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I strive to recruit the
most talented
data scientists and
compensate them accordingly.

Every good data science manager ever

2

Parody?

3

Truth?

4

Is there another way?

HR can't do a market salary benchmark analysis for a person that doesn't exist

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Is there another way?

HR can't do a market salary benchmark analysis for a person that doesn't exist

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Data Scientist wanted! (1/2)

Seeking data scientists with hands on experience transforming unique data into amazing products. You will have access to an enormous amount of high-value business activity data. You will participate in the end-to-end processes of product development using machine learning, from proof of concept to deploying models in production. Your work will directly impact the developer experience in building applications, as well as the customer experience when interacting with them.

  • Working closely with Software Engineers and Product/Technical Services Mangers to drive analysis and performance improvements
  • Developing and implementing cloud-based security solutions providing data protection and governance, and improving customer experience
  • Working with internal business teams to integrate data and decision-making
  • Build intelligence into our services to make them run smarter with a responsible application of Machine Learning.
7

Data Scientist wanted! (1/2)

Seeking data scientists with hands on experience transforming unique data into amazing products. You will have access to an enormous amount of high-value business activity data. You will participate in the end-to-end processes of product development using machine learning, from proof of concept to deploying models in production. Your work will directly impact the developer experience in building applications, as well as the customer experience when interacting with them.

  • Working closely with Software Engineers and Product/Technical Services Mangers to drive analysis and performance improvements
  • Developing and implementing cloud-based security solutions providing data protection and governance, and improving customer experience
  • Working with internal business teams to integrate data and decision-making
  • Build intelligence into our services to make them run smarter with a responsible application of Machine Learning.
8

Data Scientist wanted! (1/2)

Seeking data scientists with hands on experience transforming unique data into amazing products. You will have access to an enormous amount of high-value business activity data. You will participate in the end-to-end processes of product development using machine learning, from proof of concept to deploying models in production. Your work will directly impact the developer experience in building applications, as well as the customer experience when interacting with them.

  • Working closely with Software Engineers and Product/Technical Services Mangers to drive analysis and performance improvements
  • Developing and implementing cloud-based security solutions providing data protection and governance, and improving customer experience
  • Working with internal business teams to integrate data and decision-making
  • Build intelligence into our services to make them run smarter with a responsible application of Machine Learning.
9

Data Scientist wanted! (1/2)

Seeking data scientists with hands on experience transforming unique data into amazing products. You will have access to an enormous amount of high-value business activity data. You will participate in the end-to-end processes of product development using machine learning, from proof of concept to deploying models in production. Your work will directly impact the developer experience in building applications, as well as the customer experience when interacting with them.

  • Working closely with Software Engineers and Product/Technical Services Mangers to drive analysis and performance improvements
  • Developing and implementing cloud-based security solutions providing data protection and governance, and improving customer experience
  • Working with internal business teams to integrate data and decision-making
  • Build intelligence into our services to make them run smarter with a responsible application of Machine Learning.
10

Data Scientist wanted! (1/2)

Seeking data scientists with hands on experience transforming unique data into amazing products. You will have access to an enormous amount of high-value business activity data. You will participate in the end-to-end processes of product development using machine learning, from proof of concept to deploying models in production. Your work will directly impact the developer experience in building applications, as well as the customer experience when interacting with them.

  • Working closely with Software Engineers and Product/Technical Services Mangers to drive analysis and performance improvements
  • Developing and implementing cloud-based security solutions providing data protection and governance, and improving customer experience
  • Working with internal business teams to integrate data and decision-making
  • Build intelligence into our services to make them run smarter with a responsible application of Machine Learning.
11

Data Scientist wanted! (1/2)

Seeking data scientists with hands on experience transforming unique data into amazing products. You will have access to an enormous amount of high-value business activity data. You will participate in the end-to-end processes of product development using machine learning, from proof of concept to deploying models in production. Your work will directly impact the developer experience in building applications, as well as the customer experience when interacting with them.

  • Working closely with Software Engineers and Product/Technical Services Mangers to drive analysis and performance improvements
  • Developing and implementing cloud-based security solutions providing data protection and governance, and improving customer experience
  • Working with internal business teams to integrate data and decision-making
  • Build intelligence into our services to make them run smarter with a responsible application of Machine Learning.
12

Data Scientist wanted! (2/2)

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Data Scientist wanted! (2/2)

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Challenge: job descriptions that map to appropriate salaries

A common listing describes a unicorn...

These types of job descriptions usually mean the company doesn’t know what they’re looking for, and they expect a data scientist to come and solve all their problems without any support.

15

Challenge: job descriptions that map to appropriate salaries

A common listing describes a unicorn...

These types of job descriptions usually mean the company doesn’t know what they’re looking for, and they expect a data scientist to come and solve all their problems without any support.

But unicoRns are real and should be compensated as such!

