Senior Data Scientist - Strategic Finance

Relay is fundamentally reshaping how goods move in an online era. Backed by Europe’s largest-ever logistics Series A ($35M), led by deep-tech investors Plural, Relay is scaling faster than 99.98% of venture-backed startups. We’re assembling the most talent-dense team the logistics industry has ever seen. Relay’s Mission is to free commerce from friction. Today, high delivery costs act as a hidden tax on e‑commerce, quietly shaping what can be sold online and limiting who can participate. We envision a world where more goods move more freely between more people, making the online shopping experience seamless and accessible to everyone.

TEAM: ~110 people, more than half in engineering, product and data; 45+ advanced degrees across computer science, mathematics and operations research; Thousands of data points captured, calculated, analysed and predicted for every single parcel we handle; An intellectually vibrant culture of first‑principles thinking, tight feedback loops and relentless experimentation.

The Opportunity: Relay’s network is scaling fast. The decisions that shape that growth, where to expand, how to price, where to invest, depend on models that can simulate how the network actually behaves and how it will develop as density, geography, and operating models change. Those models need to be faster, more dynamic, and more modular than what exists today. This role exists to build them.

As a Senior Data Scientist, Strategic Finance, you will own the simulation of Relay’s network. You will build and maintain a modular collection of models that captures how our unit economics work end‑to‑end, from first‑mile collection through sortation, middle‑mile, and last‑mile delivery. When the business asks “what happens to our cost per parcel if we enter a new region, change a service type, or shift our first‑mile operating model?”, your system answers that question, fast and accurately. Your models span the full network, from volume forecasting through to routing. But the real job is bigger than any single model. You deeply understand the components of our network economics, you know where the current models are wrong or incomplete, and you systematically upgrade them. When a new operating model is introduced in the first mile, you upgrade that component. When a new service type changes sortation costs, you understand the change at a granular level and build a model that captures it properly.

Your primary partner is the finance team: Strategic Finance, Commercial Finance, and FP&A. You translate their questions into data science problems and give them tools that let them explore pricing, margins, and projections dynamically rather than waiting for models to be manually rebuilt. You product‑manage your own roadmap: you take in the needs, prioritise what to build, and ship it. This is a new role. There is no existing system to inherit. You are building from scratch; part of a data organisation of around 30 engineers, analysts, and data scientists, but embedded in our finance squad. You’ll be supported by a dedicated finance analyst within the squad who builds the reporting and visibility layer on top of your models, working directly with you on priorities and analytical approach.

Who Will Thrive in This Role? You're a strong modeller who thinks in systems. You naturally break complex problems into components, understand the assumptions behind each one, and know when those assumptions need revisiting. You're a builder. You don’t wait for requirements to be handed to you. You go and understand the problem, figure out what’s needed, and ship something useful. Then you iterate. You're fluent in Python and SQL, and you’re comfortable doing your own data engineering when needed. You can pull, transform, and model data without waiting for someone else to prepare it for you. You have real experience with financial modelling, forecasting, or simulation, ideally in a context where you were building models that informed commercial or strategic decisions, not just producing analysis. You communicate clearly with non‑technical partners. Finance will rely on your models to make decisions. You need to explain what they do, where they’re reliable, and where they’re not. You care about the problem more than the technique. You’ll use whatever modelling approach fits. The point is accuracy, speed, and usefulness, not methodological elegance. You take ownership of your domain. You set your own roadmap, manage trade‑offs, and hold yourself accountable for whether the models are actually driving better decisions. Logistics or delivery network experience is a plus, but what matters more is the ability to learn a complex operational domain quickly and model it well.

Compensation and Benefits: Generous equity, richer than 99% of European startups, with annual top‑ups to share Relay’s success; Private health & dental coverage, so comprehensive you’d need to be a partner at a Magic Circle law firm to match it; 25 days of holidays; Enhanced parental leave; Hardware of your choice; Extensive perks (gym subsidies, cycle‑to‑work, Friday office lunch, covered Uber home and dinner for late nights, and more).

Who Thrives at Relay? Aim with Precision: You define problems clearly and measure your impact meticulously. Play to Win: You chase bold bets, tackle the hard stuff, and view constraints as fuel, not friction. 1% Better Every Day: You believe that small, consistent improvements lead to exponential growth. You move quickly, deliver results, and learn from every experience. All In, All the Time: You show up and step up. You take ownership from start to finish and do what it takes to deliver when it counts. People‑Powered Greatness: You invest in your teammates. You give and receive feedback with care and candour. You build trust through high standards and shared success. Grow the Whole Pie: You seek out win‑win solutions for merchants, couriers, and our customers, because when they thrive, so do we.

If these resonate, and you combine strong technical fundamentals with entrepreneurial drive, let’s connect. Relay is an equal‑opportunity employer committed to diversity, inclusion, and fostering a workplace where everyone thrives.