Sr Manager, Data Science

OVERVIEW

Live the experience. From professional empowerment to continual learning opportunities. From ongoing investment in new and emerging technologies to a career of self-determination. At Ulta Beauty, our tech team is critical to our scalability—and is recognized that way. We’ve been defined as a “mature start-up.” A place where interdepartmental exposure, open doors, and genuine collaboration is ubiquitous. Where challenges come fast and furious, requiring agility, mental dexterity, and creativity. Where our passion for better solutions drives us and is core to who we are.

We’re engineering for the future of retail, and it’s no-holds-barred. But for those motivated by continual change and ambiguity, by superior leadership, by whip smart colleagues who will press you daily for your very best, you’ll find that virtually nothing’s impossible at Ulta Beauty.

THE IMPACT YOU CAN MAKE:

The Sr. Manager, Data Science is a senior people and technical leader responsible for the performance, capability, delivery, and health of our Data Science and Machine Learning capability pillar within our Enterprise AI team. This role converts business and technology strategy into integrated priorities, operating plans, resource choices, and measurable outcomes across teams through the power of Data Science and Machine Learning. The Sr. Manager leads through managers and/or senior technical professionals, builds organizational capability, manages cross-team dependencies and investment trade-offs, and establishes mechanisms that enable consistent execution at scale. This leader partners with senior Technology & Product and business stakeholders to shape roadmaps and decisions, strengthen the organization, and drive modernization, responsible innovation, and sustainable performance.

This is the level where you will lead and grow a team of Data Scientists and mentor them through multiple projects simultaneously. You are a technical leader who has chosen to multiply impact through people. You are passionate about developing your team, removing blockers, and creating the conditions for Data Scientists to do their best work. When the situation requires it, you jump in and are hands-on. The best version of this role is one where you’re writing code when needed to solve the more complex problems, while developing and building up your team.

YOU’LL ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS BY:

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Data Scientists setting technical expectations, providing feedback, and creating development plans to strengthen capabilities

• Serve as a hands-on Data Science and Machine Learning expert contributing directly to solution design, code reviews, model troubleshooting, and complex technical problem-solving

• Establish and enforce Data Science best practices for coding, version control, peer reviews, experimentation, model validation, documentation, and responsible AI

• Elevate modeling rigor by challenging technical approaches and coaching teams on statistical inference, experimentation, causal reasoning, and model evaluation

• Guide end-to-end Data Science development from problem framing, data preparation, feature engineering, and algorithm selection to evaluation, deployment, and monitoring

• Own the delivery and technical quality across concurrent Data Science initiatives removing blockers, building models, and driving adoption for measurable outcomes

• Deliver production-ready, scalable Data Science solutions that include testing and are scalable; partner with Operations team to enable monitoring and ongoing model maintenance

• Explain technical approaches, results, and trade-offs to senior business and technology stakeholders; influence decisions and define clear measures of success

• Partner with Product, Operations, Engineering and business leaders across multiple departments (e.g., Marketing, Merchandising, Digital, Retail, etc.) to identify valuable opportunities, translate business challenges into Data Science solutions, and influence priorities

• Drive technical upskilling across the Data Science team through mentorship, structured learning, workshops, and regular knowledge sharing on modern methods and tools

• Stay abreast of emerging Data Science and AI techniques and best practices and partner with leadership to identify innovative use cases

• Continue driving an analytics-driven culture and contribute to the creation of enterprise AI capabilities and platforms that power Ulta Beauty’s future

ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a highly quantitative field such as Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent experience

• 10+ years of progressive technology experience in Data Science and Machine Learning, including significant people-leadership responsibility in complex environments

• Strong knowledge of the practices, technologies, methods, and operating considerations of Data Science and AI (e.g., multivariate regression, statistical inference, supervised and unsupervised learning, LLMs, RAG etc.)

• Proficiency in Python and scientific related frameworks (e.g., Scikit-Learn, NumPy, SciPy etc.)

• Hands-on experience working in Databricks and enterprise cloud platforms, preferably GCP

• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams, managers, senior technical professionals, or a significant technical domain

• Proven ability to translate strategy into integrated priorities, operating plans, capacity decisions, and measurable outcomes across teams

• Experience managing cross-team dependencies, organizational change, significant technical or operational risk, and complex stakeholder trade-offs

• Strong talent-leadership capability, including manager development, succession planning, performance management, hiring, workforce planning, and organizational capability building

• Experience managing or materially influencing budgets, vendors/partners, capacity, and technology investment trade-offs

• Demonstrated ability to influence senior technical, product, business, and leadership stakeholders without relying solely on formal authority

• Strong business judgment, analytical thinking, communication, and executive-level storytelling skills

• Demonstrated ability to scale modern technical practices, automation, and responsible AI-enabled ways of working across teams

The pay range for this position is $122,900.00 - $185,000.00 / Year with the opportunity for eligible associates to earn additional compensation pursuant to the Company’s bonus plan. Exact pay will be based on factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, level, shift, geographic location, and business and organizational needs. Full-time positions are eligible for paid time off, health, dental, vision, life and disability benefits. Part-time positions are eligible for dental, vision, life, and disability benefits. For additional information concerning our benefits, visit our Benefits and Career Development page:
ABOUT

At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest North American beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. We bring possibilities to life through the power of beauty each and every day in our stores and online with more than 25,000 products from approximately 500 well-established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full-service salon in every store featuring—hair, skin, brow, and make-up services.

