Resume

Nicholas Teff, Ph.D.

Data scientist | mathematician

nicholas.teff@gmail.com | 605-759-8112 | Iowa City, IA

Summary

A seasoned data scientist with 10+ years of experience using Python and SQL. At Shopify, I play a critical role in using data to drive decisions for a lending product fully powered by deep learning. I have also created analytics teams across industries, spoken at industry conferences, and volunteered to guide undergraduate students in developing practical analytics skills.

Employment history

2021-Present Shopify, Senior data scientist

  • Leveraged my expertise in product analytics, analytics engineering, and machine learning to support the small business lending product, resulting in improved risk mitigation for Shopify and its external banking partners and investors. [SQL (Trino, BigQuery), PySpark, dbt, Mode, Airflow]

  • Successfully migrated a Spark streaming pipeline for predicting loan default likelihood to one using Flink and Kafka. [pyspark, Flink, Kafka]

  • Provided valuable statistical expertise for multiple A/B experiments, which led to significant improvements in the product’s UX and marketing performance. [pyspark, SQL]

  • Collaborated with business partners to establish new top-line metrics and KPIs, which helped to align the lending product with Shopify’s overall growth strategy.

2017-2021 University of Iowa Center for Advancement, Senior data scientist

  • Led a team of data analysts to provide critical analytics and reporting support to the organization. [SQL (Microsoft), pandas, PowerBI, Tableau]

  • Initiated and grew a successful revenue-generating social media analytics program within the first 18 months of operation. [SQL, APIs, Google Analytics, PowerBI]

  • Spearheaded the development and monitoring of key metrics for the Strategic Plan to increase donor retention and engagement.

  • Drove significant improvements in alumni engagement, donor identification, and campaign success through the deployment of machine learning models, resulting in a 30% lift in email engagement and a 15% increase in donations in A/B testing. [SQL, pandas, sklearn]

2014-2017 Transamerica, Senior risk analyst

  • Led the creation of an inaugural predictive analytics team of 3 data analysts and interns within the actuarial department.

  • Developed and implemented machine learning models to predict customer behavior, with one integrated into the production actuarial platform (MG-ALFA). [SQL (Microsoft and Oracle), pandas, sklearn, R, alteryx]

  • Analyzed variable annuity portfolio risks and provided hedge recommendations, including modeling stochastic simulations of gamma and delta hedge rebalancing. [SQL, VBA]

  • Conducted risk reviews of risk-managed mutual funds and ETF liquidity during market downturns, providing key insights to executive management.

Education

2008–2013 Ph.D., Mathematics - University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

2006–2008 M.S., Mathematics - University of Vermont, Burlington, VT

2000–2003 B.A., Mathematics, Minor Economics - Winona State University, Winona, MN

Technology skills

Python (pandas, pyspark, sklearn, numpy, flask, etc…), SQL (Trino, BigQuery, MS SQL, dbt, etc…), BI tooling (Mode, Power BI, Tableau, Looker, Alteryx), GitHub/Git, R, Kafka, Spark, Flink, Airflow, HTML/CSS

Miscellany

Recognition

2021 UICA Innovation Peer Award

2020 EverTrue’s 40 under 40

Presentation

2021 Know Your Audience: Data-Driven Personas DRIVE/Cast, CASE.

2019 Demystifying Machine Learning PlugIn to Data Science, APRA.

2019 Digital Engagement for Prospect Discovery RAISE, EverTrue.

2018 Portfolio Optimization Big 10 Development Conference.

2016 Predictive Analytics Transamerica’s Actuarial Department.

Writing

2013 The Hessenberg representation, Ph.D. dissertation.

2011 Representations on Hessenberg varieties and Young’s rule FPSAC 2011 proceedings, Assoc. Discrete Math. Theor. Comput. Sci. (903-914).

Service

2017-present Tippie College of Business - University of Iowa, - Mentorship and providing hands-on experience to undergraduate students in business analytics.

2004-2006 AmeriCorps*VISTA Habitat for Humanity Restore Winona, - Managed 3 volunteer programs that focused on salvaging, reusing, and recycling.

Hobbies

Father, coffee enthusiast, bread baker, gardener, car-camper, day-hiker, board-game geek, beginner weight-lifter