Principal Decision Scientist, Marketing 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.

What you will be doing:

• Serve as the trusted analytics advisor to Ibotta's strategic publisher partners. Working closely with the Strategic Partner Management (SPM) team, you will independently own the analytics relationship with partner executives and build sustained partnerships that inform long-term partner strategy.

• Build and own the analytics foundation for our publisher network: per-publisher and network-level scorecards and performance reporting, built on KPI definitions you align with Finance and SPM.

• Own the analytical narrative for our recurring publisher business reviews and deep dives: explain what drove performance, what we learned, and what partners and Ibotta should do next.

• Lead partner-facing measurement: design tests and case studies, build measurement models as partners share data (including through data clean rooms), and explain and defend our methodology with partner analytics teams.

• Forecast publisher performance, including tracking against contractual commitments such as minimum guarantees, and size opportunities for new partner capabilities and prospective publishers in partnership with Business Development.

• Analyze partner economics, including profitability by publisher, overlap between publishers, and revenue concentration across the network.

• Proactively generate and communicate data-driven insights, moving beyond answering what happened to diagnosing why, and recommending what partners should do next.

• Develop and deliver compelling, executive-ready analytical narratives; translate complex data into clear "So What / Now What" stories for both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Partner with SPM, Business Development, and Finance leadership to shape the Publisher Insights roadmap for partner analytics, including which reporting, measurement, and forecasting capabilities we productize next.

• Identify recurring partner requests and turn them into scalable, standardized, and increasingly automated solutions, including AI-assisted analytics workflows.

• Contribute to thought leadership by authoring point-of-view content, participating in industry conversations, and helping position Ibotta as a credible measurement authority.

• 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.

• Bring an outside-in view of industry trends and standards in forecasting, attribution, measurement, and retail media analytics.

• Drive internal analytical projects forward: planning, executing, and delivering within agreed timelines.

• 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 and impact; analytical domain experience in retail media, performance marketing, or digital advertising; retail or CPG industry experience a strong plus.

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, data science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent experience. A Master's or PhD in a quantitative field is a plus.

• Deep partner-facing and consultative experience required: demonstrated ability to operate as an advisor (not just an analyst) in external partner engagements; consulting background a significant advantage.

• Proven track record of building compelling, insight-driven partner narratives; expert visual and verbal communicator with experience presenting at senior executive and C-suite levels.

• Expertise in experimental and quasi-experimental design, including holdout tests, matched markets, difference-in-differences, and synthetic control, and the ability to explain each method's limits to partners.

• Deep knowledge of industry-standard forecasting, measurement, and attribution models, including incrementality and marketing mix modeling (MMM), with the ability to design, build, and clearly explain these methodologies and their outputs to non-technical audiences.

• Proven experience in forecasting and financial modeling at the partner or business-unit level, including scenario planning and opportunity sizing.

• Experience analyzing partner or commercial economics, such as revenue share, minimum guarantees, contract performance, and revenue concentration.

• Experience with privacy-safe data collaboration, such as data clean rooms, and with measurement when partner data is limited or delayed.

• Hands-on proficiency with modern data and analytics tools: SQL, Python, and BI platforms (Looker, Tableau, or equivalent), plus fluency with AI-assisted analytics and automation workflows. Experience with Git/GitHub, Databricks, and data pipeline tooling a plus.

• Demonstrated expertise in one or more partner business models (mass retail, grocery and delivery, dollar stores, rideshare and last-mile delivery, or quick-service restaurants), or the ability to build it quickly. Depth in a partner's business earns trust faster than broad generalist knowledge.

• Self-directed, highly organized, and able to manage multiple complex partner engagements simultaneously.

• Collaborative team player who actively elevates the people around them and has demonstrated success in building productive, cross-functional working relationships.

• Willingness to travel up to 20% for partner meetings and engagements.

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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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.

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