Head of Data Science - Fraud Insights

Socure
US; Miami; FL; New York; NY; San Francisco; CA; Seattle; WA; Washington DC, US
Remote

Who this role is best for

Best suited to mid-level data scientists with deep fraud domain expertise and econometric rigor working in remote or major US tech hubs.

Best fit for

  • Applied economists who can analyze fraud with causal inference and natural experiments.
    — “Bring the rigor of an applied economist to fraud
  • Fraud researchers who understand adversarial game theory and emerging attack typologies.
    — “you understand the adversarial game theory at play
  • Data scientists comfortable with large-scale identity graphs and productionizing insights.
    — “worked with large-scale identity, behavioral, or transaction datasets

Things to consider

  • Expect to represent Socure publicly at conferences and regulatory working groups.
    — “Speak at industry conferences, engage regulatory working groups
  • Must bridge external signals like regulatory changes to internal product roadmaps.
    — “connective tissue between external signals and Socure's internal research

How to stand out

  • Showcase published research or major conference appearances in fraud or identity domains.
    — “major conference appearances, regulatory working groups, authored research
  • Demonstrate how your analysis directly influenced product or model improvements.
    — “what you learn in the data becomes new signals
  • Highlight experience with graph analytics and feature engineering at identity level.
    — “understand graph structures, feature engineering at the identity level
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · IndustryLevel · Principal

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • Design studies and analytical frameworks for fraud research
  • Surface fraud rings and emerging attack typologies
  • Bridge external signals to internal models
Typical background
Experience in fraud detection or related field

Skills & requirements

Required

Fraud DetectionData AnalysisMachine LearningNatural Language ProcessingData Storytelling

Preferred

Experience With Identity Datasets

Stack & domain

Data ScienceFraud DetectionIdentity VerificationRegulatory ComplianceGraph DatabasesFinance

About the role

Original posting from Socure via Ashby

WHY SOCURE?

Socure is building the identity trust infrastructure for the digital economy — verifying 100% of good identities in real time and stopping fraud before it starts. The mission is big, the problems are complex, and the impact is felt by businesses, governments, and millions of people every day.

We hire people who want that level of responsibility. People who move fast, think critically, act like owners, and care deeply about solving customer problems with precision. If you want predictability or narrow scope, this won’t be your place. If you want to help build the future of identity with a team that holds a high bar for itself — keep reading.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Socure sits on one of the most consequential datasets in the world — a global identity graph spanning hundreds of millions of identities, incorporating PII, device signals, behavioral telemetry, network relationships, and a continuous feedback loop of real-world fraud and verification outcomes across thousands of clients. The patterns inside this graph tell the story of how fraud evolves: who the adversaries are, how they adapt, and where they're going next.

We are not looking for someone to report what happened. We are looking for someone who can explain why it happened, predict what comes next, and make that story impossible to ignore — for regulators, customers, boards, and the market. This person will sit directly at the intersection of rigorous research, macroeconomic and regulatory intelligence, and the richest identity dataset in the industry.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

OWN THE RESEARCH AGENDA

Bring the rigor of an applied economist to fraud — proper identification strategies, causal inference, and natural experiments. Design studies and analytical frameworks that produce findings you can stand behind publicly. Answer questions like: What drove the surge in synthetic identity fraud post-CARES Act? How do adversarial networks respond to model updates? What are the second-order effects of regulatory changes on fraud displacement across verticals?

TURN THE IDENTITY GRAPH INTO INTELLIGENCE

Work across Socure's global identity graph to surface fraud rings, adversarial coalitions, emerging attack typologies, and behavioral shifts before they become industry crises. Extract insights from the full identity stack: PII, device intelligence, email/phone/network signals, behavioral biometrics, and the longitudinal performance feedback flowing back from Socure's clients.

BRIDGE THE OUTSIDE WORLD TO INTERNAL MODELS

Serve as the connective tissue between external signals — regulatory guidance, legislative changes, CFPB and FinCEN trends, macroeconomic shifts that alter fraud incentives, emerging typologies from industry consortia — and Socure's internal research, modeling, and product roadmaps. When a new regulation drops or a fraud pattern surfaces in the press, you already have the data story and the analysis ready.

