Data Science Manager II, Marketing R&D

At Root, we’re on a mission to improve the lives of our customers by offering better insurance solutions. We challenge ourselves to think differently in order to reimagine insurance to make it smarter, more equitable, and a better experience for all.

We strive to “unbreak” the archaic insurance industry by using data and technology in innovative new ways. We believe we must be steadfast in our commitments to research, experimentation, and disciplined data-driven decision making in order to build products our customers love.

The Opportunity

We believe that a disruptive insurance company must have a principled quantitative framework at its foundation. At Root, we are committed to the rigorous development and effective deployment of modern statistical machine learning methods to problems in the insurance industry.

At Root, the Quantitative Science team owns the majority of all marketing capital allocation, using quantitative methods to test, maintain, and enhance our marketing strategies across numerous distribution channels. As a Data Science Manager II, Marketing R&D, you will lead a team of data scientists and marketing specialists to scale Root’s mid- and upper-funnel marketing capabilities through disciplined research, experimentation, and execution.

You will own the end-to-end execution of marketing experiments and campaigns, from hypothesis development and experimental design through launch and evaluation. You will apply a scientific approach to brand marketing, balancing executional discipline with quantitative rigor to measure incrementality, refine targeting and creative strategy, and guide marketing investment decisions. In parallel, you will lead a multi-year marketing R&D program to evolve the methodologies, systems, and tools that enable scalable experimentation and decision-making across channels.

This role requires close collaboration with internal partners and external vendors to ensure campaigns run efficiently, measurement is credible, and insights are translated into operational capabilities. The ideal candidate brings structure to ambiguity, moves quickly without sacrificing rigor, and focuses on turning research and experimentation into durable business impact.

Root is a “work where it works best” company, meaning we will support you working in whatever location that works best for you across the US. We will continue to have our headquarters in Columbus to give more flexibility and more choice about how we live and work.

Salary Range: $200,000 - $250,000 (Bonus and LTI eligible)

How You Will Make an Impact

• Lead a multidisciplinary team of data scientists and marketing specialists advancing Root’s mid- and upper-funnel marketing capabilities
• Guide a portfolio of greenfield marketing experiments from design through deployment, rigorous measurement, iteration, and scale
• Set the long-term direction for marketing R&D, shaping the evolution of Root’s measurement and experimentation capabilities over time
• Increase R&D throughput and efficiency by improving experimental design, decision frameworks, and operating processes
• Partner closely with leaders across engineering, product, and creative to align roadmaps and translate research into production capabilities
• Develop talent on the team through coaching and mentorship, raising the bar for technical rigor, execution quality, and business impact

What You Will Need to Succeed

• Advanced degree in a quantitative discipline (PhD preferred) and 5+ years of applying advanced quantitative techniques to problems in industry
• 2+ years of experience in a leadership role, with a track record of enhancing team output
• Expertise in experimental design and causal inference, including randomized experiments, geo-testing, and applied causal methods
• Track record of building and applying measurement frameworks that assess marketing campaign effectiveness and guide marketing investment
• Experience with programmatic marketing platforms (e.g., DSPs), including audience building, targeting strategies, and attribution
• Strong programming skills with experience in SQL and Python or R
• Demonstrated ownership and judgment in identifying high-impact opportunities and driving them from concept to execution
• Ability to reason from first principles while effectively leveraging prior experience to navigate ambiguity
• Clear, concise communicator with the ability to influence stakeholders and executives

As part of Root's interview process, we kindly ask that all candidates be on camera for virtual interviews. This helps us create a more personal and engaging experience for both you and our interviewers. Being on camera is a standard requirement for our process and part of how we assess fit and communication style, so we do require it to move forward with any applicant's candidacy. If you have any concerns, feel free to let us know once you are contacted. We’re happy to talk it through.