Senior Data Scientist, Strategic Analytics & Data Science

About the teamZillow Group’s Strategic Analytics & Data Science team provides a metrics-driven lens on Zillow’s company strategy and uncovers the insights that move it forward. Our team has an unmatched 360-degree view of Zillow’s various lines of business and company-wide strategy which we use to identify and solve strategically important data problems. Our team tackles ambiguous, high-priority problems at Zillow in partnership with product leadership, strategy and partnerships team, and other data science teams across the company. We’re innovators, data storytellers, and AI accelerators who thrive on independent thinking and driving measurable business outcomes.

About the role

We’re hiring a Senior Data Scientist to join the Strategic Analytics & Data Science team. In this role, you will own end-to-end workstreams—translating ambiguous, cross-functional problems into structured analyses or science problems, leading deep-dive projects that uncover trends and behaviors, and partnering with senior leaders to shape Zillow’s strategic planning and long-term roadmap. You’ll also mentor junior colleagues, codify best practices, and leverage AI/automation to accelerate insight delivery.

What You’ll Do

• Data Storytelling & Strategic Communication

  • Craft clear, concise written and verbal narratives that distill complex data into actionable insights for audiences ranging from ICs to the C-suite. 

  • Act as a trusted advisor: present findings, explore alternatives collaboratively, and guide stakeholders toward data-driven decisions.

  • Work with Zillow’s most senior leaders and regularly present in company-wide forums with Zillow’s leadership team.

• End-to-End Project Ownership

  • Scope, estimate, and execute strategic analyses (e.g., cross-business and cross-functional projects ranging from broad company-wide analyses to deep-dives to support individual business initiatives).

  • Produce clear design docs, run kick-offs and checkpoints, and coordinate handoffs to line-of-business data partners.
     

• Deep-Dives, Statistical Analysis, and Coding

  • Apply statistical methods, causal inference and measurement, and modeling techniques to identify trends and strengthen storytelling.

  • Lead exploratory projects to identify customer trends, behavioral patterns, and opportunity segments across Zillow’s products and marketplaces.

  • Resourcefully discover and integrate disparate big data sources to build holistic views of customer and agent behavior.

  • Design and execute segmentation studies that inform product, marketing, and partnership strategies.

  • Know when to prioritize clear, actionable insights over theoretical depth.

  • Import and codify best practices—establish norms around version control, testing, science methods, and AI use cases.

• Innovation & Automation

  • Use state of the art AI tools such as Cursor, ChatGPT, or Gemini to enhance your own and the team’s productivity. 

  • Prototype AI/ML-powered proof-of-concepts that automate routine analyses or surface strategic signals.

• Mentorship & Best Practices

  • Coach and mentor more junior data scientists: conduct code reviews, share frameworks and best practices, and elevate team standards for reproducibility and documentation.

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

In California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $145,500.00 - $232,500.00 Annually. This base pay range is specific to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington DC and may not be applicable to other locations.

In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location.

Who you are

You are ready to bring your data and analytics expertise to transform what it means to dream, search, and find a home. You seek to understand the many needs of Zillow’s customers and business. You have an appreciation of the unique challenges posed by a multi-platform experience. Additionally, you have:

• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with an emphasis on data-supported storytelling, with experience influencing and communicating to senior stakeholders

• Able to work across silos and influence business partners to set realistic goals and focus on data-driven solutions

• Ability to use strategic thinking to identify emerging problems and prioritize among workstreams.

• Desire to work on a team influencing others to advance Zillow’s strategy rather than owning a specific product long term.

• Experience delivering value amid ambiguity; for example, translating ambiguous business questions into concrete data science solutions.

• A proven track record of owning technically complex data projects end-to-end, from initial business question through delivery

• Expertise in exploratory and deep-dive analysis: synthesizing large and noisy datasets to uncover trends, patterns, and meaningful business insights.

• A strong understanding of statistical concepts, metric design and measurement, and inference techniques.

• Experience across one or more science domains such as predictive analytics and modeling, experimental design and causal inference, machine learning, optimization, data engineering and visualization, or others.

• Strong proficiency in SQL, Python/R, along with experience with visualization tools / packages and working with big data in a cloud environment (AWS, Databricks, etc.)

• Hands-on experience using AI tools (e.g. Cursor, ChatGPT, Genie, Gemini) to enhance productivity.

• Demonstrated ability to create compelling data visualizations to support storytelling

• An undergraduate or Master’s degree in a quantitative field (e.g. mathematics, engineering, statistics, finance, or similar).

• 5+ years of work experience as a data scientist, working on problems involving quantitative data analysis, experimentation and data problem-solving, preferably in a consumer-facing product.

• Here at Zillow - we value the experience and perspective of candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. We encourage you to apply if you have transferable skills or related experiences 

Preferred

• Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, or related field

• Prior work on cross-functional or centralized data teams with diverse stakeholder sets

• Experience with modern data orchestration tools (Airflow, dbt) and cloud data platforms (Snowflake, Databricks)

• Prior experience in real-estate analytics a plus

Experience with data visualization tools or dashboarding tools a plus.

Get to know us

Zillow is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.

As the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates help movers find and win their home through digital solutions, first class partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences. Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help make it easier to move. The work we do helps people get home and no matter what job you're in, you will play a critical role in making home a reality for more and more people.

Our efforts to streamline the real estate transaction are supported by a deep-rooted culture of innovation, our passion to redefine the employee experience, a fundamental commitment to Equity and Belonging, and world-class benefits. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverages as well as parental leave, family benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. We’re also setting the standard for work experiences of the future, where our employees are supported in doing their best work and living a flexible, well-balanced life. But don’t just take our word for it. Read recent reviews on Glassdoor and recent recognition from multiple organizations, including: the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equity Index, and TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Applicants who receive job offers from Zillow Group will be asked to sign a Proprietary Rights Agreement which includes confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, customer and employee non-solicitation, and non-competition provisions. If you are contacted for a role at Zillow Group and wish to review a copy of the Proprietary Rights Agreement prior to receiving an offer, you may request a copy from your Recruiter.