Director, Strategic Insights

Our Story and Purpose

Linden Lab develops platforms that empower people to create, connect, and thrive through transformative virtual experiences. Since our founding in 1999, we’ve been at the forefront of the creator economy, building platforms that inspire limitless imagination and innovation.

In 2003, we revolutionized the virtual world with the launch of Second Life—a vibrant, user-driven community where creativity knows no bounds. With nearly two billion user creations and a flourishing $500 million economy, Second Life continues to be a global hub for collaboration, self-expression, and entrepreneurship.

We believe our strength lies in diversity—of perspectives, experiences, and ideas. Our values are rooted in organizational health, strengths-based leadership, and the belief that collaborative teams are stronger than individuals.

At Linden Lab, you’ll be at the cutting edge of virtual worlds, shaping the future of immersive experiences. Whether you’re building innovative tools or fostering a welcoming community, you’ll find a place to belong, thrive, and be unapologetically yourself. We invite you to come as you are.

Your Mission

We are looking for an experienced and analytical professional with deep expertise in leveraging advanced analytics to drive strategic business initiatives and operational efficiency. As the Director, Strategic Insights, you will utilize detailed data analysis, experimentation, statistical modeling, forecasting, and the development of key reporting tools and metrics to guide business decisions.

You will be responsible for defining, forecasting, and evaluating critical metrics within a complex and evolving landscape, working collaboratively with other data experts to assess their impact and interactions. The ability to interpret and clearly communicate the key drivers behind these metrics—what influences them and why—will be essential to success. This role will also involve presenting insights and recommendations to senior leadership, influencing decision-making at the highest levels.

This role requires a seasoned professional with extensive experience in data analytics, a deep understanding of business intelligence, and the ability to influence key stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

This role reports to the SVP, Product & Engineering and is tied to the San Francisco worksite, requiring in-office presence at our San Francisco office from Monday to Thursday.

How You’ll Grow With Us

At the Lab, you'll experience the best of both worlds: the stability of an established company with over 20 years of expertise and the dynamic momentum of a startup driven by continuous progress. You'll have the unparalleled opportunity to forge meaningful relationships, design impactful systems, and craft strategies that shape the future of virtual experiences.

Our vibrant in-office environment in San Francisco is designed to foster creativity, collaboration, and ingenuity. With spaces purpose-built for brainstorming, team building, and spontaneous conversations, you'll find endless opportunities to engage and grow. We believe in the power of in-person connections to cultivate a strong sense of community and inclusion, ensuring that your ideas are valued, your contributions celebrated, and your impact deeply felt every day.

The Impact You’ll Drive

• Act as a hands-on analytics partner to leadership and key stakeholders, leveraging data insights and advanced analytics techniques to define, forecast, and evaluate key metrics in an unstructured problem space. 
• Transform complex data into compelling narratives and deliver impactful presentations that drive executive-level strategic decision-making, shaping the company’s most critical business decisions.
• Develop, reconcile, and maintain reporting that integrates production operational data with financial statement details, ensuring accuracy and alignment.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive data analytics strategy aligned with business objectives, leveraging automation and process optimization to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
• Identify opportunities to monetize insights by translating analytical findings into revenue-generating strategies and business improvements.
• Directly build and maintain scalable data pipelines, ensuring data integrity, security, and compliance while working hands-on with data warehousing, processing, and business intelligence tools.
• Design, execute, and analyze experiments to measure feature impact, applying causal inference methods and statistical modeling when traditional randomized trials aren’t feasible.
• Develop, test, and refine advanced analytics models, including predictive and prescriptive analytics, to optimize decision-making and uncover key business trends.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams (Product, Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Product Operations) to identify and implement data-driven opportunities for growth and efficiency.
• Monitor and analyze key performance metrics, producing weekly, monthly, and quarterly summaries while investigating outliers and unexpected trends.
• Act as an individual contributor while managing and developing the Strategic Insights team, fostering a high-performing, results-driven culture in data strategy and analytics.
• Stay ahead of emerging AI/ML techniques, analytics trends, and data collection strategies, ensuring governance and compliance while implementing cutting-edge solutions.
• Champion a data-driven culture, empowering teams with best practices to enhance data literacy and decision-making across the organization.

