Principal Analyst, Strategic Insights

About Upstart

At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.

As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.

We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.

If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.

The Team

As a Principal Analyst on the Product Analytics team at Upstart, you’ll be responsible for driving understanding, insights, decision-making, and data infrastructure relating to the development, optimization, and enhancement of our Personal Loans product. You’ll partner across our Analytics team, Finance org, ML teams, and across the wider Product org to drive Upstarts product innovation and growth.

How you’ll make an impact:

• Own and define the Personal Loans’s end-to-end data narrative and leverage it to influence strategic growth, risk, and marketplace decisions with senior leadership.
• Design, implement, and govern the core revenue decomposition models, KPIs, and reporting infrastructure that standardize how the Personal Loans business measures health and identifies high-impact opportunities.
• Translate complex analytical findings into compelling, concise data stories for executive review (e.g., MBRs/WBRs), proactively closing knowledge gaps and pushing for change in overall business strategy.
• Conduct deep-dive analyses and modeling to identify significant optimization and growth opportunities, effectively prioritizing efforts.
• Demonstrate technical ownership by building analytical Proof-of-Concepts (POCs) and partnering with Analytics Engineering to productionalize and automate high-value pipelines and workflows.

Minimum qualifications:

• Strong analytical and quantitative background with at least 8+ years of professional experience in analytics, data science, or a related quantitative field.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools, particularly SQL and Python/R.
• Experience with BI/visualization tools (e.g., Looker, Tableau, Mode).
• Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to tackle complex, ambiguous problems with a structured approach.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex analytical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to think critically about business problems and the systems they operate within.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s / PhD in a quantitative field (e.g., Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, Data Science)
• Experience in technology, fintech, lending, or two-sided marketplace companies.
• Proven ability to influence strategic decisions through data-driven insights and narratives, especially at the leadership level.
• Experience collaborating effectively with Finance teams and executive level stakeholders

Time Zone Requirements

This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones.

Travel Requirements

As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.