I recently had the honor of speed dating 64 open data science positions. I approached my job change as a research opportunity to understand the data science market. I learned about how data and companies fit and the spectrum of data-enabled, data-support, and data-driven. For me personally, the long story made short is I am now happily engaged to Pinterest! However, I feel there are many open and inspiring data science positions, where someone can write a solid chapter in their career and potentially in the history of data science. To those data scientist with a toe to two feet in the job change waters, I hope this list provides a springboard.

Positions with a little je nais se quoi sparkle:

Lyft – the pink mustache, affordable, friendly, scrappy sister of Uber. The part of interest is they are well funded and well staffed – one of the most experienced management groups I’ve seen. The result is an incredible ratio between data scientists and impact. (Job: Data Science, Contact Alex: atreister at lyft.com)

Remind – brings technology to K12 in a simple necessary way by creating classroom communication between teachers and parents. They are a well funded series C startup with 2 data scientists in gigantic space with charismatic leaders. (Job: Growth Data Science, Contact: David at Remind.com)

Laudable Positions in alphabetical order:

Airbnb – definitely a well liked product. One of the largest data science teams, implementing a data-enabled environment, subtle difference from data-driven. Opportunity to learn and collaborate. (Job: Data Science)

Asana – interesting position, well respected company. (Job: Data Science Lead)

Clever – education startup providing a single logon platform for K12 courses to manage applications. Unique application with rapid growth. (Job: PM – analytics)

Credit Karma – profitable, with an interesting data problem to match credit histories with financial advice. Relaxed and friendly team, easy to work with. (Job: Senior Data Science)

Instacart – incredibly handy service with a variety of constraint and recommendation problems. Great opportunity for data driven innovation. (Job: Senior Data Analyst – Product)

Le Tote – I LOVE this service, room for improvement around fresh clothing availability, but off to a solid start. (Job: Data Science Lead)

Nerd Wallet – another instantly profitable financial company, very similar to Credit Karma, sans ssn plus editors. Growing rapidly and recruiting well. (Job: Business Analytics, Contact if you’re in network Anurag)

Pandora – now technically this is an Oakland job, but given the culture and team members, I think this role demands an exception and should be considered. Much room to innovate with audible ads. (Job: Senior Ads Scientist, Contact: Marcy can be reached at mdavis at pandora.com)

Stripe – ambitious startup doing well in the online financial space. Young and hungry. (Job: Data Scientist)

Square – interesting stage of growth. They are simultaneously building on the traditional square with a projected IPO and growing like a startup with expanding what Square can mean for small business. (Job: Data Scientist, Contact: Tony can be reached at tc at squareup.com)

Rally Health – seeks to use gaming and psychology to encourage healthy lifestyle changes. Very solid startup/big hospital alignment. (Job: Business Intelligence Analyst)

Udemy – MOOC education startup using inspirations from YouTube, Lynda, and Coursera to bring a unique flavor and good user experience. Vision backed by a bright driven team. (Job: Senior Data Science Analyst)

For those interested in how this list was generated, here are the search features. Search parameters were for downtown San Francisco, companies where data will make a difference in their success. Additional points were for high ratio of impact per data scientist, funding between series C and going public, warm friendly cultures, investment in setting data scientists up for success, and well liked B2C products. For such a specific search 14 positions matched as commendable considerations.

I look forward to following how these companies progress towards their visions and how data science evolves as a field to meet their challenges!