---
title: 'Senior Data Scientist at Ignite Reading'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-data-scientist-ignite-reading-united-states-vdesbq72tf6z'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Senior Data Scientist at Ignite Reading

- **Company:** Ignite Reading
- **Location:** United States
- **Compensation:** $174k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-06-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/ignite-reading/b6590f51-c14f-47cb-a1df-8bdf82b0797e/application

**Skills:** SQL, Python, Statistical modeling, Experimental design, Machine learning, Predictive modeling, Agentic workflows, Claude, Cursor, LLM-based automations, Prompt libraries, Guardrails, Output validation, Student data analysis, Education data, PII handling

> The Senior Data Scientist applies advanced analytics, statistics, and machine learning to generate actionable insights for partner-facing teams. This role involves building predictive models, agentic workflows, and AI-driven solutions to drive business growth and retention for Ignite Reading's virtual tutoring platf...

## Job description

Today, 67% of students and 82% of low-income students can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade. That’s when students are supposed to go from learning to read to reading to learn. It’s America’s number one education crisis and we know how to fix it. Ignite Reading delivers one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches every student the foundational skills they need to become a confident, fluent reader. We pair students who need extra support with expert reading tutors who provide daily, 15-minute, Science of Reading-based instruction that rapidly closes their decoding gaps. We focus on the foundational reading skills—phonics, phonemic awareness, and sight words—kids need to master so they can decode a sentence. Students in Ignite Reading’s program achieve over 2 weeks of reading skills growth per week of instruction, and notably all students achieve the same outstanding results including students with IEPs, multilingual learners, students of color and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch. Ignite Reading is a mission-driven public benefit corporation. We believe we can do well for our team members and shareholders while we solve one of the nation’s biggest challenges. We believe we will be more successful with a diverse team and are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

## Your Role

Ignite Reading's mission is to teach every kid to read — and turning data into decisions is one of the most powerful ways the organization advances that work. In service of that goal, the Senior Data Scientist supports our partner-facing teams (Partnerships/Sales, Marketing, CX) as the Data & Analytics team's primary practitioner of advanced analytics, statistics, predictive modeling, and machine learning. This role is a senior individual contributor who applies DS/ML to generate actionable insights for the business, directly shaping how the organization acquires, retains, and grows partnerships with school districts nationwide. This person brings meaningful AI fluency to the team, using Claude, Cursor, and related tools to accelerate analytical workflows and build agentic workflows and Skills that extend the team's capacity. This role reports to the Senior Manager of Partner Analytics and works in close partnership with the broader Data & Analytics team. It is an exceptional opportunity for someone who wants to see their work make a real difference that changes lives.

## Key Responsibilities

Advanced Analytics & Statistical Modeling

- Design and deliver end-to-end predictive models (including partner churn prediction, lead scoring, and partner health scores), translating complex business questions into rigorous, production-ready analytical solutions.
- Develop and maintain attribution, marketing mix models and other marketing analytics frameworks that inform resource allocation and campaign strategy.
- Apply statistical methods to identify leading indicators, drivers, and patterns across partner data; communicate findings and trade-offs clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Data Science & Machine Learning

- Own the full ML lifecycle, from problem framing and feature engineering through model training, validation, deployment, and monitoring, ensuring models remain accurate, interpretable, and maintainable over time.
- Establish and uphold repeatable standards for model development, documentation, and validation that enable consistent, trustworthy DS/ML output across the team.
- Identify opportunities to apply ML and data science techniques to new business problems and proactively surface recommendations to leadership.

AI Engineering & Agentic Workflows

- Build and deploy agentic workflows and Claude Skills that automate analytical and modeling tasks, accelerate DS/ML development, and extend the team's capacity.
- Evaluate and recommend emerging AI tools and techniques relevant to data science and analytics.
- Act as an AI resource and mentor for the broader analytics team, modeling effective AI-assisted development practices and actively contributing to a shared culture of AI literacy.

Collaboration & Communication

- Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, and CX stakeholders to understand business context, identify and execute high-value analyses, and translate complex model outputs into clear, actionable insights and business narratives that directly shape organizational strategy and operations.
- Bring structure, documentation, and process discipline to ambiguous technical domains, ensuring work is reproducible and knowledge is shared.

## Qualifications

Required:

- 6-8+ years of demonstrated on-the-job experience across the entire ML lifecycle, building and deploying in production the kinds of models this role requires: churn prediction, propensity/upsell scoring, health scores, lead scoring, media mix modeling, or closely analogous work.
- Strong quantitative foundation: proficiency in statistical modeling, experimental design, and analytical methods applied to real business problems.
- Highly proficient in SQL and Python for data manipulation, analysis, and modeling.
- Meaningful hands-on experience building agentic workflows, Claude Skills, or LLM-based automations using Claude, Cursor, or equivalent generative AI tools to accelerate analytical and ML workflows on the job.
- Familiarity with AI operational practices (prompt libraries, guardrails, output validation) that enable consistent and reliable AI-assisted work.
- A natural mentor and collaborator; a strong communicator who can explain complex technical concepts clearly to varied audiences.
- A self-starter who works independently, persists until the job is done, and stays calm and resourceful in a high-growth, startup-like environment.
- Passionate about our mission to teach kids to read.

