What it means to be a Decision Scientist at Vinted

‘Decision Scientist’ isn’t a title you’ll hear often, but it’s an important role at Vinted. In this post, we’ll take a look at what Decision Scientists do, and why it’s a position where your work can make a real impact.

So, what is Decision Science at Vinted? The team’s goal is to guide Vinted’s decisions using the scientific method – and they don’t hesitate to use intuition when speed matters.

There are four key parts to their process:

1. Influence
2. Decisions
3. Intuition
4. The Scientific Method

Shaping decisions, not confirming them

Decision Scientists aren’t there to support a choice that’s already been made. They get involved earlier, when things are just taking shape, and there’s still space to create precise hypotheses and iterative roadmaps to test them.

That means asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, and setting the right metrics.

You’re moving away from Decision Science if the focus is on:

• Trying to build confidence in a decision that’s already been made
• Looking for supporting evidence to match a gut feeling
• Reaching a conclusion before exploring the data.

1. Influencing decisions from the start

The first step is working with stakeholders to identify the jobs to be done, so it’s clear what needs to be decided and what will actually move things along.

That means:

• Co-creating with Product Managers, Engineers, and Designers to reach the best outcomes for Vinted
• Building a strong understanding of product, engineering, and design realities
• Understanding team goals and the constraints around them
• Turning those goals into clear, testable questions and metrics
• Communicating clearly and persuasively, without relying on formal authority.

What this looks like in practice

Take something like using AI to auto-fill listing details from item photos. When uploading an item and selecting the brand, size, or fabric – speed matters for sellers, while accuracy shapes how easily buyers can find what they’re looking for. Improving one may affect the other.

That means, the task’s not just about efficiency, but how that change plays out across the entire experience, from listing through to purchase.

This leads to more specific questions:

• Does auto-fill actually reduce time to publish, or do people spend longer correcting it? 
• Does it improve search relevance, or make items harder to find? 
• And if details are wrong, what does that mean for trust, complaints, or returns?

This is where Decision Scientists add value. They help teams explore those trade-offs, define what success really looks like, and develop tests that reflect how people actually use the product.

2. Staying close to the decisions that matter

Decision Scientists stay close to the decisions that inform how Vinted evolves. If there’s a chance that data or structured thinking can improve a decision, it’s worth engaging.

That can mean reframing a target that doesn’t quite reflect reality yet, or working with a team to test the thinking behind a direction before it moves forward. The role isn’t just about supporting decisions, but guiding them at the right moment.

This relies on two things working together. One is recognising where input can genuinely change an outcome. The other is building the trust that makes that input useful, so it’s heard and acted on.

At the same time, there’s a clear sense of focus. If a piece of work doesn’t lead to a decision, it’s a moment to reflect on why:

• Was the question the right one to begin with?
• Did we define the problem and scope correctly?
• Did we collaborate well with stakeholders to understand the need and challenge?

Example: If a team asks for a dashboard with 20 metrics, the first question is: what decisions will these metrics inform? That often leads to a smaller, sharper set of metrics, along with clear decision rules – helping teams move faster with less effort.
 

3. Knowing when intuition should guide the way

When we talk about intuition, we don’t mean guessing. It’s about using the evidence and patterns we’ve learned along the way to work faster, with confidence. Or, as Jevgenij puts it, “...using accumulated evidence and patterns to safely cut corners.”

Over time, Decision Scientists build a strong sense of how things tend to play out. Often, they’ve:

• Seen similar experiments before
• Worked on similar features or markets
• And understand how certain patterns show up in the data. 

That means they don’t always need to analyse everything from scratch.

Sometimes, that looks like recognising early that an idea is unlikely to have a big impact. For example, if several similar experiments on a screen have shown limited results, it can be enough to say: this opportunity is likely smaller than it seems, so it may be worth focusing elsewhere.

That kind of call lets teams move ahead without waiting for a full deep dive every time.

This allows Decision Scientists to:

• Move faster when timing matters
• Avoid work that won’t change the outcome
• And save their time and attention for the problems that require deeper analysis.

At the same time, the use of intuition is never hidden or assumed. It’s important to be clear about where experience is being used, and why it’s safe to do so in that moment.

4. Using the scientific method with intent

When it comes to engaging with the scientific method, this can take different forms, from forecasting how something might perform to designing experiments that test a specific idea. What matters is being deliberate about how we approach it.

That means:

• Being clear on what we expect to happen, and why
• Making assumptions visible, whether they relate to user behaviour, data quality, or how things connect
• Deciding what needs to be tested, and what can wait.

This is where strong technical skills come in. Experiments, statistics, and modelling all play a part, but always in service of helping teams make better decisions.

What this looks like in practice

For example, a country filter is a common request from buyers when they’re browsing items. At first glance, it seems like an easy feature to build. But instead of jumping straight into it, the focus shifts to understanding what problem it’s really solving.

The starting point is a clear hypothesis: making it easier to find local items should help people find what they want faster and improve conversion.

From there, the assumptions behind it need to be made explicit. Is this about faster delivery, lower costs, or more relevant content? Or is it actually about something else, like language?

Rather than testing everything at once, we concentrate on what matters most. For example, if people are actually trying to find items listed in their own language, then a country filter might not be the right solution at all.

That can change how the idea is tested. Instead of building a full feature, it might be enough to adjust how local items are shown and see if that delivers the same result.

This approach goes beyond surface-level answers. It shows us what’s actually driving behaviour, and ensures decisions reflect how people really use the product, not just what they ask for.

Turning insight into impact

Overall, Decision Scientists are part of how decisions get made at Vinted.

They help teams navigate uncertainty, make trade-offs, and allow us to grow with clarity. The results of their work show up in our platform and in the experience of millions of members.

It’s a role where you can see the connection between what you work on and what changes as a result.

Want to see what you can do at scale?

If you enjoy working through complex problems, thinking about impact, and helping teams progress with confidence, this is a role where you can make a real difference.

Explore our open roles now.