Applied Scientist, Marketplace Optimization

About the position

About ThredUp

ThredUp is transforming resale with technology and a mission to inspire the world to think secondhand first. By making it easy to buy and sell secondhand, ThredUp has become one of the world's largest online resale platforms for apparel, shoes and accessories. Sellers love ThredUp because we make it easy to clean out their closets and unlock value for themselves or for the charity of their choice while doing good for the planet. Buyers love shopping value, premium and luxury brands all in one place, at up to 90% off estimated retail price. Our proprietary operating platform is the foundation for our managed marketplace and consists of distributed processing infrastructure, proprietary software and systems and data science expertise. With ThredUp’s Resale-as-a-Service, some of the world's leading brands and retailers are leveraging our platform to deliver customizable, scalable resale experiences to their customers. ThredUp has processed over 172 million unique secondhand items from 55,000 brands across 100 categories. By extending the life cycle of clothing, ThredUp is changing the way consumers shop and ushering in a more sustainable future for the fashion industry.

Recognized on TIME Most Influential Companies of 2023,  Digiday's WorkLife 50 2023, TIME's Best Inventions of 2022, and Lattice's People Success Awards 2022.

How You’ll Make an Impact:

At ThredUp, data fuels our mission to make the world think secondhand first. You’ll join a cross-functional squad of data scientists, engineers, product managers, and marketers to inform decisions across pricing, promotions, and marketplace health. In this role, you’ll build pricing models and contribute to our understanding of ThredUp’s complex two-sided marketplace to drive strong customer, supplier, and business outcomes.

This role reports to our Director of Marketplace Optimization.

In This Role You’ll Get To:

• Identify Growth & Profit Opportunities: Analyze pricing, promotions, and marketplace dynamics to surface actionable insights. Apply statistical and machine learning techniques to better understand drivers of customer behavior and revenue.

• Build and Deploy ML Models: Develop and iterate on our pricing models to improve business outcomes. Contribute to productionizing models in collaboration with engineering partners.

• Apply Causal Inference & Experimentation: Design and analyze experiments to measure the impact of pricing changes, marketing campaigns, and product features. Use causal inference methods to inform decision-making and improve model performance.

• Contribute to Marketplace Simulation & Forecasting: Support the development of models that help forecast marketplace performance under different scenarios (e.g., pricing changes, supply shifts, demand growth).

• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Partner closely with product, marketing, and engineering teams to translate business problems into data science solutions. Communicate findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Continuously Learn & Improve: Stay current with developments in machine learning and applied statistics, and apply new techniques where appropriate to improve ThredUp’s systems.

What We’re Looking For:

• 4-5 years of experience as a data scientist, applied scientist, ML engineer, or similar role

• Experience applying machine learning or statistical methods to real-world business problems (experience in e-commerce or marketplaces is a plus)

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, or a related quantitative field

• Proficiency in Python (e.g., pandas, scikit-learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow) and SQL

• Experience working with data pipelines and contributing to production ML systems

• Familiarity with experimentation, causal inference, and statistical modeling

• Exposure to tools such as Databricks, MLflow, or similar platforms 

• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain analyses and model results clearly

• Comfortable working cross-functionally with product, engineering, and business teams

• Eagerness to learn, take feedback, and grow in a fast-paced environment

At ThredUp, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. This role pays between $150,000 and $185,000, and your actual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location.

Many ThredUp employees also have the opportunity to own shares of ThredUp stock. ThredUp employees are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards, as well as a discount when purchasing ThredUp stock if voluntarily participating in ThredUp’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Subject to eligibility requirements, you’ll also receive other benefits: Comprehensive medical & dental coverage, vision, 401k, life and disability insurance.

This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

What We Offer:

• 4-day work week, with most Fridays off

• Competitive salary (we leverage market data)

• Many ThredUp employees also have the opportunity to own shares of ThredUp stock and are eligible for discretionary restricted stock unit awards

• Employee stock purchase plan

• Flexible PTO (take the time you need) + 13 company holidays

• Paid Sabbatical after 3 years of full time employment

• Generous paid parental leave for new mothers and fathers

• Medical, dental, vision, 401k, life and disability insurance offered

• We live by our Core Values of Transparency, SpeakingUP, Thinking Big, Infinite Learning, Influencing Outcomes & Seeking the Truth

We believe diversity, inclusion and belonging is key for our team

At ThredUp, our mission has been built on extending the lives of millions of unique clothing items. Much like our inventory, we are proud to have fostered a workplace that is one-of-a-kind. As a company focused on diversity, inclusion and belonging, we are committed to ensuring our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work every day. A unique perspective is critical to solving complex problems and inspiring a new generation to think secondhand first. Be you.

If you are a candidate with a disability and have a reasonable accommodation request for the job application process, please email disabilitysupport@ThredUp.com the specific details of your disability related accommodation request. This email address is reserved for candidates with disabilities only. General application inquiries will not receive a response.

Place of work