Calling All Data Scientists! 

IDEO is continually looking for new data scientists at all levels of their professional journey. We currently don't have any open positions, but we’re always looking to connect with amazing people throughout the year through our global data science general interview process. 

Data science at IDEO

Data scientists at IDEO are members of our client-facing design teams, contributing to every part of our process: user research, prototyping, communication, proposal writing, client relationship development, and project management.

We count on data scientists to guide their project teams in how data should (or shouldn’t!) play a role in what we design, provoke discussions about the privacy and ethics of data and algorithms, help design compelling data visualizations, and bring their expertise in prototyping machine learning and other algorithms.

As a data scientist at IDEO, you will:

• Center your work on people. We go to work because we want to improve peoples’ lives through design. You’ll talk with and design alongside the people our designs affect, to develop a deep understanding of their needs and their context and develop solutions.
• Partner with our clients. It doesn’t matter how smart or creative our work is if it isn’t viable for our client’s business. You’ll get to know our clients’ values, strategy, and structure so that you can be an effective partner and make things happen.
• Create tangible things, quickly. One of our values is “talk less, do more” and our work often requires quick iteration over perfection. You’ll perform data analysis, create visualizations/simulations, and implement statistical/machine learning/optimization algorithms — learning new techniques and tools as necessary.
• Shape data science at IDEO (and beyond!). We believe the “AI” revolution hasn’t happened yet — and that we have an opportunity to help conceive of a new way of practicing data science that improves business and society. You’ll explore approaches to practicing data science and share stories inside and outside of IDEO of what you’ve learned along the way.
• Collaborate with inspiring colleagues. We’re a passionate and creative community from a variety of backgrounds: anthropology, software development, graphic design, management, journalism, architecture, engineering, and more. You’ll learn from people from a uniquely broad variety of backgrounds and translate concepts between them.
• Make connections. We work in almost every industry on projects that range from the earliest stages of design and strategy to later phases of bringing new products and services to market. You’ll work to see patterns across these contexts, and apply what you’ve learned in one context to another.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for candidates who are:

• Excellent at quantitative reasoning. You understand what data can and can’t tell us, can communicate that to others, and conceptually understand when to apply particular quantitative techniques.
• Coding generalists. You are fluent at writing code to wrangle, analyze, and visualize data, as well as implementing algorithms in code (but don’t necessarily need to know about production software engineering).
• Committed to equity and inclusion. You proactively and humbly learn about systems of oppression, how they shape our surroundings, and how we might interrupt them. You seek ways to help everyone feel like they belong.
• Motivated to create. You are motivated by progress over perfection, and learn new tools as necessary to make progress on the design task at hand.
• Curious and rapid learners. More important than what you already know is how you learn and teach on the job. Are you knowledgeable about the latest tools and techniques? Great! We want you to share it with others. If you aren’t, that’s fine, as long as you’re excited and able to learn how and when to apply them.
• Excellent communicators and collaborators. You have exceptional verbal and written communication skills, can understand our client’s organizational and business context, and can effectively collaborate with a range of people.

Through the interview process, we’ll be looking for evidence of these qualifications, but we don’t require any specific technical skills. We recognize these qualifications may be embodied in different ways — in fact, we get most excited by new ways people embody these that add something new to our team!

Likewise, we don’t have a specific requirement for degrees or years of work experience. However, we have observed that many of these qualifications are developed through full-time work experience (either as a data scientist or something else entirely), participation in community organizations, open-source software projects, graduate academic research, or something else.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organization and in the world. We have a collective responsibility to design new systems. We have attempted to do so in some of our work, but we have not moved as quickly or as boldly as we should have. We cannot be successful until we re-examine our values, our relationships, and how we practice design itself. 

We are committed to centering equity across IDEO in talent, training, community, design, and culture. A lot of work is being done to bring us closer to realizing this goal, but we’re still early in our learning journey towards understanding what it means to become an equitable organization. As we are continually working towards and providing attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we are looking for candidates who are committed to continuing this work with us. 

Consider applying to our general application!

Not sure about your level of experience or area of expertise? Please err on the side of applying — we’re often most excited about people from professional backgrounds adjacent to data science!

If you’d like to be considered for a future data science opportunity at IDEO, please submit this general application and include your answer to the following question in the cover letter section: based on the above description, what excites you about working as a data scientist at IDEO? We will review applications on a rolling basis and will reach out within 2-3 weeks of your submission date.