Senior Data Scientist - Optimization, Central Market Management & AI

Lyft is a company focused on serving and connecting people through a collaborative work environment. They are seeking a Senior Data Scientist to join the Central Market Management & AI team, where the role involves building scalable optimization and modeling systems that impact Lyft’s marketplace decisions and business efficiency.

Responsibilities:

• Design, formulate, and solve complex mathematical optimization problems that power Lyft’s marketplace decisions across pricing, pay, incentives, and resource allocation
• Build, deploy, and maintain production-grade ML and optimization models; collaborate with Software Engineering to integrate algorithms into live systems and establish robust monitoring for model performance and data health
• Own the full model lifecycle—from problem framing and prototyping through experimental validation and production deployment—refusing a 'build and forget' mentality
• Apply first-principles mathematical reasoning to marketplace challenges, choosing the simplest effective solution and building complexity only when incremental value justifies the technical debt
• Drive large-scale technical projects from initial concept to high-impact execution, ensuring alignment with business priorities and Lyft’s overarching goals
• Contribute to and influence the multi-quarter technical roadmap for foundational models, helping shape the vision and architecture for next-generation optimization and forecasting systems
• Champion high standards for code quality through well-tested, maintainable code and the development of shared team components and libraries
• Infuse AI capabilities into existing workflows and demonstrate agility in adopting emerging AI models and techniques to keep Lyft at the forefront of marketplace optimization
• Partner with Data Scientists, Engineers, Product Managers, and Business Partners across lever teams (Pricing, Pay, Driver Engagement, Rider Engagement) to frame problems mathematically and within the business context
• Serve as a subject matter expert on optimization and modeling, providing technical guidance and thought leadership to elevate the team’s capabilities
• Foster a data-driven culture by presenting actionable insights and recommendations to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
• Influence stakeholder roadmaps and advise cross-functional partners on the long-term trade-offs of different algorithmic approaches