Senior Data Scientist (San Francisco)

PLUM is a fintech company empowering financial institutions to grow their business through a cutting-edge suite of AI-driven software, purpose-built for lenders and their partners across the financial ecosystem. We are a boutique firm, where each persons contributions and ideas are critical to the growth of the company.

This is a fully remote position, open to candidates anywhere in the U.S. with a reliable internet connection. While we gather in person a few times a year, this role is designed to remain remote long-term. You will have autonomy and flexibility in a flat corporate structure that gives you the opportunity for your direct input to be realized and put into action. You'll collaborate with a high-performing team including sales, marketers, and financial services experts who stay connected through Slack, video calls, and regular team and company-wide meetings. Were a team that knows how to work hard, have fun, and make a meaningful impactboth together and individually.

Job Summary

We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist to lead the development of scalable Generative AI pipelines that process raw data and generate context-aware results to power Plums AI-driven products. You will play a central role in shaping our GenAI platform, working across the full ML lifecyclefrom ingestion and retrieval to generation, evaluation, and deployment.

This role combines deep expertise in machine learning with hands-on experience in building production-grade systems. Youll collaborate closely with various cross functional teams and operate in a fast-paced environment where innovation, autonomy, and ownership are key.

Key Responsibilities

Design and architect end-to-end Generative AI pipelines using LLMs to process and generate context-aware results.

Integrate open-source and proprietary LLMs (e.g., GPT, LLaMA) via APIs and custom orchestration.

Build and optimize workflows using frameworks such as LangChain

Design and implement RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architecture to inject relevant, contextual data into generation prompts.

Develop robust methods to evaluate and compare LLM outputs based on relevance, personalization, and factual accuracy.

Build automated and scalable LLM evaluation pipelines using embedding-based similarity, scoring metrics, and human-in-the-loop feedback.

Implement monitoring, observability, and logging for GenAI workflows to ensure reliability in production.

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate generative outputs into client-facing applications.

Masters degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field or equivalent work experience.

3+ years of experience developing and deploying machine learning pipelines in production.

1+ years of experience building Generative AI or LLM-based applications.

Strong programming skills in Python, with hands-on experience in ML / AI frameworks (e.g., LangChain, Transformers, LLM APIs).

Deep understanding of LLM evaluation, prompt engineering, and text generation quality metrics.

Experience designing and implementing RAG architectures.

Hands-on experience with Databricks, MLflow, or similar platforms.

Experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS preferred) and MLOps practices for deploying and maintaining models in production.

Strong problem-solving skills and ability to lead through ambiguity.

Excellent communication and documentation habits.

Preferred Qualifications

Prior experience using Generative AI in Fintech, Sales Tech, or Marketing Tech domains.

Experience with agentic frameworks such as LangGraph, AutoGPT, or CrewAI.

Familiarity with fine-tuning or custom instruction tuning of LLMs.

Understanding of data privacy and compliance implications when working with client data and GenAI systems.

Benefits and Compensation

A fast-paced, collaborative startup culture with high visibility.

Autonomy, flexibility, and a flat corporate structure that gives you the opportunity for your direct input to be realized and put into action.

Opportunity to make a meaningful impact in building a company and culture.

Equity in a financial technology startup.

Generous health, dental, and vision coverage for employees and family members + 401K.

Eleven paid holidays and unlimited discretionary vacation days.

Competitive compensation and bonus potential.

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