---
title: 'Data Scientist at Zed'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/data-scientist-zed-manila-y8xamvdpgzgn'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Data Scientist at Zed

- **Company:** Zed
- **Location:** Manila, Philippines
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-02-19
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zedfinancial/418e70df-6851-4a26-be97-0c43fac43f8a

## Job description

## About Zed

Zed is building the first AI-native, licensed neobank in the Philippines designed to democratize access to premium financial services for young professionals in global markets. The current banking system is broken, often shutting out the world’s youngest and fastest-growing consumer classes—we’re here to fix it.

Our team is uniquely positioned to solve this. We are Stanford engineers and former YC founders who have spent our careers at the intersection of banking and hyper-growth startups like Square, Facebook, and Box. We’ve been here before, having previously built and exited Symple (YC W'17), a fast-growing B2B payments company.

We are backed by world-class investors, including Accel, Valar, Immad Akhund (Mercury), Dalton Caldwell (Y Combinator), and Kunal Shah (Cred).

## THE ROLE

As a Data Scientist at Zed, you will play a critical role in shaping how data and AI power our core financial products. In your first six months, you will own the development of data science and machine learning models that directly impact credit risk, decisioning, and product performance. You will work closely with Product, Risk, Engineering, and Finance partners to translate complex business problems into robust, production-ready data solutions in a fast-moving, resource-constrained startup environment.

## WHAT YOU’LL DO

- Build, validate, and iterate on machine learning models that support core financial use cases such as credit risk assessment, underwriting, and portfolio performance.
- Partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders—including Product, Risk, Engineering, and Finance—to understand business objectives, define success metrics, and deliver data-driven insights.
- Take end-to-end ownership of data science projects, from problem formulation, requirement setting, and data exploration to model development, evaluation, and handoff for production.
- Leverage modern AI techniques, including LLMs and generative AI workflows, to develop innovative solutions where appropriate (e.g., fine-tuning, RAG, or agentic systems).
- Continuously improve Zed’s data science practices by staying current with industry advancements and helping mature internal tools, processes, and standards.

## WHAT YOU BRING

## Experience

- 3+ years of professional experience in data science, machine learning, or applied AI, or equivalent graduate-level research with significant hands-on model development.
- Demonstrated experience building ML models from the ground up .

Technical Depth

- Strong proficiency in Python and common data science and ML libraries; experience with SQL and data analysis workflows.
- Hands-on experience with machine learning model development and evaluation
- Exposure to or experience with LLMs and generative AI, including fine-tuning, prompt engineering, RAG, or agentic systems.

Problem-Solving & Communication

- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate ambiguous business problems into structured data science solutions.
- Strong communication skills and comfort explaining technical concepts and results to non-technical stakeholders.

Education

- Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field such as data science, statistics, computer science, engineering, or equivalent practical experience. Advanced degrees are a plus.

Bonus (Nice-to-Haves)

- Experience in financial services, particularly credit risk modeling, scorecard development, or lending-related analytics.
- Familiarity with advanced AI techniques such as causal inference, reinforcement learning, or explainable AI.
- Experience working in startups or constrained environments (e.g., small datasets, cold-start problems, limited resources).

We hire exceptional people from diverse backgrounds because different perspectives build better products.

If you’re excited about this role but don’t check every box, apply anyway. We value potential, ownership, and alignment with our values more than perfect résumés.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on legally protected characteristics. We provide reasonable accommodations throughout the hiring process.

Compensation includes salary, equity, and benefits. Final offers are based on role scope, location, and experience.

## About Zed

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Zed builds a modern, AI-powered credit card and financial platform designed for young professionals in Southeast Asia, offering no-interest credit, unlimited virtual cards, and transparent fees.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A; total funding $22.5M)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (with operations in Manila, Philippines)
- **Founded**: Year not publicly stated; launched in Philippines in 2024
- **Founders**: Steve Abraham (Co-founder) & Danielle Cojuangco Abraham (Co-founder & Co-CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Financial Services (Consumer Fintech)
- **Target customers**: B2C; specifically young, college-educated professionals in Southeast Asia (Generation Z and Millennials) who are underserved by traditional credit systems.
- **Mission statement**: "To build a bank for the next generation that feels like a great private banker," unlocking wealth creation for young people by democratizing access to responsible credit.