16

The job description to offer pipeline

17

The job description to offer pipeline

Hiring manager writes a job description

  • States the primary purpose, expected deliverables
  • Requirements for technical skills, prior experience, and/or education
18

The job description to offer pipeline

Hiring manager writes a job description

  • States the primary purpose, expected deliverables
  • Requirements for technical skills, prior experience, and/or education

HR classifies the role

  • Hourly or salary
  • Type of contributor: technician, professional, scientist
  • Level of contributor: entry, intermediate, senior, principal
19

The job description to offer pipeline

Hiring manager writes a job description

  • States the primary purpose, expected deliverables
  • Requirements for technical skills, prior experience, and/or education

HR classifies the role

  • Hourly or salary
  • Type of contributor: technician, professional, scientist
  • Level of contributor: entry, intermediate, senior, principal

Role-specific salary benchmarking data are from purchased compensation surveys

  • HR will aggregate across several such sources to derive a salary range
  • The ultimate offer varies somewhat by company's compensation philosophy
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Data Scientist I
II
III
IV
V
  • Purpose: Summarize and analyze complex/large data to guide business insights
  • Independently merge and tidy data from multiple source systems, then conduct appropriate summarization or statistical analyses according to business stakeholder needs
  • Use data and visualizations to inform business solutions for organizational leaders
  • Organize databases, analyses, and reports into user-accessable and reproducible repositories
  • Preferred R stack experience: tidyverse including dbplyr, R markdown, Shiny, caret [insert required basket of R needs here]
  • May require an advanced degree
  • 0-2 years of related experience preferred

Notes:

  • This support role reports to a manager and work is closely managed
  • Projects most often contain limited complexity
  • Purpose: Summarize and analyze complex/large data to guide business insights
  • Independently merge and tidy data from multiple source systems, then conduct appropriate summarization or statistical analyses according to business stakeholder needs
  • Use data and visualizations to inform business solutions for organizational leaders
  • Organize databases, analyses, and reports into user-accessable and reproducible repositories
  • Preferred R stack experience: tidyverse including dbplyr, R markdown, Shiny, caret [insert required basket of R needs here]
  • May require an advanced degree
  • 2-4 years of related experience typically required

Notes:

  • Typically reports to a manager, though only requires occasional direction
  • Gains exposure to some complex tasks of the job
  • Purpose: Summarize and analyze complex/large data to guide business insights
  • Independently merge and tidy data from multiple source systems, then conduct appropriate summarization or statistical analyses according to business stakeholder needs
  • Use data and visualizations to inform business solutions for organizational leaders
  • Organize databases, analyses, and reports into user-accessable and reproducible repositories
  • Preferred R stack experience: tidyverse including dbplyr, R markdown, Shiny, caret [insert required basket of R needs here]
  • Typically requires either advanced degree or 4-7 years of related experience, or an appropriate mix of the two

Notes:

  • This independent/collaborative member typically reports to a manager, but requires minimal direction
  • Contributes to solving complex challenges associated with the role
  • Purpose: Summarize and analyze complex/large data to guide business insights
  • Independently merge and tidy data from multiple source systems, then conduct appropriate summarization or statistical analyses according to business stakeholder needs
  • Use data and visualizations to inform business solutions for organizational leaders
  • Organize databases, analyses, and reports into user-accessable and reproducible repositories
  • Preferred R stack experience: tidyverse including dbplyr, R markdown, Shiny, caret [insert required basket of R needs here]
  • Typically requires either advanced degree or 7+ years of related experience, or an appropriate mix of the two

Notes:

  • This independent/collaborative member typically reports to a manager or head of a unit, but work is primarily independent
  • Often a team lead for complex problems
  • Purpose: Summarize and analyze complex/large data to guide business insights
  • Independently merge and tidy data from multiple source systems, then conduct appropriate summarization or statistical analyses according to business stakeholder needs
  • Use data and visualizations to inform business solutions for organizational leaders
  • Organize databases, analyses, and reports into user-accessable and reproducible repositories
  • Preferred R stack experience: tidyverse including dbplyr, R markdown, Shiny, caret [insert required basket of R needs here]
  • Typically requires either advanced degree or 10+ years of related experience, or an appropriate mix of the two

Notes:

  • This independent/collaborative member typically reports to a manager or head of a unit, but work is autonomous
  • Leads teams to solving the most technical and complex problems encountered by the Data Science unit
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Concluding remarks

24

Concluding remarks

  • Primary drivers of salary estimates are experience and autonomy

    • Corollary: You probably don't need to learn fancy new language X to get the job you want
    • These drivers may evolve in the data science domain
25

Concluding remarks

  • Primary drivers of salary estimates are experience and autonomy

    • Corollary: You probably don't need to learn fancy new language X to get the job you want
    • These drivers may evolve in the data science domain
  • Salary surveys are not yet capturing specific data science roles

    • E.g. machine learning engineer, decision scientist
26

Concluding remarks

  • Primary drivers of salary estimates are experience and autonomy

    • Corollary: You probably don't need to learn fancy new language X to get the job you want
    • These drivers may evolve in the data science domain
  • Salary surveys are not yet capturing specific data science roles

    • E.g. machine learning engineer, decision scientist
  • This talk is not arguing for or against the current process

    • Instead, it reports the pipeline that is common to large organizations to:
      • Empower you, the unicoRn, to capture the compensation you deserve
      • Empower managers to recruit and compensate the unicoRns they need
27

MASSIVE THANKS 👏

💻 https://github.com/tgerke/unicoRns-are-real
📺 https://unicorns-are-real.netlify.com/
Twitter logo @travisgerke

28
I
strive
to
recruit
the
most
talented
data
scientists
and
compensate
them
accordingly.

Every good data science manager ever

2
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