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest records, conviction records, or other criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of any applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act.

THE IMPACT YOU CAN MAKE:

The Sr. Manager, Data Science is a senior people and technical leader responsible for the performance, capability, delivery, and health of our Data Science and Machine Learning capability pillar within our Enterprise AI team. This role converts business and technology strategy into integrated priorities, operating plans, resource choices, and measurable outcomes across teams through the power of Data Science and Machine Learning. The Sr. Manager leads through managers and/or senior technical professionals, builds organizational capability, manages cross-team dependencies and investment trade-offs, and establishes mechanisms that enable consistent execution at scale. This leader partners with senior Technology & Product and business stakeholders to shape roadmaps and decisions, strengthen the organization, and drive modernization, responsible innovation, and sustainable performance.

This is the level where you will lead and grow a team of Data Scientists and mentor them through multiple projects simultaneously. You are a technical leader who has chosen to multiply impact through people. You are passionate about developing your team, removing blockers, and creating the conditions for Data Scientists to do their best work. When the situation requires it, you jump in and are hands-on. The best version of this role is one where you’re writing code when needed to solve the more complex problems, while developing and building up your team.

YOU’LL ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS BY:

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Data Scientists setting technical expectations, providing feedback, and creating development plans to strengthen capabilities

• Serve as a hands-on Data Science and Machine Learning expert contributing directly to solution design, code reviews, model troubleshooting, and complex technical problem-solving

• Establish and enforce Data Science best practices for coding, version control, peer reviews, experimentation, model validation, documentation, and responsible AI

• Elevate modeling rigor by challenging technical approaches and coaching teams on statistical inference, experimentation, causal reasoning, and model evaluation

• Guide end-to-end Data Science development from problem framing, data preparation, feature engineering, and algorithm selection to evaluation, deployment, and monitoring

• Own the delivery and technical quality across concurrent Data Science initiatives removing blockers, building models, and driving adoption for measurable outcomes

• Deliver production-ready, scalable Data Science solutions that include testing and are scalable; partner with Operations team to enable monitoring and ongoing model maintenance

• Explain technical approaches, results, and trade-offs to senior business and technology stakeholders; influence decisions and define clear measures of success

• Partner with Product, Operations, Engineering and business leaders across multiple departments (e.g., Marketing, Merchandising, Digital, Retail, etc.) to identify valuable opportunities, translate business challenges into Data Science solutions, and influence priorities

• Drive technical upskilling across the Data Science team through mentorship, structured learning, workshops, and regular knowledge sharing on modern methods and tools

• Stay abreast of emerging Data Science and AI techniques and best practices and partner with leadership to identify innovative use cases

• Continue driving an analytics-driven culture and contribute to the creation of enterprise AI capabilities and platforms that power Ulta Beauty’s future

ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a highly quantitative field such as Mathematics, Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or equivalent experience

• 10+ years of progressive technology experience in Data Science and Machine Learning, including significant people-leadership responsibility in complex environments

• Strong knowledge of the practices, technologies, methods, and operating considerations of Data Science and AI (e.g., multivariate regression, statistical inference, supervised and unsupervised learning, LLMs, RAG etc.)

• Proficiency in Python and scientific related frameworks (e.g., Scikit-Learn, NumPy, SciPy etc.)

• Hands-on experience working in Databricks and enterprise cloud platforms, preferably GCP

• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams, managers, senior technical professionals, or a significant technical domain

• Proven ability to translate strategy into integrated priorities, operating plans, capacity decisions, and measurable outcomes across teams

• Experience managing cross-team dependencies, organizational change, significant technical or operational risk, and complex stakeholder trade-offs

• Strong talent-leadership capability, including manager development, succession planning, performance management, hiring, workforce planning, and organizational capability building

• Experience managing or materially influencing budgets, vendors/partners, capacity, and technology investment trade-offs

• Demonstrated ability to influence senior technical, product, business, and leadership stakeholders without relying solely on formal authority

• Strong business judgment, analytical thinking, communication, and executive-level storytelling skills

• Demonstrated ability to scale modern technical practices, automation, and responsible AI-enabled ways of working across teams