Lead - POC Data Science

Lead - PoC Data Science (Remote)

Company: Sardine

About Sardine:

Sardine is a leader in fraud prevention and AML compliance, utilizing device intelligence, behavior biometrics, machine learning, and AI to stop fraud before it happens. Our platform is trusted by over 300 banks, retailers, and fintechs worldwide to combat identity fraud, payment fraud, account takeovers, and social engineering scams. We have secured $145M in funding from top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Activant, Visa, Experian, FIS, and Google Ventures.

Our Culture:

We are a remote-first company with hubs in the Bay Area, NYC, Austin, Toronto, and São Paulo, embracing a #WorkFromAnywhere philosophy. We hire talented, self-motivated individuals who exhibit extreme ownership and a high growth orientation. We value performance over hours worked, allowing flexibility for personal commitments.

About the Role:

We are seeking a hands-on Lead - PoC Data Science to lead our Proof of Concept (PoC) data science team. This player-coach role involves driving critical PoC projects for enterprise customers and financial institutions, while simultaneously developing your team's expertise and accelerating their impact. You will work directly with clients to understand their unique fraud challenges, rapidly prototype models, and help build scalable production-ready solutions using fraud analytics and machine learning. This role encompasses client-facing PoC/POV delivery, DS/ML product development, and team performance, requiring fraud domain expertise and technical credibility.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Lead and develop a team of individual contributor data scientists, setting direction and fostering growth.
• Own PoC/POV delivery, partnering directly with enterprise customers to demonstrate fraud-loss reduction and platform ROI.
• Remain hands-on in technical work, including building or reviewing ML models and conducting in-depth fraud analyses.
• Define and track performance metrics, designing dashboards to measure risk strategy effectiveness.
• Translate complex client problems into actionable data solutions.
• Partner cross-functionally with Engineering, Product, and GTM teams.
• Drive experimentation through A/B testing to validate new strategies.
• Mentor data scientists on modeling rigor, data storytelling, and client communication.

What You'll Need:

• 10+ years of experience in fraud/risk data science and analytics with demonstrated impact in fraud, payments, or fintech.
• 3+ years in a people leadership role (team lead, manager, or tech lead with direct reports).
• Strong hands-on technical skills: Python and SQL are essential; Spark, Kafka, or feature stores are a plus.
• Experience delivering PoC/POV engagements with measurable customer outcomes.
• Proven track record with applied ML in fraud or risk (anomaly detection, classification, graph analytics in production).
• Expertise in BI and dashboarding (Sigma, Tableau, Metabase, or equivalent).
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Bias toward action and ownership.

Nice to Have:

• Familiarity with real-time decision infrastructure (Flink, Kafka, feature stores).
• Background in a high-growth fintech, payments, or financial institution.

Benefits We Offer:

• Generous compensation in cash and equity.
• Early exercise for all options, including pre-vested.
• Work from anywhere: Remote-first Culture.
• Flexible paid time off and year-end break.
• Health, dental, and vision coverage (US and Canada specific).
• 4% matching in 401k / RRSP (US and Canada specific).
• MacBook Pro provided.
• One-time stipend for home office setup.
• Monthly meal stipend.
• Monthly social meet-up stipend.
• Annual health and wellness stipend.
• Annual Learning stipend.

Location: Remote - USA or Canada (Work from Home / Beach / Mountain / Cafe / Anywhere!)