Senior Data Scientist, Risk

Mudflap serves the $800B trucking industry, the backbone of the U.S. economy. Our market-leading payment products help truckers save thousands of dollars on fuel (their #1 business expense), while providing our fuel stop partners with access to new, hard-to-reach customers. We’re a fast-growing marketplace business looking for a new customer-obsessed teammate to join us on this exciting journey.

About the Role
At Mudflap, we’re building a data-driven decision engine that powers every facet of our business—from risk management and underwriting to product innovation and operational excellence. We’re looking for a versatile Senior Data Scientist, Risk to join our high-impact team.

In this role, you will develop the models, insights, and strategies that help us identify, assess, and mitigate credit and fraud risk across our platform. You’ll lead the development of underwriting capabilities, design predictive models to reduce fraud losses, and uncover opportunities to improve portfolio performance. Working closely with Product, Engineering, Risk, and Finance teams, you’ll translate complex data into scalable risk solutions that drive growth while protecting the business.

Work Location:

This role is based in Palo Alto, CA and involves a hybrid work approach, balancing in-office collaboration with the ability to work remotely.

To support our team, we offer:

• Commuter benefits to ease your travel

• Lunches and snacks to keep you fueled

• A collaborative, high-growth environment where you’ll work closely with talented teammates across the company

What You’ll Do

• Drive strategic data science initiatives that directly impact business outcomes, working closely with executive leadership to identify high-value opportunities in your domain.

• Lead end-to-end machine learning projects from problem formulation through production deployment, including model development, validation, A/B testing, and performance monitoring. solve high-impact business problems such as fraudulent risk assessment, underwriting, customer segmentation, etc.

• Drive data-driven decision making across cross-functional partnerships — Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Ops, Risk teams, etc. to translate complex business requirements into analytical solutions and communicate insights to executive stakeholders

• Mentor junior data scientists and analysts and establish best practices — Provide technical leadership, code reviews, and strategic guidance while developing scalable data science methodologies and standards across the organization

• Lead experimentation strategy and drive product innovation — Own end-to-end A/B testing frameworks, mentor teams on experimental design, and translate test results into actionable product improvements that directly impact key business metrics

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in data science, analytics, or related fields.

• Proficiency in SQL and Python for data manipulation, modeling, and automation.

• Experience building production-ready models and pipelines.

• Strong statistical knowledge and experience designing experiments (A/B testing, cohort analysis, causal inference).

• Excellent communication skills—ability to present complex insights clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Experience in at least one of the domains: risk, growth/marketing, or product analytics preferred.

• Comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment where collaboration and flexibility are essential.

Perks and Benefits (What we offer):

• Competitive salary and equity in a high-growth startup

• Multiple health benefit options

• Responsible Time Off

• 401(k) matching

• Opportunities and support for major career growth

• Annual Company offsite event (Mudfest!)

The salary range for this role is $185,000 - 225,000. This information reflects a base salary range for this position based on current market data, which may be subject to change as new market data becomes available. The candidate's skills, experience, and other relevant factors will determine the exact compensation.

Company Overview (Who we are):

Mudflap is on a mission to transform the trucking and logistics industry by leveling the playing field for owner operators and small fleets. Backed by top-tier venture investors, including QED, Matrix Partners, Commerce Ventures, NFX, and 500 Startups and included in the Forbes Fintech 50 list, Mudflap offers fleet fuel management solutions. Our core team hails from Disney, Uber, Procore, DoorDash, Google, Meta, Capital One, Affirm and Brex.

Here are the core values that we believe in and look for in new teammates:

• Be Customer Obsessed: We deeply understand customer needs and put our customers at the center of everything we do

• Make it Count: Act like an owner by focusing on the impact of your work

• Find a Way: Be a creative problem solver who pushes past roadblocks to win for our customers and our teammates

• Sweat the Details: We keep our standards high and achieve them by paying attention to every detail

• Be Curious: Use a growth mindset to question assumptions, take calculated risks and stretch the boundaries of what’s possible