doing

You'll work on multiple potential projects, rapidly prototyping and evaluating their potential impact. Your day involves building prototypes, analyzing data, and making critical decisions on project prioritization.

Pay and Career Growth

The role offers a competitive salary between $170,000 and $190,000 annually. It provides an opportunity to work on high-impact projects with a focus on climate change, fostering both professional growth and personal fulfillment.

Benefits and Perks

• Collaborative Environment
• Impactful work
• Remote Work
• Travel Opportunities

Is This Role Right for You?

Original Job Description

Accepting applications until April 10 at 5pm E.T.
About WattTime
WattTime is a nonprofit tech start-up. We find or conduct original research into emissions datasets that can unlock new or more effective emissions-reducing interventions, then help implement and scale those interventions. Our best known intervention is Automated Emissions Reduction (AER), the technique currently used by over 1 billion devices daily (e.g. all Nest thermostats, U.S. iPhones, Toyota EVs, etc) to cut their carbon footprints by using energy when the grid has surplus clean energy. We also enabled and scaled other techniques, like Emissionality, a technique to multiply the emissions benefits of renewable energy.
WattTime is also the secretariat of Climate TRACE, a joint initiative of over 100 non-profits, tech companies, universities, and individual researchers pooling their expertise in AI, remote sensing, and emissions data to collectively build a highly advanced comprehensive open global greenhouse gas measurement system. Climate TRACE is a powerful enabler of novel emissions-reducing interventions, as well as an important transparency tool in its own right.
About the Role
The world of emissions data is speeding up. Between AI-based vibe coding and the tremendous consolidation happening in emissions datasets, it’s becoming more and more common that entirely new concepts for how to monitor or use emissions data to drive impact can sometimes be prototyped in as little as a day. And given WattTime’s growing prominence supporting hundreds of the world’s premiere emissions organizations, we are getting asked for possibly important new features almost daily. So we have a growing need for people who can operate in a world where it’s ever faster to develop new interventions, yet more important than ever to triage.
The role of Senior Data Scientist, Special Projects will have elements of a data scientist, product manager, and quantitative marginal gains expert. Your role will not be to dream up new possible projects (we have plenty). It will be to jump in on many new potential projects already under consideration. To rapidly prototype, apply critical thinking and decision science to triage which projects are likely to most increase our impact per day, and swiftly either prove out or ruthlessly deprioritize projects.
All of this will be possible at speed because you’ll be drawing on WattTime’s vast related capabilities, from our unparalleled and highly structured emissions data, to remote sensing resources, to our deep network of users. Unlike most roles at WattTime, your work will be cross-cutting across multiple teams. But you’ll have to stay focused and resist going down rabbit holes.
A successful applicant for this role will demonstrate they can think not in terms of success or failure, but in terms of how to maximize impact per day. To do this, you will need to rapidly understand complex novel emissions data concepts; grab large amounts of data in ETL pipelines that do not necessarily need to be reusable; rapidly build good-enough prototypes; quantify impacts if projects succeed; analyze systems for marginal additional impact from improving various limiting factors (engineering, economic, and political); iteratively chip away at those limitations; and communicating all the above in plain English.
Responsibilities
First-order modeling: Rapidly stitch together estimates of relevant variables from data you can rapidly obtain (e.g. health harm caused by different Climate TRACE assets)
Data assimilation: Iteratively improve estimates by continuously improving algorithms with new input data using Bayesian updating or similar methods
Construct ETL pipelines: Pull, clean, format, and organize relevant data from the web, satellites, our databases, and partners
Technical communication: Write clear methodologies, API documentation, and papers for technical audiences
Stakeholder communication: Write brief punchlines or blog posts for team members, policymakers, nonprofits, and corporate decision makers
Comparative causal inference analysis
Estimate the causal impact of various interventions (like building solar)
Quantify opportunities to increase impact by adjusting control variables (e.g. moving air quality sensors to where it will minimize GHGs)
Marginal gains analysis
Conduct formal analysis of the comparative shadow value of relaxing different control variable constraints across many complex causal chains
Apply this to inform the team’s data assimilation work: where would improving our data or methods cause the most impact?
Skip to the punchline whenever non-quantitative critical thinking is enough
This job description is intended to describe the general nature of work performed by employees in this role and is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Duties and responsibilities may be modified at any time, with or without notice, based on operational needs, in compliance with applicable law, and employees may be required to perform other job-related duties as assigned.
Qualifications
Required technical skills
Minimum of a BA in economics, operations research, quantitative finance, physics, or other quantitative field involving optimal decision making under constraints
Minimum 2 years in economics, finance, astrophysics, data science, or other highly quantitative field that involves making estimates
Minimum 2 years working in Python in a git, code-reviewed environment
Mathematical Modeling skills
A deep understanding of a variety of modeling techniques which must include supervised learning, Bayesian approaches, and regression analyses
Experience selecting modeling approaches based on impact and explainability
Comfortable choosing and defending simple models, like averages within groups, when a complex model is unnecessary
Economics or Business
Experience predicting changes in demand (economics, finance, or similar)
Experience with causal inference techniques (triple differences, regression discontinuity, etc.)
Experience with optimization techniques (using Lagrangians/shadow values for maximization under constraint, etc.)
Experience predicting changes in outcomes based on changes in incomplete information (game theory, Lean start up, or other)
Software Engineering
Experience scoping work into tasks that can be completed in short sprints
Exemplified good code hygiene and software practices
Highly collaborative code reviewer, experienced authoring PRs that are single purpose, well described, and reviewable
Experience maintaining code that has been released, including bug fixes, error handling, refactoring, and scaling
Can work effectively from a remote environment on fairly regular U.S. work hours through tools like Slack, Zoom, GSuite, and several other systems
Required soft skills
Energetic, positive, proactive person who is excited to move at a speed far faster than normal jobs. This is not an easy job!
Iterative thinker who thrives making 0th, 1st, and nth order estimates, always despite imperfect data (perfectionists, this role is not the one for you)
Excellent problem-solving skills, particularly in breaking problems into component parts
Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, often verbal, environment where many important concepts are not documented anywhere
Exemplify ownership and leadership through proactive, clear communication centered around outcomes and needs
Clear, precise, frank communicator who cuts to the chase and can succinctly and honestly summarize what they currently do and don’t know
Strong flexibility (things change very fast around here)
Ruthless prioritization: able to constantly prioritize work based on impact and organizational strategy. Must be able to resist getting distracted by shiny objects!
Collaborative, respectful, and kind
Willingness to travel to team collaborative sessions a few times a year
Above all, a deep-seated commitment to stopping climate change and a willingness to place that above all other goals, even when it’s messy and hard
Nice-to-have skills
An MBA or practical experience running a startup
Experience working with remote sensing
Experience working with emissions data
PhD or extensive publications in causal inference, Bayesian or analogous data fusion methods, or modeling
Experience working with coding agents
How We Measure Success at WattTime
Productivity: hard work, efficiency, completing ambitious deadlines on time
Quality: producing high quality work, proactivity, use of specialized skills
Doing the work: on-task, flexibility, prioritizing whatever climate impact requires
Judgment: critical thinking, clear communication, anticipating problems, impact-focused decision-making
Helping others: collaboration, active listening, respect, giving/receiving feedback, self-awareness

