Lead Research Scientist

About This Role

Discover. A brighter future.

With us, you’ll do meaningful work from Day 1. Our collaborative culture is built on three core behaviors: We Play to Win, We Get Better Every Day & We Succeed Together. And we mean it — we want you to grow and make a difference at one of the world's leading digital banking and payments companies. We value what makes you unique so that you have an opportunity to shine.

Come build your future, while being the reason millions of people find a brighter financial future with Discover.

Job Description:

What You'll Do

Responsible for developing cutting edge research on new modeling approaches and transparent and ethical use of machine learning models, while adhering to enterprise compliance and governance standards. Primary responsibility will be to help expand framework around use of new data and modeling options in various value streams. Analytical skills such as knowledge of machine learning interpretability, fairness, model stability and specialized skills such as knowledge/application of deep learning architectures, graph-based models, reinforcement learning, adversarial learning etc. are a key ingredient in this role. The role will also involve applying fundamental research to solve business problems. The ability to write technical documentation will be a valuable skillset as well.

Actively manages and escalates risk and customer-impacting issues within the day-to-day role to management.



How You'll Do It

• Develop innovative analytical and machine learning solutions to solve business-related problems. Perform rigorous numerical, statistical, and mathematical analysis of developed and existing (peer-reviewed) methodologies as benchmark under guidance of more experienced research scientists.
• Propose and validate hypotheses and solutions to improve current ML methodologies at Discover. Prepare and validate prototypical code of innovative solutions in Python/Java/C++.
• Contribute to internal technical and/or scientific documentation describing innovative methodologies and solutions, research white papers and arXiv preprints, peer-reviewed conference and journal articles, drafting invention disclosure and patent application among others.

Qualifications You'll Need

The Basics

• Bachelors Analytics, Information Technology, Business Administration and Management, Economics, Engineering, Finance, Statistics, Econometrics, Mathematics or related.
• 2+ years Academic Research\Teaching experience or financial industry modeling experience with research focus

Physical and Cognitive Requirements
The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable a qualified individual with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position as required by federal, state, and local laws:

• Primarily remain in a stationary position.
• No required movement about the work environment to complete the major responsibilities of the job.
• Primarily performed indoors in an office setting
• Ability to operate office equipment such as but not limited to computer, telephone, printer, and calculator.
• Ability to communicate verbally.; Ability to communicate in written form.

Bonus Points If You Have
 

• Masters in Analytics, Information Technology, Business Administration and Management, Economics, Engineering, Finance, Statistics, Econometrics, Mathematics.
• Strong research experience
• Strong SAS,SQL, Python experience

#Remote

Discover will not sponsor or transfer employment work visas for this position. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Application Deadline:

The application window for this position is anticipated to close on Mar-22-2025. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. The posting may be available past this date, but it is not guaranteed.

Compensation:

The base pay for this position generally ranges between $125,000.00 to $175,000.00. Additional incentives may be provided as part of a market competitive total compensation package. Factors, such as but not limited to, geographical location, relevant experience, education, and skill level may impact the pay for this position.

Benefits:

We also offer a range of benefits and programs based on eligibility. These benefits include:

• Paid Parental Leave

• Paid Time Off

• 401(k) Plan

• Medical, Dental, Vision, & Health Savings Account

• Short and Long Term Disability, Life, and Accidental Death & Dismemberment insurances

• Recognition Program

• Education Assistance

• Commuter Benefits

• Family Support Programs

• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Learn more at mydiscoverbenefits.com.

What are you waiting for? Apply today!

All Discover employees place our customers at the very center of our work. To deliver on our promises to our customers, each of us contribute every day to a culture that values compliance and risk management.

Discover is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Discover is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or other legally protected status. (Know Your Rights & Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision)

Discover complies with federal, state, and local laws applicable to qualified individuals with disabilities and is committed to providing reasonable accommodations. If you require a reasonable accommodation to search for a position, to complete an application, and/or to participate in an interview, please email HireAccommodation@discover.com. Any information you provide regarding your accommodation needs will be kept confidential and will only be used to determine and provide necessary accommodation.

At Discover, we are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable workplace through our Fair Chance Hiring practices. Fair Chance Hiring means that we base our hiring decisions on an applicant’s qualifications rather than their criminal record. All our positions are subject to Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Our applicants go through a background check, and we follow all applicable local laws, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance (LA County Fair Chance).

Positions marked as remote eligible are limited to remote locations within the country in which the position is based.

Applicants must be 18 or older at the time of hire.