Senior Data Scientist - CLTV & Retention

Machine Learning Scientist (MLS-3) – CLTV & Retention

Role Description

As a Machine Learning Scientist (MLS-3) in Nykaa’s Search & Personalization team, you will take end-to-end ownership of the algorithms that drive customer retention and long-term platform growth. You will be responsible for architecting and leading the development of sophisticated predictive models for Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV), churn prediction, and automated intervention strategies. This role requires a blend of deep technical expertise and strategic thinking, as you will collaborate with Marketing, Product, and Engineering leadership to define the roadmap for user-centric AI and drive significant impact on marketing ROI and customer loyalty.

What are we looking for?

Education:

• Bachelor’s, Master’s in Data Science or Computer Science.

Experience:

• 4–7 years of hands-on industry experience in Machine Learning, with a proven track record of delivering high-impact projects.
• Extensive experience in building and scaling ML solutions within eCommerce, Search, or FinTech environments.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex projects from conceptualization to production-grade deployment.

Technical Skills:

• Strong foundation in ML concepts including regression, tree-based methods, regularization, bias–variance tradeoffs, and probabilistic modeling.
• Deep understanding of experimental design, including A/B testing and multi-armed bandits.
• Experience with Uplift Modeling (e.g., Two-Model approach, Transformed Outcome, or Causal ML) to drive decision-making.
• Proficiency in Probabilistic Modeling, forecasting, churn prediction.
• Mastery of Python, SQL, and distributed computing frameworks (Spark, Databricks, or AWS SageMaker).

Soft Skills:

• Proven ability to mentor junior scientists and provide technical leadership across the squad.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence product roadmaps using data-driven insights.

Responsibilities

• Architectural Leadership: Design and lead the development of the next generation of CLTV and Retention models, ensuring they are robust, scalable, and highly accurate.
• Strategic Personalization: Develop and deploy Uplift models to optimize marketing spend, identifying the \"persuadable\" segments to maximize incremental conversion.
• Feature Engineering & Intelligence: Lead the creation of a centralized user-signal repository, leveraging search intent, clickstream, and purchase behavior to power real-time personalization.
• End-to-End Productionization: Oversee the full ML lifecycle—from data pipelining and modeling to deployment and monitoring—using MLflow and modern CI/CD practices for ML.
• Mentorship & Quality: Drive technical excellence within the team through code reviews, research sharing, and mentoring junior MLS-1 and MLS-2 members.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Product and Marketing leaders to translate high-level business goals (e.g., \"Reduce Churn by X%\") into actionable technical strategies.

What You’ll Learn & Grow Into

• Leading large-scale AI initiatives that define the future of customer engagement at Nykaa.
• Mastering the intersection of Generative AI and Personalization to create hyper-individualized user journeys.
• Transitioning into Principal Scientist tracks, focusing on long-term architectural vision and organizational impact.