Logistics
This is a full time, fully remote position – work from anywhere in the U.S. subject to organizational approval and applicable employment laws
This position requires the ability to sit, stand, and use a computer for extended periods.
Must be authorized to work in the U.S. – work authorization will be verified through E-Verify system
Salary: $170,000-$190,000 based on where you can hit the ground running
Application Process
Resume screening
Initial phone screening
Skills assessment and 3 technical interviews
Final round interviews including with the team at large
Reference checks and conditional offer pending results of one-time federal criminal background check and work authorization in E-Verify (WattTime will not conduct background checks or open a case in E-Verify before an offer letter is signed)
Read more about what WattTime’s like in this LinkedIn post from one of our fantastic engineers.

Why Work with WattTime
Join a highly impactful, fast-moving, relentlessly mission-driven tech nonprofit
Competitive salary
Full medical, dental, vision, life insurance packages for employees and 80% coverage for dependents
Paid parental leave
Flexible time off
Professional development support
Home office support and employee choice technology
403b with up to 5% matching contribution
What we’re like: we’re obsessed with making practical, results-driven change. We believe nothing has more potential for fast, world-changing impact than software. We embrace change. We are lean and rapid prototypers. We never confuse growth with impact. We are all personally, fiercely committed to our mission. We are quietly radical in unexpected ways. We don’t believe in competition–other people doing good work are allies. Our deep bench of expert volunteers helps us routinely punch above our weight class. We trust in data and everyone’s voice being heard. We know diversity is central to success. We consider respect non-negotiable; there are no jerks here.
How to Apply
You can apply for this position on our website at www.WattTime.org. From the “About” tab, select the “Careers” page, then select the job for which you want to apply.
In lieu of a cover letter, please use the application form field to explain why you are interested in this particular role and how your experience does or doesn’t match the requirements.
Equal Opportunity Policy
WattTime is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, pregnancy, marital status, family care status, age, appearance, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental ability, medical condition, military or veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or characteristics or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local laws. We encourage all individuals to apply and are committed to a diverse workplace where every person is treated with respect and dignity.
The responsibilities listed in this job description represent essential functions of the position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
WattTime is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, WattTime will ensure that candidates are provided with reasonable accommodations for the hiring process upon request. If reasonable accommodation is needed for the application process described above, please write to hr@watttime.org.
WattTime sometimes uses AI on a limited basis to streamline parts of the hiring process. We don’t allow AI to autonomously make decisions in the hiring process. We also carefully monitor the use of AI to ensure compliance with applicable anti-discrimination and employment laws. Candidates may request alternative evaluation methods in compliance with applicable law.