Team: Data Science

Reporting to: Director of Data Science

Location preferred: Vietnam/ India

About ELSA

ELSA is a global leader in AI-powered English communication training, dedicated to transforming how people learn and speak English with confidence. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in San Francisco, we operate across the U.S., Vietnam, Portugal, Indonesia, Brazil and Japan.

Powered by proprietary speech-recognition technology and generative AI, ELSA delivers real-time, hyper-personalized feedback to help learners improve pronunciation, fluency, and overall communication effectiveness. With over 50 million learners and 1 billion hours of anonymized speech data, ELSAs depth of language training intelligence is unmatched in the industry.

Our B2B flagship platforms ELSA Enterprise and ELSA Schools empower organizations and educational institutions to elevate communication capabilities and unlock personal and professional opportunities for their people. We design engaging, bite-sized learning experiences that adapt to each learners goals and context, ensuring measurable improvement and lasting confidence.

Our vision is to become the global standard for real-time English communication training, enabling 1.5 billion language learners worldwide to speak clearly, be understood, and share their stories with the world.

Backed by world-class investors including Googles Gradient Ventures, Monks Hill Ventures, and SOSV, ELSA has been recognized among the top global AI innovators:

• Forbes Top 4 Companies Using AI to Transform the World
• Research Sniper Top 5 Best AI Apps
• ASU+GSV EdTech 150
• CB Insights Top 100 AI Companies

Join us in shaping the future of language learning and empowering millions to unlock opportunity through confident communication.

Job overview:

We're seeking a Principal Decision Scientist to lead analytics for both our B2B enterprise and B2C consumer products. You'll be the strategic analytics partner to Product, Growth, and Business Development teams, translating complex data into actionable insights that drive multi-million dollar decisions. This role combines deep analytical work with technical leadership, managing workstreams for junior data scientists while maintaining hands-on involvement in critical analyses.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Analytics Leadership (60%)

B2C Product & Growth Analytics:

• Own the end-to-end analytics for user acquisition, activation, retention, and monetization funnels
• Design and analyze A/B tests for product features, pricing strategies, and growth experiments
• Build predictive models for churn, LTV, and conversion optimization
• Partner with Product and Growth teams to define KPIs and build measurement frameworks
• Conduct deep-dive cohort analyses to understand user behavior across segments and geographies (especially APAC markets)

B2B Enterprise Analytics:

• Define and track success metrics for enterprise customers (utilization, engagement, ROI)
• Build business cases and ROI models for enterprise sales prospects
• Analyze customer health scores and build early warning systems for churn risk
• Support contract renewals with data-driven impact reports
• Partner with Customer Success on usage optimization and expansion opportunities

Cross-Functional Strategy:

• Present insights and recommendations to executive leadership and Board
• Translate complex analyses into compelling narratives for non-technical stakeholders
• Drive data-informed decision-making across Product, Marketing, and Business Development
• Build and maintain dashboards for key stakeholders (Amplitude, Tableau, Looker, etc.)

Technical Leadership & Mentorship (30%)

• Mentor 1-2 junior data scientists, providing technical guidance and career development
• Assign workstreams and projects, ensuring quality and timely delivery
• Conduct code reviews and establish best practices for analytics workflows
• Build reusable data models, SQL views, and analytics frameworks
• Collaborate with Data Engineering on data infrastructure and pipeline improvements

Analytics Infrastructure (10%)

• Maintain and optimize the analytics tech stack (Snowflake, dbt, Amplitude, etc.)
• Build self-service analytics tools and documentation for the organization
• Ensure data quality and governance across analytics outputs

What You Will Have

Must-Haves:

• 7+ years of experience in data science/analytics roles, with at least 2 years at a senior or staff level
• Deep expertise in product analytics and growth experimentation (A/B testing, causal inference)
• Proven experience analyzing both B2B SaaS metrics (ARR, retention, expansion) and B2C product metrics (DAU/MAU, conversion funnels, LTV)
• Advanced SQL proficiency - you can write complex queries, CTEs, window functions, and optimize for performance
• Python/R for statistical analysis, modeling, and data manipulation (pandas, scikit-learn, statsmodels)
• Strong statistical foundation - experimental design, hypothesis testing, regression, time-series analysis
• Executive communication skills - you've presented analyses to C-suite and influenced major decisions
• People leadership - experience managing or mentoring analysts/data scientists
• Excellent English communication (written and verbal) - you'll work with global stakeholders

Strongly Preferred:

• Experience with subscription/SaaS business models and cohort-based analytics
• Familiarity with EdTech, mobile apps, or marketplace products
• Experience with modern data stack: Snowflake, dbt, Looker/Tableau, Amplitude/Mixpanel
• Background in machine learning for churn prediction, recommendation systems, or user segmentation
• Knowledge of marketing analytics: attribution, CAC/LTV optimization, channel mix modeling
• Experience building data products or internal analytics tools
• Familiarity with enterprise B2B sales cycles and customer success metrics

Nice-to-Have:

• Graduate degree in Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, or related quantitative field
• Experience in high-growth startups (Series B-C stage)
• Contributions to open-source analytics projects or public thought leadership
• Experience working in cross-timezone, distributed teams

What We Offer

• Flexible Work Setup: Remote-first in India and hybrid in Vietnam, designed to support both focus and collaboration.
• Meaningful Global Impact: Your work will directly shape the learning experience of millions of English learners worldwide.
• Unique Problem Space: Tackle both large-scale consumer analytics and complex enterprise challenges, offering rare breadth for an analytics role.
• Modern Data Environment: Work with a contemporary data stack and the autonomy to choose tools and approaches that best solve the problem.
• Strong Career Growth: As ELSA scales, this role offers a clear path toward senior leadership, including Head of Analytics or VP-level positions.
• Exceptional Global Team: Collaborate with experienced engineers, product leaders, and go-to-market teams across multiple regions.
• Global Reach: Analyze data across 100+ countries, with deep exposure to diverse markets and strong focus on APAC.