TELL STORIES THAT CHANGE MINDS

You are not a metrics reporter — you are a narrative architect. Transform complex multivariate findings into white papers that get cited, presentations that land at Money20/20, regulatory briefings that shape policy, and customer insights that create competitive advantage. Your audience ranges from a CRO at a top-5 bank to a Congressional staffer to a Socure ML engineer, and you'll adjust register without losing substance.

BUILD & LEAD A WORLD-CLASS TEAM

Recruit, mentor, and develop a team of researchers, data scientists, and analysts who share your appetite for rigor and storytelling. Create a culture where intellectual curiosity, methodological discipline, and external credibility are the standard.

INFLUENCE PRODUCT, MODELS & STRATEGY

Build tight feedback loops with Socure's modeling, product, and engineering organizations so that what you learn in the data becomes new signals, smarter models, better products, and stronger go-to-market positioning. You will have a direct line into the strategic roadmap and report directly to the Chief AI & Innovation Officer.

REPRESENT SOCURE EXTERNALLY

Speak at industry conferences, engage regulatory working groups, author market-facing research, and participate in customer and partner forums. Your external credibility is a strategic asset — you invest in it and it compounds for Socure.

DRIVE GO-TO-MARKET DIFFERENTIATION

Collaborate with Marketing and Growth to develop research-backed thought leadership that strengthens Socure's brand recognition, supports pipeline generation, and reinforces market leadership. Your insights become a competitive moat.

WHAT YOU BRING

  • Research Depth & Econometric Rigor. You approach fraud data the way a serious economist approaches a policy question — with proper identification strategies, an appreciation for confounding, a healthy skepticism of naive correlations, and the discipline to distinguish causation from coincidence. Comfortable with panel data methods, diff-in-diff, regression discontinuity, survival analysis, network econometrics, and the full toolkit of applied causal inference.
  • Deep Fraud Domain Expertise. You've spent meaningful time in the trenches — synthetic identity, first-party fraud, account takeover, bust-out rings, AML-adjacent typologies, mule networks, or related domains. You understand the adversarial game theory at play and respect the sophistication of the actors on the other side.
  • Data Fluency at Scale. You've worked with large-scale identity, behavioral, or transaction datasets. You understand graph structures, feature engineering at the identity level, and the operational realities of productionizing insights. Conversant in Python, SQL, graph analytics, and ML frameworks.
  • External Credibility & Presence. You have a track record of representing an organization publicly and credibly — major conference appearances, regulatory working groups, authored research the market takes seriously, or a reputation that precedes you in the fraud and identity space.
  • Executive Communication Without Dumbing It Down. You can write a 2-page brief for a CEO that captures all the important nuance, and go 10 levels deep with a PhD data scientist without losing them. You know the difference between simplifying and falsifying, and you never do the latter.
  • Regulatory & Macro-Intelligence Fluency. You follow the regulatory environment — CFPB rulemaking, FinCEN guidance, state-level identity legislation, open banking frameworks — and understand how policy changes alter fraud incentives and attack surfaces.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

  • Advanced degree (MS or PhD strongly preferred) in Economics, Statistics, Econometrics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field
  • 10+ years of applied experience in data science, fraud analytics, risk research, or quantitative economics, with demonstrable impact at scale
  • Proven expertise in fraud, identity risk, financial crime, or adjacent domains
  • Strong command of causal inference, statistical modeling, and modern ML/AI techniques applied to adversarial or risk problems
  • Track record of external thought leadership — publications, conference presentations, regulatory engagement, or equivalent market-facing credibility
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to author compelling, rigorous, market-facing research
  • Experience leading and developing high-performing technical teams

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience with graph-based analytics, identity network modeling, or fraud ring detection using Neo4j, AWS Neptune, or custom graph frameworks
  • Familiarity with the regulatory landscape governing identity verification, fraud prevention, and consumer financial protection (CFPB, FinCEN, OCC, state AGs)
  • Experience with device intelligence, behavioral biometrics, email/phone/IP signals, or browser fingerprinting in a fraud context
  • Published research or white papers in peer-reviewed journals, industry publications, or prominent market fo

Source: Socure careers (Ashby)

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