Senior Data Scientist

THE OPPORTUNITY IN A NUTSHELL

You? A hands-on, product-minded Data Scientist who turns rich datasets into intelligent, production-grade AI systems that directly shape user experiences. You’re ready, willing, and able to make us smarter in using data to provide better experiences for our users.

Role? As a Senior Data Scientist, you'll build, deploy, and own modern machine learning systems powering AI-driven discovery, recommendations, and agentic experiences in Real Estate.

Company?Vend, home of FINN, Blocket, DBA, Bilbasen, Oikotie & Tori — where millions of people across the Nordics connect to find what they need: a home, a job, a way to move, or a fresh start.

Location? Join us in our central and vibrant Oslo office, with the flexibility to work 50% remotely.

Why us? Vend Real Estate is entering a new AI chapter. We sit on unique, high-quality data across listings, prices, and user behavior. Now we need someone who can bridge the gap from data to intelligent, production-ready experiences. This is not about incremental optimization; it’s about building the AI backbone for the home seeker journey.

Sounds like your kind of challenge? Read on.

WHO ARE YOU?

Experienced in ML systems — not just notebooks

You have strong foundations in machine learning and practical experience building and deploying production ML systems. You understand the difference between a promising experiment and a reliable system serving real-time traffic.

You are comfortable working with:

• Recommendation systems, models like search, ranking, or our popular Pristips valuation
• Embeddings and semantic search
• Model evaluation, attribution, and performance monitoring
• End-to-end ML pipelines from experimentation to production

Production & infrastructure aware

You understand:

• Real-time query handling and low-latency systems
• How to leverage AI and machine learning techniques to extract meaningful insights from our extensive datasets
• Data pipelines and model lifecycle management
• CI/CD and MLOps principles

Nice to have:

• Experience with LLMs, RAG or agentic workflows
• Experience combining internal and third-party datasets
• Cloud platform experience (e.g. GCP)
• Experience building APIs or working closely with backend engineers

As a person

• You enjoy greenfield opportunities because you are results-oriented and can take responsibility from idea to production.
• You don’t wait for perfectly defined problems; you help define them.
• You collaborate naturally with product managers, engineers, analysts, UX and commercial stakeholders.
• You translate complex ML concepts into clear, practical implications.
• You take ownership from idea to production, and think long-term about impact.

WHAT’S THE JOB LIKE?

You will join the Real Estate, Insight & Analytics team and work closely with product teams across FINN Real Estate. This role is embedded in product initiatives and strategically tied to Vend’s top-level OKRs around AI-driven discovery and agentic user experiences.

We have identified high-value use cases — now we need someone to build them properly.

Your mission is to strengthen Real Estate’s production-grade Data Science capability and help create our long-term data moat.

You will:

• Design, build, and deploy ML systems
• Contribute to the AI home seeker experience
• Combine internal datasets with external sources to unlock better user experiences
• Improve lead quality, attribution, and conversion models
• Make architectural decisions within your ML domain
• Evaluate and refine approaches such as two-tower models, hybrid search, and semantic retrieval
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Tech, Product, and UX to move research into production

Your models will serve real users.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS — NOW

Real Estate has strong applied statistical competence today, but what we want to strengthen is deep expertise in modern, production-grade ML systems for AI-powered enhancements to listing quality, discovery, and conversions.

Data is increasingly a strategic asset at Vend, and we will win with AI. This role is central to making that real in Real Estate.

There is a lot of data here. The opportunity is to turn it into intelligence that users feel.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

After 6 months

• You have taken ownership of at least one AI/ML initiative.
• You have contributed to an AI-driven discovery initiative.
• You are confidently navigating our data landscape and collaborating across teams.
• You’ve identified new opportunities where ML can unlock measurable business impact.

After 1 year

• One or more core AI systems are significantly improved or newly built with your ownership.
• AI-driven discovery is measurably impacting engagement, lead quality or conversion.
• You are a trusted sparring partner for product and engineering leadership.
• You have strengthened how Vend Real Estate builds, deploys and operates ML systems.

A FEW WORDS FROM THE HIRING MANAGER, ROBERT NYKOPP

“Hi, I’m Robert, and I lead Insight & Analytics in Vend Real Estate.

We believe data should make our products meaningfully smarter, not just generate reports. In this role, you’ll help us move from potential to production: from rich datasets to intelligent, AI-powered experiences that improve how people find their next home.

You’ll get autonomy, real responsibility, and the opportunity to shape how we build ML systems and use AI in Real Estate going forward. We won’t micromanage you, but we will expect ownership. You’ll partner with peers and senior engineering support to bring AI-powered solutions into production. If you’re excited about building something new, embedded in real product teams, and seeing your models used by millions, this could be a great fit.”

GOT YOUR ATTENTION?

The latest date to apply is the 29th of March, but we’ll start reviewing applications as they come in. So please apply and tell us why this challenge speaks to you!

QUESTIONS?

Cecilia Bergerståhl, Senior TA Partner, is happy to provide information together with Robert Nykopp, Insight & Analytics Director, about the daily work and answer any questions you may have!

Want to get a feel for our culture and what drives us?
👉 Take a peek behind the scenes at our Career Page!

At Vend, our mission is simple: Smart choices made easy.

We’re here to make sustainable living effortless through seamless digital experiences. As part of a dynamic family of marketplaces, including FINN, Blocket, Tori, Bytbil, Oikotie, Bilbasen, and DBA, we connect people with services and products that matter.

Driven by purpose and curiosity, we constantly evolve to meet today’s needs and shape a smarter, more sustainable tomorrow.

At Vend, your time matters.
We want you to explore new paths to smarter. Be curious with technology and lean forward. Dare to try, learn, and try again, as we innovate, grow and succeed together. Because your time matters. And when spent wisely, it creates value for you, for Vend, and society as a whole.