How You’ll Shape Our Future

At Linden, we celebrate all the dimensions of diversity, including diversity of experience. We recognize that candidates applying for this role will be most successful if they bring the following with them:

• 12+ years of professional experience in data science, analytics, business intelligence, quantitative research, or a related field with a strong focus on data-driven decision-making.
• 6+ years of professional experience in a leadership role, managing and developing data professionals
• Deep expertise in data analysis, statistical modeling, experimentation, causal inference, and forecasting, with a strong ability to extract actionable insights from complex datasets.
• Direct experience with designing, implementing, and managing data warehouses in a cloud environment. Snowflake and BigQuery experience preferred but not required. 
• Direct experience managing a cloud Business Intelligence platform for company-wide reporting. Tableau experience preferred but not required.
• Proficiency in Python or R for advanced data analysis, predictive modeling, and automation.
• Extensive experience working with large datasets, leveraging SQL for efficient data extraction, transformation, and manipulation.
• Strong foundation in predictive analytics, mathematics, and data visualization, applying these techniques to drive strategic business decisions.
• Familiarity with LLMs and their application in data-driven insights and automation.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, adept at effectively conveying complex concepts to executives, as well as technical and non-technical stakeholders. This role requires professional-level English proficiency (CEFR C1 or higher) and a proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and shape strategic, data-informed decisions.
• Self-motivated and adaptable, with strong business acumen, an investigative mindset that thrives in ambiguity and a drive to uncover root causes and transform data into powerful, actionable insights.
• Passion for continuous learning, staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in data analytics, AI/ML, and business intelligence technologies.
• Familiarity with accounting principles and reporting, e.g., revenue recognition and balance sheets.

If you don’t meet every requirement listed for this role, we still encourage you to apply. Too often, the confidence gap or imposter syndrome keeps exceptional candidates from taking the leap—and we don’t want that to hold you back. If you believe in our mission and in your ability to make an impact, we want to hear from you!

The Fine Print

Pay Transparency Notice

At Linden Lab, our Total Rewards philosophy is rooted in fairness, equity, and an unbiased approach to compensation, paired with competitive benefits across all locations where we operate.

For this San Francisco Bay Area-based role, the salary range is $206,500 - $279,500, with a midpoint of $243,000. New hires start between the minimum and midpoint of the applicable geo-defined range, with final base pay determined by several factors, including experience, skills, competencies, internal equity, and market data calibration.

In addition to base pay, this role is eligible for awards under our Equity Incentive Plan (EIP) and a generous benefits package that includes comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and 401(k) plans. Our talent partners will provide more details during the hiring process.

Essential Role Functions & Work Environment

The details below outline the core functions and work environment required for this role. Linden Lab is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to support individuals with disabilities in performing these essential duties.

• Perform focused, computer-based tasks and collaborate effectively with coworkers in a dynamic, in-office environment. While some remote collaboration may occur, in-office presence is an essential requirement of this role to foster creativity, teamwork, and spontaneous problem-solving.
• Communicate clearly and effectively through typing, using hands and fingers for keyboard tasks.
• Maintain the ability to sit, stand, or remain stationary for extended periods (up to eight hours) during calls, meetings, or collaborative sessions, with ergonomic workstations and tools provided.
• Sustain prolonged attention on a computer monitor to perform tasks requiring visual focus and attention to detail.
• Operate office equipment and handle materials as needed for presentations, discussions, or team activities.
• Move freely around the office to attend meetings, participate in team activities, and contribute to shared responsibilities, supporting a collaborative and engaging workplace culture.
• Travel may be required for business meetings, team summits, or company events, where in-person participation is an essential part of the role to foster collaboration, alignment, and engagement.

Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity

Linden Lab celebrates and values diversity in all its forms, including differences in thought, race, national origin, culture, age, experience, religion, economic and social status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, and disability. We believe that fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging empowers us to create and share meaningful experiences—both within our team and across the virtual communities we serve.

We are committed to maintaining a diverse, equitable, and welcoming workplace where everyone feels valued and supported. Candidates from all backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply and contribute to shaping the future of virtual experiences.

Global Data Privacy Notice

Your privacy is important to us. Depending on your location, laws such as the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) may govern how we handle and process the personal data of job applicants. To learn more, please review our full notice detailing how applicant data is collected, used, and protected in applicable regions.

By submitting your application, you consent to the processing of your data in accordance with applicable laws and our privacy practices.