Staff Data Scientist

ABOUT TRUE FOOTAGE

True Footage is building the technology behind Kelley Blue Book Home Valuations.

For nearly a century, Kelley Blue Book has been one of the most trusted names in automotive valuation, helping millions of consumers understand what their vehicles are worth. Today, that trusted brand is expanding into residential real estate with the goal of making home valuations more transparent, explainable, and trustworthy.

Our technology also powers TrueTracts, the leading analytical platform used by residential appraisers across the United States. Residential appraisals play a critical role in the housing market, with appraisers' valuations underpinning a large portion of U.S. residential mortgage lending.

Whether we're building consumer-facing valuation products or analytical tools for appraisal professionals, Data Science is the core technology behind everything we build.

Every model we develop must do more than generate accurate results—it must also be interpretable, explainable, and defensible. We build analytical systems that consumers can trust and professionals can confidently rely upon.

We're looking for a Staff Data Scientist to help shape the next chapter of Data Science at True Footage.

THE OPPORTUNITY

This is a unique opportunity to join an established, fast-growing Series C company where Data Science sits at the center of the business.

You'll work directly with the CTO to solve challenging statistical problems, develop new valuation methodologies, and build production systems that power both Kelley Blue Book Home Valuations and TrueTracts.

Many of the problems you'll tackle don't have established solutions. You'll help invent new methodologies, rigorously evaluate them, and transform them into production software used every day across the country.

This is not a deep learning or LLM research role. Our work centers on statistical modeling, interpretable machine learning, optimization, and production-quality analytical systems.

While this role is highly hands-on, we're also looking for someone excited to help build the future of Data Science at True Footage. As the organization grows, you'll help establish technical standards, mentor future team members, influence hiring, and shape the long-term direction of the team.

WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON 

Examples of projects include:

• Designing next-generation residential valuation methodologies.
• Improving the accuracy and robustness of Kelley Blue Book Home Valuations.
• Quantifying confidence and uncertainty in valuation models.
• Building interpretable machine learning systems trusted by both consumers and professional appraisers.
• Designing methodologies for rare and atypical properties.
• Building analytical systems that increase confidence in one of the largest financial decisions most consumers will ever make.
• Turning new analytical ideas into production systems used every day across the country.

WHAT YOU’LL OWN

• Design and implement production-quality statistical and machine learning systems.
• Partner directly with the CTO to develop new analytical methodologies.
• Translate research ideas into scalable production software.
• Design rigorous evaluation frameworks and continuously improve model performance.
• Improve the reliability, maintainability, and engineering quality of our machine learning platform.
• Collaborate closely with software engineering to bring new analytical capabilities into production.
• Help establish technical standards and engineering best practices for Data Science.
• Participate in hiring, mentoring, and building the next generation of the Data Science team.

GROWTH OPPORTUNITY

This is one of the earliest leadership hires within our Data Science organization.

Initially, you'll spend most of your time working hands-on alongside the CTO, building and shipping production machine learning systems while developing a deep understanding of our valuation platform.

As the team grows, you'll have the opportunity to:

• Help define the technical direction of Data Science.
• Participate in hiring and mentoring future team members.
• Establish engineering and modeling best practices.
• Scale the organization's technical capabilities.
• Take on increasing technical leadership responsibilities over time.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Technical Background

• Strong background in machine learning and statistics.
• Experience building production-quality machine learning systems.
• Excellent Python programming skills.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including testing, version control, modular design, and writing maintainable production code.

Problem Solving

We're looking for someone who enjoys solving open-ended problems.

You should be comfortable reasoning from first principles, working through ambiguity, and developing elegant solutions to difficult statistical and engineering challenges.

Collaboration

• Able to communicate complex technical ideas clearly.
• Enjoys working through difficult technical problems collaboratively.
• Comfortable giving and receiving constructive technical feedback.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Within your first year, you'll have:

• Become a trusted technical partner to the CTO.
• Shipped multiple production machine learning systems.
• Made meaningful contributions to the next generation of our valuation methodology.
• Significantly accelerated our ability to bring new analytical capabilities into production.
• Helped raise the engineering quality of our machine learning platform.
• Begun establishing the technical standards that will guide the future growth of the Data Science organization.

EEO STATEMENT

True Footage is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.

Compensation: $225,000/yr - $250,000/yr