Associate Director, Data Science

Job Description:
Your Opportunity
Chewy is seeking an innovative and strategic Associate Director, Data Science to lead our growing Customer Care AI and Advanced Analytics organization. In this role, you will lead a high-performing team of Data Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers while driving the vision, strategy, and execution of AI and machine learning capabilities across Customer Care.
This leader will oversee a broad portfolio of initiatives spanning customer-facing AI experiences, agent-assist technologies, intelligent routing, operational optimization, forecasting, and emerging generative AI applications. You will partner closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, Data Platforms, and executive leadership to deliver scalable, data-driven solutions that improve customer experience, increase operational efficiency, and accelerate business impact.
The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth with strategic thinking, organizational leadership, and operational excellence. You are comfortable navigating ambiguity, balancing short-term execution with long-term direction, and influencing decisions across multiple teams and senior stakeholders. This is a hands-on leadership role that requires the ability to guide complex initiatives from concept through production while establishing scalable frameworks, standards, and best practices across the organization.
If you are passionate about building high-performing teams, solving complex business problems through AI and advanced analytics, and shaping the future of customer experience at scale, we'd love to talk with you.
What You'll Do

• Define and drive the strategic direction for AI and Data Science capabilities across Customer Care, leading a diverse portfolio of initiatives spanning customer experience, agent productivity, intelligent routing, operational optimization, forecasting, and generative AI.
• Lead and scale high-performing teams of Data Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Drive prioritization and execution across multiple workstreams, balancing long-term strategic investments with near-term business impact.
• Partner with senior leaders across Product, Engineering, Operations, Workforce Management, Finance, and Data Platforms to identify opportunities, influence roadmaps, and align technical solutions with organizational goals.
• Lead the development and operationalization of scalable machine learning and AI solutions, ensuring reliability, performance, governance, and maintainability across evolving systems and technologies.
• Establish best practices for experimentation, model validation, deployment, monitoring, MLOps, and continuous improvement to support enterprise-scale AI capabilities.
• Navigate complex dependencies across real-time systems, traditional machine learning models, and LLM-based architectures while driving scalable and sustainable technical solutions.
• Influence architectural direction, technical standards, and platform strategy to improve consistency, scalability, and operational efficiency across teams and use cases.
• Communicate complex technical concepts, business insights, trade-offs, and recommendations effectively to executive and non-technical stakeholders.
• Build organizational capability by mentoring senior technical talent, developing future leaders, and creating scalable operating mechanisms that enable team growth and execution excellence.
• Stay ahead of emerging trends in AI, machine learning, NLP, and generative AI, evaluating opportunities to create competitive advantage and measurable business value for Chewy.

What You'll Need

• Master's degree (or Ph.D.) in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• 8+ years of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Advanced Analytics, or related technical fields, including multiple years leading and scaling technical teams.
• Proven experience driving large-scale AI/ML initiatives from concept through production in complex, cross-functional environments.
• Demonstrated success leading teams across multiple domains or portfolios while influencing organizational strategy and business outcomes.
• Deep expertise in machine learning, statistical modeling, experimentation, optimization, NLP, LLMs, and generative AI applications.
• Strong understanding of scalable ML systems, MLOps, CI/CD pipelines, model governance, and operational best practices.
• Experience partnering across Product, Engineering, Operations, and executive leadership to drive prioritization, alignment, and delivery.
• Strong programming experience in Python or R, with proficiency in SQL and modern data/ML ecosystems.
• Experience with cloud platforms and large-scale data technologies such as Spark, dbt, Iceberg, Redshift, Athena, or similar tools.
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into strategic business recommendations.
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity, influence decision-making, and balance competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Nice to Have

• Experience in customer care, contact center, workforce optimization, or operational analytics environments.
• Experience with recommendation systems, graph-based modeling, optimization, or real-time decisioning systems.
• Previous experience in retail, e-commerce, or high-growth technology organizations.
• Experience building and scaling AI platforms or enterprise-wide machine learning capabilities.

The base salary range for this role is $186,500 - $265,000.00.

• The specific salary offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including but not limited to the candidate's relevant experience, education, and work location. In addition, this position is eligible for 401k and a new hire and annual equity grant. C08+ positions may also be eligible for annual bonus.

We offer different types of insurance and benefits, such as medical/Rx, vision, dental, life, disability, hospital indemnity, critical illness, and accident. We offer parental leave, family services benefits, backup dependent care, flexible spending accounts, telemedicine, pet adoption reimbursement, employee assistance program, and many discounts including 10% off pet insurance and 20% off at Chewy.com.
Exempt salary team members have unlimited PTO, subject to manager approval. Team members will receive six paid holidays per year. Team members may be eligible for paid sick and family leave in compliance with applicable state and local regulations.
Chewy is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, citizenship, marital status, religion, age, disability, gender identity, results of genetic testing, veteran status, as well as any other legally-protected characteristic. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need an accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, or if you need a religious accommodation, please contact [email protected].
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