Senior Data Science Manager Sustainability at Indigo

We’re an international agtech startup pioneering an ambitious mission in a budding industry where agriculture meets technology. Through the use of data-driven insights, natural microbiology, and innovative digital technologies, Indigo is partnering across the supply chain, ultimately cultivating a scalable climate solution and enhanced ecosystem that beneficially serves farmers, consumers, and the planet alike.
Our mission is unique, and therefore our teams are too: from multigenerational farming gurus who understand the land as though it were an extension of themselves, to cutting-edge techies on the frontier of innovation, our teams are a reflection of the range of the stakeholders we serve: the Earth, the Farmer, and the Consumer. Indigo is extraordinary, and we owe that to the individuals who make up our community and enable success through diversity of thought, experience, background, perspective, race, sexuality, gender, age, and everything else that makes a person uniquely themselves. Connected by a common vision and empowered by diversity, we aren’t ordinary, and neither are you. Embrace your extraordinary and join Indigo in cultivating a healthier planet fueled by unique game changers.
The sustainability data science team is a multidisciplinary team that harnesses data science, statistics, and technology to build a data-driven, scientifically-rigorous sustainability program. Our activities span several aspects including: 

Operational tasks to conservatively quantify Carbon sequestration approaches, rates, and efficacy 

Partner with our science team on more R&D activities to design, analyze, and derive actionable insights from the frontiers of sustainability and carbon sequestration field experiments and sensor technologies 

Strategic decision support with forecasting and scenario planning 
Partner with the product team on tools, processes, and data products to enhance the grower’s Carbon program experience.

The role:
We are looking for a senior manager to lead a cross-disciplinary team of data scientists, analysts, and software engineers to own the end-to-end flow of ground truth measurements for both (1 Indigo's current Carbon program and (2 future opportunities related to sustainability. The approach could include reviews of the scientific literature, analysis of soil and agronomic datasets, and use of simulation, modeling, and machine learning.
As such, the role involves an operational component generating sampling plans, sending agents to the field to collect soil samples, and lab sample reconciliation—ideally improving the processes and tools to both improve efficiency, scale, and reliability with reduced cost—as well as insight generation and integrating systems into our core technology platform. It also involves a more strategic and R&D component, partnering with our science team to examine the latest literature, open and proprietary data, evaluate partner field experiments, and make recommendations about our program and offering.
Quantifying soil organic carbon sequestration effect sizes and uncertainty are at the heart of our program. This involves developing sound methodological approaches. To thrive in the role, you will be comfortable with experimental design, statistics, and the vagaries and realities of real world, messy, experimental data. You do not need an agronomic background (but it would be a bonus) but you must be comfortable diving into a new domain and understanding the latest bleeding edge technologies, literature, and approaches. Indigo has a highly collaborative culture, thus you will thrive partnering with other squads, engineers, influencing the higher level roadmap and cat herding. Finally, you embody the player-coach approach, and willingly roll up your sleeves to act as an individual contributor (mostly in Python) alongside your team and other collaborators.
We are looking for someone who is excited by the challenge of turning complex data from the physical world into insights that drive decisions and inform the future of Indigo’s Carbon program, an expanded Sustainability offering, as well as growing, nurturing, and managing a team of like-minded data scientists, analysts, and software engineers. 
 
Responsibilities

Partner with our science team to review literature, and design, analyze, and draw insights from field experiments and make program recommendations for Carbon sequestration programs as well as other aspects of sustainability.
Collaborate with product managers and engineers to productionize soil data-related systems including sampling algorithms and plans, QA/QC, lab data reconciliation, and other aspects of the Carbon program operational data flow and processes.
Manage a team of data scientists, analysts, and software engineers. Provide tactical and strategic leadership, nurture their personal development and career.
Contribute to the culture, standards, processes, and knowledge sharing and learning within the broader Carbon data science team, as well as with our partners that span remote sensing, product, engineering, science, policy, and leadership.
Own the roadmap: be a strategic thinker that can span the big picture, paint a compelling vision of the future, influence leadership to obtain the necessary resources and prioritization but dip down to backlogs, tickets, and story points to make progress.

Competencies:

Managed a team of data scientists, statisticians, or analysts for at least 2 years in an industrial setting. Bonus points for startup experience.
Enjoy collaborating across multiple disciplines, including product, science, and engineering.
Strong communication skills, ability to listen, story tell, and influence partners, especially in a remote first environment.
A strong statistical background, especially in sampling, bias, experimental design, and uncertainty. Simulation, Bayesian approaches, and MCMC experience could be useful.
Extremely comfortable working with data, databases, SQL, APIs, data munging, and other data preparation and cleaning tasks.
Experience with the agile process and methodology, developing a robust backlog, and designing and getting buy in to the roadmaps.
A hands on player coach mindset, keen to code and dig into data, review PRs, and drive process, standards, and best practices to get high quality and impactful tools, models, and data products into production.
A growth mindset: own problems end-to-end, and are willing to pick up whatever knowledge you're missing to get the job done
Interest in and experience with one or more of agriculture, environmental science, agronomy, climatology and/or geospatial data in some form is a big plus.

Minimum Qualifications:

Track record of delivering actionable insights, and impactful productionized models and data products
Fluency in Python and SQL
Experience initiating and driving projects to completion with minimal guidance
Demonstrated experience in hiring, retaining, and scaling high-performing teams

Preferred Qualification:

Ph.D or Masters or a Graduate Degree in Computer Science, Math, Statistics, Physics, Engineering, or related quantitative field 
Experience in a startup environment

Benefits:

Health, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family
Generous time off
Parental leave
A remote-first organization with flexible work hours
401(k) plan

Indigo is committed to living our values, specifically “creating a work environment where everyone feels respected, connected, and has opportunities to learn and grow.” As part of living our values, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels they can be themselves and has an equal opportunity of succeeding.
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