Preferred:

- Experience with student or education data and familiarity with PII handling requirements.

## Compensation & Benefits

At Ignite Reading, we embrace transparent compensation for a few reasons: to promote fairness and equity, to reduce pay discrimination based on gender, race, or negotiation skill, and to build trust within our team. The same role receives the same compensation — no negotiation. Salary: $174,000

We also ensure you have the tools you need to thrive both in and out of work. 📈 Employee Stock Options - we want our success to be yours too 🩺 Medical, Dental, and Vision plans to support you and your well-being (80% employee coverage, 70% dependent coverage) 🏥 Short-term Disability (100% employer paid) 🏦 401(k) retirement plans with company contribution 👶 12-weeks paid parental leave 🌴 Unlimited vacation days (+ 12 paid holidays) 💻 Technology Stipend 🧘 Wellness Stipend 🛟 Voluntary Life Insurance 👩‍💻 Professional Development Stipend We believe in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where all applicants are considered for employment without attention to color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria – unlike majority candidates meeting significantly fewer requirements. We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested! We are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are a virtual organization with headquarters in the California Bay Area.

## About Ignite Reading

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Ignite Reading provides one-to-one, virtual, Science of Reading-based tutoring to help K-8 students in school districts close foundational reading gaps and become confident, independent readers.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Jessica Reid Sliwerski (CEO) and Evan Marwell

## Core Business
- **Industries**: Education, EdTech, Early Literacy Intervention
- **Target customers**: B2B – school districts and individual schools across the United States; serves students in over 20 states
- **Mission**: To ensure every child learns to read proficiently—ideally by the end of first grade—when early intervention has the greatest long-term impact.

## Products & Services
- **Ignite Reading Tutoring Program**: A high-dosage virtual tutoring program where each student receives 15 minutes of daily 1:1 instruction from a certified literacy tutor. The curriculum is aligned with the Science of Reading and focuses on closing decoding gaps. The program includes centralized scheduling, district-level reporting, and progress monitoring administered by tutors.
- **Assessment & Progress Monitoring**: Detailed reporting at the district, school, and student levels that tracks skills improvement and identifies where students need more support. Assessments are built into the tutoring sessions and are designed to be actionable for teachers.
- **Acquired Esteam.ai (2025)**: An AI-driven education startup that adds automatic speech recognition (ASR) and real-time skill mapping to help tutors hyper-target instruction. This tool allows for AI-powered assessments that listen as students read and guide tutor focus to the exact skills each student needs.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding – $46.75 million (Series B of $36.8M closed October 2024, plus earlier Series A of $10M in 2023 and a grant)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Rethink Education (lead in Series A), Emerson Collective, Owl Ventures, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, College Board, Accelerate (grant)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Acquired AI startup Esteam.ai in September 2025 to enhance personalization.
  - Johns Hopkins University study found the program dramatically increases first-grade literacy outcomes.
  - 483 employees (0.6% annual growth) across 16 countries.
  - Expanding district partnerships and serving students in 22+ states.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Science of Reading alignment**: All instruction is based on decades of evidence-based reading research.
- **Scalable virtual model**: Districts can launch a pilot and quickly expand to thousands of students without adding staff, disrupting schedules, or increasing teacher workload.
- **Consistent 1:1 tutor-student relationship**: Each student works daily with the same certified tutor, building trust and confidence.
- **Data-driven**: Real-time skill mapping and reporting give districts clear, defensible outcomes.
- **Proven results**: Students achieved 2.4 weeks of reading growth for every week in the program, with no achievement gaps for students of color, low-income students, students with IEPs, or multilingual learners (from initial pilot data).
- **AI augmentation**: The Esteam acquisition integrates AI for real-time assessment without replacing the human tutor, combining technology with personal connection.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling district-wide adoption** of the tutoring program across the U.S., especially to meet the goal of the “First Grade Promise” (reading on time by end of 1st grade).
- **Deepening AI integration** to further personalize instruction at scale, enabling tutors to focus on the precise skill gaps of each student.
- **Strengthening evidence base**: continued research partnerships like the Johns Hopkins study to validate impact and drive adoption.
- **Expanding partnerships** with school districts and possibly state education agencies.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: Employees are directly contributing to solving the national reading crisis and improving students’ life outcomes.
- **Impact**: Visible, measurable progress in student literacy, with opportunities to see data and success stories.
- **Growth opportunity**: As a Series B company with an expanding product (including AI), there is room for career development and ownership.
- **Remote-friendly**: The tutoring model is virtual, and the workforce spans multiple countries, suggesting a flexible, distributed work environment. Many roles can be performed remotely.
- **Collaborative team**: Company values emphasize consistent, evidence-based instruction and support for educators; work culture centers on “human care and AI precision.”
- **Active hiring**: As of mid-2026, the company had 4 open positions (Events Marketing Manager, Sales Development Representative, Partnerships Manager, General Interest) with strong quarterly and yearly growth in job postings.

## Sources
1. [Ignite Reading Homepage](https://ignite-reading.com/)
2. [Ignite Reading Careers](https://ignite-reading.com/careers/)
3. [Ignite Reading About Us](https://ignite-reading.com/about-us/)
4. [Ignite Reading LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ignitereading)
5. [CB Insights Company Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/ignite-reading)

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