Description
At Instructure, we believe in the power of people to grow and succeed throughout their lives.
We're hiring a Director of Decision Science to build and lead the team that turns Instructure's data into better decisions.
The Role You'll own the decision science function: the people, the roadmap, and the standards. Your team will run experiments, build causal and predictive models, and answer questions that shape our product, pricing, go-to-market, and operating plans. This is a people-leadership role. You'll hire, coach, and grow a team of decision scientists, and set the bar for analytical rigor across the company.
Responsibilities
- Build and lead the decision science team.
- Set the function's strategy and roadmap.
- Partner with product, engineering, marketing, finance, and executive leadership to turn fuzzy business questions into clear analytical problems.
- Direct the development of predictive, prescriptive, and causal models.
- Raise the bar on how insights reach decision-makers.
- Present findings and recommendations to senior leaders.
- Grow data literacy across Instructure.
- Work with data engineering and platform teams to ensure the team has the data, tooling, and infrastructure it needs.
- Hold the line on ethical, privacy-conscious data use.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in data science, analytics, or decision science, including at least three years managing and developing a team.
- A track record of analytical work that changed real decisions and produced measurable business results.
- Deep expertise in experimental design, causal inference, statistical modeling, and machine learning.
- Strong SQL skills, plus fluency in Python or R.
- Experience with modern data platforms and large-scale data tools.
- Ability to explain complex analyses to executives in plain language.
- Record of hiring well, developing people, and building a team culture.
Nice to Have
- Experience in education technology or another B2B SaaS business.
- Familiarity with subscription and product-led growth metrics.
- Experience building an analytics or decision science function from an early stage.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation, plus ownership program.
- Flexible work culture.
- Generous time off.
- Comprehensive wellness programs and mental health support.
- Learning and development resources.
- Technology and tools needed to do your best work.
- Motivosity employee recognition program.
- Culture rooted in inclusivity, support, and meaningful connection.