Principal decision scientist, strategic partner analytics

Ibotta is seeking a Principal Decision Scientist, Strategic Partner Analytics to join our Publisher Insights team and contribute to our mission to Make Every Purchase Rewarding. Our third-party publishers are the retailers and platforms, including Walmart, 7-Eleven, Uber, and DoorDash, that offer Ibotta-powered rewards to their own customers through the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN). In this role, you will be a senior individual contributor who leads and elevates the people around you through the delivery of best-in-class analytics solutions and actionable insights for these partners. This is an opportunity to leverage your expertise and consultative instincts to make an outsized impact on our most important partner relationships and drive revenue growth.

The ideal candidate brings a rare combination: a hands-on analytics skill set, a consultative mindset, and the presence to operate as a trusted advisor to senior partner stakeholders. You will own the full arc of analytical work, from proactive insight generation and measurement methodology to executive and C-suite-level storytelling, and serve as a thought leader both internally and externally. You will also drive the evolution of how we deliver analytics to our publisher partners, moving from reactive support to a proactive, insight-driven, and increasingly automated approach to measuring and improving partner and network performance.

This position is located in Denver, Colorado as a hybrid position requiring 3 days in office (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Candidates must live in the United States.

Not based in Denver? We will offer a relocation bonus to help make your move to the Mile High City a smooth one.

What you will be doing

• Serve as the trusted analytics advisor to Ibotta's strategic publisher partners, independently owning the analytics relationship with partner executives in close partnership with the Strategic Partner Management (SPM) team.
• Build and own the analytics foundation for our publisher network: per-publisher and network-level scorecards and reporting, built on KPI definitions aligned with Finance and SPM.
• Own the analytical narrative for publisher business reviews and deep dives. Diagnose what drove performance and turn it into clear "So What / Now What" recommendations for partners and Ibotta, for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Lead partner-facing measurement: design tests and case studies, build measurement models as partners share data (including through clean rooms), and defend our methodology with partner analytics teams.
• Forecast publisher performance against contractual commitments such as minimum guarantees, and size opportunities for new partner capabilities and prospective publishers with Business Development.
• Analyze partner economics, including profitability by publisher, overlap between publishers, and revenue concentration across the network.
• Shape the Publisher Insights roadmap with SPM, Business Development, and Finance, turning recurring partner requests into scalable, increasingly automated solutions, including AI-assisted workflows.
• Mentor and coach junior and mid-level members of the Publisher Insights team, and set the bar for partner-facing analytical quality through reviews and teach-outs.
• Position Ibotta as a credible measurement authority through point-of-view content and industry conversations, bringing an outside-in view of trends in forecasting, attribution, measurement, and retail media analytics.
• Embrace and uphold Ibotta's Core Values: Integrity, Boldness, Ownership, Teamwork, Transparency, & A good idea can come from anywhere.

What we are looking for

• 10+ years of experience in analytics, data science, or decision science roles of increasing responsibility, with domain experience in retail media, performance marketing, or digital advertising; retail or CPG experience a strong plus.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, data science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent experience required; a Master's or PhD is a plus.
• Deep partner-facing and consultative experience required: a proven advisor (not just an analyst) and expert communicator with experience presenting to senior executives and the C-suite; consulting background a significant advantage.
• Expertise in experimental and quasi-experimental design (holdouts, matched markets, difference-in-differences, synthetic control) and in measurement models such as incrementality and MMM, with the ability to explain their outputs and limits to non-technical audiences.
• Proven experience in forecasting, financial modeling, and partner economics, including scenario planning, opportunity sizing, revenue share, and minimum guarantees.
• Experience with privacy-safe data collaboration, such as data clean rooms, and with measurement when partner data is limited.
• Hands-on proficiency with SQL, Python, and BI platforms (Looker, Tableau, or equivalent), plus fluency with AI-assisted analytics workflows; Git/GitHub, Databricks, and data pipeline tooling a plus.
• Expertise in one or more partner business models (mass retail, grocery and delivery, dollar stores, rideshare and last-mile, or QSR), or the ability to build it quickly.
• Self-directed and highly organized collaborator who manages multiple complex partner engagements at once and elevates the people and cross-functional teams around them.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% for partner meetings and engagements.

About Ibotta (“I bought a…”)

Ibotta (NYSE: IBTA) is a leading performance marketing platform allowing brands to deliver digital promotions to over 200 million consumers through a network of publishers called the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN). The IPN allows marketers to influence what people buy, and where and how often they shop – all while paying only when their campaigns directly result in a sale. American shoppers have earned over $2.6 billion through the IPN since 2012. The largest tech IPO in history to come out of Colorado, Ibotta is headquartered in Denver, and is continually listed as a top place to work by The Denver Post and Inc. Magazine.

To learn more about what our Tech teams are doing day to day, visit Building Ibotta on Medium.com.

Additional Details

This position is located in Denver, CO and includes competitive pay, flexible time off, benefits package (including medical, dental, vision), Employee Stock Purchase Program, and 401k match. Denver office perks include paid parking, snacks and occasional meals.

Base compensation range: $159,000 - $190,000. Total compensation for this role also includes a variable component in addition to base salary. Equity is included in overall compensation package. This compensation range is specific to the United States labor market and may be adjusted based on actual experience.

Ibotta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Ibotta’s employment decisions are made without regard of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

Applicants are accepted until the position is filled.

For the security of our employees and the business, all employees are responsible for the secure handling of data in accordance with our security policies, identifying and reporting phishing attempts, as well as reporting security incidents to the proper Channels.

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Recruiting Agency Notice

Ibotta does not accept agency resumes and is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. Please do not forward resumes to any Ibotta employees.