Senior Data Scientist, Returns Optimization

The salary range for this position is $121,000 - 132,000. The base salary offered may vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Must be ONSITE in Boston, MA (Monday-Thursday)

CastleGate is Wayfair’s proprietary supply chain service that empowers suppliers to forward-position their inventory closer to customers, enabling fast, reliable, and cost-effective fulfillment. The CastleGate Product team is part of Wayfair’s broader Network Management organization and is responsible for building and optimizing the CastleGate offering across our global network to ensure it creates value for Wayfair, our Suppliers and Customers.

We're seeking a passionate and skilled Data Scientist to be a core member of the team building our groundbreaking Returns Disposition Engine. In this role, you'll be instrumental in developing and deploying optimization models for the Wayfair returns process. You'll work with complex data to determine the best course of action for each returned item, balancing company, supplier, and customer interests. This is an opportunity to use your technical expertise to solve a critical business problem, directly impacting our operational efficiency, financial outcome and customer satisfaction. Successful individuals in this role excel at both qualitative and quantitative analysis while also being eager to communicate upward and outward to tell a concise story.

What You'll Do

• Leverage arithmetic, statistical, and ML approaches to establish a new “profit max” Returns Disposition Engine


• Perform statistical analysis across large data sets and within defined segments to develop performance insights across a myriad of attributes


• Create efficient data structures that can be leveraged across the organization and can be maintained in a dynamic environment


• Collaborate with cross functional partners and ensure that there is strong alignment between Wayfair’s business objectives and our Data Science driven strategies


• Develop key metrics and reporting to measure how initiatives are improving Wayfair’s performance and enabling our team to easily identify trends, root causes and develop targeted action plans


• Conduct thorough ad-hoc analysis


• Build prototypes and dashboards to translate large data sets into driving insights and action


• Monitor KPIs and assess how we’re making progress against business objectives

What You'll Need

• Master's and/or Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field


• Professional experience in writing code in structured programming languages (Python, R), writing scripts using GBQ or SQL, creating Pivot Tables and Vlookups in Google Sheets or Excel, and using data visualization tools such as Data Studio, Looker, Tableau or PowerBI


• Excellent communication, both written and verbally


• Collaborative mindset that thrives as part of a team


• Data and process-oriented, demonstrated ability to continuously learn new tools


• High attention to detail and proven ability to manage multiple, competing priorities simultaneously


• Ability to navigate an environment of continuous improvement working through ambiguity in an evolving organization

An Important Note about Wayfair's In-Office Policy:

All Boston-based interns, Co-ops, and corporate employees will be in office in a hybrid capacity. Employees will work in the office on designated days, Monday - Thursday, and work remotely Friday.

About Wayfair Inc.

Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online destinations for the home. Whether you work in our global headquarters in Boston, or in our warehouses or offices throughout the world, we’re reinventing the way people shop for their homes. Through our commitment to industry-leading technology and creative problem-solving, we are confident that Wayfair will be home to the most rewarding work of your career. If you’re looking for rapid growth, constant learning, and dynamic challenges, then you’ll find that amazing career opportunities are knocking.

No matter who you are, Wayfair is a place you can call home. We’re a community of innovators, risk-takers, and trailblazers who celebrate our differences, and know that our unique perspectives make us stronger, smarter, and well-positioned for success. We value and rely on the collective voices of our employees, customers, community, and suppliers to help guide us as we build a better Wayfair – and world – for all. Every voice, every perspective matters. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, marital status, disability, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Your personal data is processed in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Notice (). If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights under applicable privacy and data protection laws, please contact us at [email protected] .