Principal Analyst, Small Dollar Loans

The Team

Every year, millions of Americans turn to high-cost payday loans to cover short-term cash needs, often paying excessive fees and interest. Upstart’s Small Dollar Loan product offers a fair-priced, non-predatory alternative for those deemed "too risky" by traditional lenders. Operating like a startup within a larger company, our team moves quickly to refine our ML models, automate the customer experience, and scale the business. Since launching in April 2022, we've expanded access to credit for tens of thousands of customers while proving strong unit economics—and we’re just getting started.

As a Principal Analyst, you’ll play a critical role in driving data-driven decision-making for our Small Dollar Loan product. Partnering with Product, Engineering, and Data Science, you’ll uncover insights, shape strategy, and enhance our data infrastructure to optimize product performance. Your work will directly influence Upstart’s continued growth, ensuring our product evolves to better serve customers while scaling efficiently.

Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: Remote, USA

Travel Requirements -  As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

How you’ll make an impact:

• Develop and execute data-driven strategies to guide the growth and evolution of the Small Dollar product.
• Collaborate with Product and GM to shape product roadmaps and business strategies, ensuring data-driven decisions at every stage.
• Design, build, and maintain analytics frameworks that help measure product performance, user behavior, and loan outcomes.
• Conduct deep-dive analyses and modeling to uncover growth opportunities, optimize loan performance, and enhance risk strategies.
• Define and implement experimentation strategies (A/B testing, causal inference) to improve customer experience and financial outcomes.
• Communicate insights and recommendations effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, influencing product and business decisions

What we’re looking for: 

• Minimum qualifications:
  • 10+ years of experience in product analytics, data science, or a related quantitative role, preferably in fintech, lending, or consumer finance.
  • Strong proficiency in SQL and Python (or R) for data analysis, modeling, and automation.
  • Experience with A/B testing, causal inference, and experimental design to drive product decisions.
  • Excellent communication skills with a proven ability to present complex data insights in a clear and actionable manner.
  • Background in statistical analysis, predictive modeling, or machine learning, with experience applying these to product or financial decision-making.
• Preferred qualifications:
  • Master’s or PhD in a quantitative field (e.g., Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, Data Science).
  • Experience working with lending products, risk modeling, or financial services analytics.
  • Understanding of data modeling principles, including designing scalable and efficient analytical models
  • Ability to influence product, engineering, and leadership teams through compelling storytelling with data.
  • Comfort with ambiguity and a strategic mindset for solving complex, unstructured problems.

What you'll love: 

• Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart 
• 401(k) with 100% company match up to $4,500 and immediate vesting and after-tax savings
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Life and disability insurance
• Generous holiday, vacation, sick and safety leave  
• Supportive parental, family care, and military leave programs
• Annual wellness, technology & ergonomic reimbursement programs
• Social activities including team events and onsites, all-company updates, employee resource groups (ERGs), and other interest groups such as book clubs, fitness, investing, and volunteering
• Catered lunches + snacks & drinks when working in offices

#LI-REMOTE

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