About The Company
Porch Group is a leading provider of vertical software and insurance platforms dedicated to transforming the homeownership experience. Positioned as a strategic partner for homebuyers, Porch offers a comprehensive suite of differentiated products and services, with homeowners insurance at the core of its offerings. The company's mission is to facilitate seamless home transactions, maintenance, and protection by leveraging innovative technology and data-driven insights. Porch has established deep relationships with approximately 30,000 key stakeholders in the home-buying ecosystem, including home inspectors, mortgage lenders, and title companies, reinforcing its leadership in the home services SaaS space. Since its inception, Porch has demonstrated rapid growth and industry recognition, including ringing the Nasdaq bell in 2020 and trading under the ticker symbol PRCH. The company is committed to building a great organization and continues to expand its influence within the homeownership industry, driven by a passion for innovation, excellence, and customer-centric solutions.
About The Role
We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Staff Data Scientist specializing in Insurance Pricing to join our dynamic team remotely across the United States. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for setting the technical direction for Porch’s homeowners insurance pricing and risk modeling initiatives. As a senior individual contributor, you will own complex and ambiguous modeling challenges from conception through deployment, influencing key business outcomes such as profitability, retention, and competitive positioning. Your expertise in Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) will form the foundation of our pricing strategies, while your innovative use of machine learning techniques, including gradient boosting and neural networks, will enhance underwriting accuracy and operational efficiency. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—actuarial, product, engineering, and business—to translate rich property data into actionable insights and sustainable competitive advantages. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of insurance pricing at Porch, mentor other data scientists, and drive measurable impact at scale, all within a forward-thinking, innovative environment.
Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in data science, with a strong background in insurance pricing or risk modeling
- Proven track record of technical leadership, including setting project direction, establishing standards, and mentoring teams
- Expertise in architecting, validating, and deploying GLM-based pricing models for property or casualty insurance
- Proficiency in Python and SQL, with hands-on experience in implementing models using scikit-learn, statsmodels, xgboost, and lightgbm
- Experience with experimental design, A/B testing, and causal inference in high-traffic environments
- Familiarity with cloud platforms such as Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and BigQuery, including MLOps practices like versioning and monitoring
- Strong documentation and project management skills using Confluence and Jira within Agile/Scrum workflows
- Master’s or PhD degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative discipline (preferred)
- Additional desirable skills include actuarial science background, customer lifetime value modeling, geospatial data analysis, and exposure to generative AI and LLMs
Responsibilities
- Define and implement the technical vision for insurance pricing and risk modeling, establishing best practices and modeling standards
- Provide technical oversight and mentorship to data science team members, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous learning
- Design, develop, and deploy GLM-based models for frequency, severity, and loss cost estimation in homeowners insurance
- Build advanced machine learning models, including gradient boosting machines and neural networks, to improve underwriting accuracy and profitability
- Create ensemble models to predict insured-level profitability, customer retention, and lifetime value, informing strategic marketing and underwriting decisions
- Leverage non-traditional data sources such as aerial imagery, satellite data, government records, and building permits to enhance risk assessment and strategic insights
- Collaborate with product, actuarial, engineering, and business teams to scope initiatives and integrate data science solutions into operational workflows
- Partner with actuarial teams to develop, file, implement, and monitor predictive models that comply with regulatory standards
- Champion robust deployment practices, including A/B testing, performance monitoring, and continuous model refinement
- Drive innovation by evaluating emerging techniques like generative AI and large language models to identify new competitive advantages
Benefits
- Competitive salary ranging from $168,800 to $236,300 annually, commensurate with experience and skills
- Eligibility for long-term incentive awards based on performance and company guidelines
- Comprehensive health coverage, including three medical plan options, dental, and vision plans
- Voluntary benefits such as critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident plans
- Pre-tax savings options, including Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts for healthcare, dependent care, and transportation
- Company-paid basic life insurance, AD&D, short and long-term disability benefits, with voluntary life and AD&D options
- Retirement plans including traditional and Roth 401(k) with discretionary employer matching
- Wellbeing programs like Supportlinc for mental health support, guided meditation, and coaching services
- Employee discounts on travel, fitness, appliances, pet insurance, and more through LifeBalance
- Paid time off including flexible vacation, holidays, sick leave, and parental leave
- Additional perks such as travel assistance, identity theft protection, and wellness discounts
Equal Opportunity
Porch Group is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other status protected by applicable law. We believe that diverse teams foster innovation and drive better outcomes, and we actively seek to build a team that reflects a variety of backgrounds and experiences.