## Products & Services
- **[Zed Credit Card]**: A premium Titanium Mastercard with no interest, no foreign transaction fees, and unlimited virtual cards. Features include a data-driven application process that uses AI to underwrite creditworthiness from non-traditional data (transaction data, financial documents), flexible installment plans, instant card locking, and single-use virtual cards for online security. Type: Fintech product (credit card + mobile app).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of **$22.5M** (Seed: $6M led by Valar Ventures; Series A: $16.5M led by Accel). Waitlist has nearly **200,000 sign-ups**; customer base has **grown by 10x** and monthly Gross Merchandise Value (spend) has grown by **~500%** since the beginning of 2025.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Accel, Valar Ventures, Immad Akhund (CEO of Mercury), Dalton Caldwell (former Y Combinator). Issued in partnership with Mastercard. Regulated by the Philippine Central Bank (BSP).
- **Growth Signals**: Rapid growth in user base and transaction volume; Series A round led by top-tier VC Accel; strong word-of-mouth waitlist; expansion of an AI-driven underwriting model targeting a massive underserved market (200M+ college-educated young professionals in emerging Asia). The team has grown **+35% YoY** (13 employees).

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI-native underwriting**: Uses foundational models to assess creditworthiness from alternative data (transaction history, financial documents) rather than relying on thin or nonexistent traditional credit bureau files. This unlocks credit for a huge "unscoreable" demographic.
- **Bespoke product for a generation**: The card is designed specifically for the spending habits of young Southeast Asians (travel, online shopping, peer-to-peer payments) with features like no foreign transaction fees and unlimited virtual cards.
- **Founder-market fit & licensing**: Founded by Stanford-educated engineers with deep fintech expertise (Symple, Y Combinator, Box) and local market knowledge. The company holds a financial institution license from the BSP, a significant regulatory moat.
- **Purpose-built tech stack**: Building a modern bank from scratch, free from legacy infrastructure, allowing for AI-driven, safety-critical consumer systems and multi-currency payments.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand AI-driven credit products**: The current underwriting model is just the first application; the company plans to leverage proprietary AI models to build a wider suite of banking services for its target demographic.
- **Scale in Southeast Asia**: Currently focused on the Philippines as a beachhead market, with a long-term goal of serving young consumers across the region and globally.
- **Hire for product & engineering**: Actively recruiting product-minded engineers, designers, data scientists, and operations staff to build the core platform.
- **Key priorities**: Real-time credit decisioning with sparse data, building safety-critical consumer systems, multi-currency payments, and AI-driven customer experiences.

## Why Work Here
- **High-impact mission**: Opportunity to build a fundamental piece of financial infrastructure for a generation of 200M+ underserved young professionals in Asia.
- **Talent & culture**: The team is described as "ambitious" and "radically honest," composed of Stanford engineers and veterans from Square, Google, Stripe, Facebook, and Box. The environment is "people-first" and focused on technical excellence.
- **Work model**: Hybrid/Office for different teams. Product, Design, and Engineering teams are headquartered in **San Francisco**, while Operations and Risk are based in **Manila**.
- **Backing and stability**: Backed by top-tier investors (Accel, Valar) and key fintech leaders, providing strong financial runway and strategic guidance.
- **Cutting-edge work**: Engineers work on hard problems like AI underwriting, real-time credit, and multi-currency payments with the latest tools (foundational models, agent infrastructure).

## Sources
1. [zed.co](https://www.zed.co/)
2. [LinkedIn - Zed](https://www.linkedin.com/company/zedfinancial)
3. [Zed - Series A Announcement](https://www.zed.co/announcement-series-a/)
4. [Zed - Company Page](https://www.zed.co/company/)
5. [Zed - Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/zedfinancial)
6. [Zed - Card Page](https://www.zed.co/)

## Other roles at Zed

- [Lead Product Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-product-designer-zed-san-francisco-bc3vavgakga1) — San Francisco, CA
- [Partnerships Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/partnerships-lead-zed-manila-zwf9wkssaxth) — Manila, Philippines
- [Senior ML Data Scientist (Credit Risk)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-ml-data-scientist-credit-risk-zed-san-francisco-5ajvgnd0y8s6) — San Francisco, CA
- [AI Engineer, Agent Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-engineer-agent-infrastructure-zed-san-francisco-7vmbp3jws5x3) — San Francisco, CA
- [Customer Experience & Operations Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/customer-experience-operations-analyst-zed-manila-rdykm2kys848) — Manila, Philippines
- [Product Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/product-engineer-zed-san-francisco-68gj119nab78) — San Francisco, CA
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