H-1B Visa Staff Scientist Jobs
H-1B visa jobs for Staff Scientists sit squarely within specialty occupation territory, requiring at least a bachelor's degree in a directly related scientific field. Employers must file a certified LCA and an I-129 petition with USCIS before you start work. Initial H-1B status runs three years, extendable to six.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Block builds simple, powerful tools that make progress towards an economy that’s truly open to all.
Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers. Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money. Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time. TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs. Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin. Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Together, we’re helping build a financial system that is open to everyone. Join us.
THE ROLE
The Credit and Lending team is responsible for the predictive intelligence that underpins Block’s primary capital-intensive products. These products unlock unique access to credit for our customers, many of whom are otherwise underbanked and underserved by the traditional financial system. As a member of the Credit Policy team within Square Financial Services (SFS), you will occupy a high-leverage role at the intersection of regulated banking and advanced autonomous systems. This position requires end-to-end ownership of credit policy, from the evaluation of novel data signals to the design of the decisioning logic that drives Block’s top-line growth. Beyond policy design, this role carries core responsibility for credit policy governance: ensuring that policy changes and experiments are rigorously designed, reviewed, documented, monitored, and reported in line with the expectations of a regulated bank.
Our credit products are material drivers of the company’s profitability and are frequently highlighted in executive reviews and quarterly earnings reports. We are seeking a scientifically-minded contributor capable of delivering extraordinary individual leverage to expand our underwriting capabilities into previously untapped segments through pragmatic policy evolution and advanced modeling techniques.
YOU WILL
- Apply a rigorous scientific mindset to the challenge of underwriting new customer segments, involving the evaluation of alternative external data sources and the design of new policy strategies to expand access while protecting the portfolio.
- Own credit policy governance and reporting: maintain policy documentation, change logs, and approval artifacts, and deliver recurring portfolio performance and policy-impact reporting to credit risk committees, senior leadership, and bank oversight functions.
- Propose and design experiments for credit products — champion/challenger tests, randomized holdouts, and staged rollouts across approval, limit, and pricing strategy — with clear hypotheses, success metrics, guardrails, and loss-exposure budgets.
- Review experiment designs proposed by partner teams, assessing statistical rigor, sample sizing, risk exposure, fair lending considerations, and alignment with credit policy and regulatory requirements before launch.
- Form policy guidelines and frameworks — risk appetite thresholds, approval and limit standards, and concentration limits — that enable credit portfolios to scale responsibly while meeting growth, loss, and profitability objectives.
- Partner with Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Audit teams to ensure policy changes meet governance standards and are well documented and exam-ready.
- Support team members in ad-hoc and scheduled updates to existing policies and strategies, and help troubleshoot issues in a real-time production environment.
- Operate effectively within the framework of a regulated bank (SFS), balancing rapid innovation with the requirements of safety, soundness, and compliance.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 8+ years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6+ years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3+ years experience; or equivalent experience
- A degree in a technical field (e.g., Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or Engineering). We have a strong preference for candidates with a demonstrated track record of scientific research or an advanced degree.
- Demonstrated experience in credit policy governance at a bank, fintech, or consumer/small business lender — including documenting and approving policy changes, preparing materials for credit or risk committees, and supporting regulatory exams and internal audits.
- Hands-on experience proposing, designing, and reviewing experiments for credit products (e.g., champion/challenger tests, randomized holdouts, and staged rollouts on approval, line assignment, or pricing), including power and sample sizing, loss-exposure guardrails, and decision-ready readouts.
- A track record of building and owning portfolio monitoring and reporting — KPIs, early-warning indicators, vintage and roll-rate analysis — used to steer credit policy and communicate performance to leadership.
- Experience translating business objectives into credit policy guidelines, such as risk appetite thresholds, approval and limit standards, and concentration limits, that allow portfolios to scale while staying within loss and profitability targets.
- Familiarity with regulatory expectations for credit products is strongly preferred.
- Strong quantitative intuition and data visualization skills, with a proven ability to conduct sophisticated ad-hoc and exploratory analysis.
- Strong proficiency in SQL and Python preferred, including the ability to contribute across the analytical stack—from data pipelines to production-ready policy logic.
- The versatility to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences, particularly in the context of high-visibility projects and senior stakeholders.
- A pragmatic approach to problem-solving, with a willingness to utilize whichever tool is most appropriate for the situation while balancing complex business, technical, and regulatory constraints.
COMPENSATION
Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.
Zone A:
$198,000—$297,000 USD
Zone B:
$188,100—$282,100 USD
Zone C:
$178,200—$267,400 USD
Zone D:
$168,300—$252,500 USD
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
Candidates may submit up to 9 active applications within a 60-day period. Reapplications to the same role are accepted 90 days after a previous application has been reviewed.
USE OF AI IN OUR HIRING PROCESS
We may use automated AI tools to evaluate job applications for efficiency and consistency. These tools comply with local regulations, including bias audits, and we handle all personal data in accordance with state and local privacy laws.
Contact us here with hiring practice or data usage questions.
Every benefit we offer is designed with one goal: empowering you to do the best work of your career while building the life you want. Remote work, medical insurance, flexible time off, retirement savings plans, and modern family planning are just some of our offering.
Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) builds technology to increase access to the global economy. Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers. Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money. Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time. TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs. Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin. Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Together, we’re helping build a financial system that is open to everyone.
INTRODUCTION
Block builds simple, powerful tools that make progress towards an economy that’s truly open to all.
Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers. Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money. Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time. TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs. Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin. Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Together, we’re helping build a financial system that is open to everyone. Join us.
THE ROLE
The Credit and Lending team is responsible for the predictive intelligence that underpins Block’s primary capital-intensive products. These products unlock unique access to credit for our customers, many of whom are otherwise underbanked and underserved by the traditional financial system. As a member of the Credit Policy team within Square Financial Services (SFS), you will occupy a high-leverage role at the intersection of regulated banking and advanced autonomous systems. This position requires end-to-end ownership of credit policy, from the evaluation of novel data signals to the design of the decisioning logic that drives Block’s top-line growth. Beyond policy design, this role carries core responsibility for credit policy governance: ensuring that policy changes and experiments are rigorously designed, reviewed, documented, monitored, and reported in line with the expectations of a regulated bank.
Our credit products are material drivers of the company’s profitability and are frequently highlighted in executive reviews and quarterly earnings reports. We are seeking a scientifically-minded contributor capable of delivering extraordinary individual leverage to expand our underwriting capabilities into previously untapped segments through pragmatic policy evolution and advanced modeling techniques.
YOU WILL
- Apply a rigorous scientific mindset to the challenge of underwriting new customer segments, involving the evaluation of alternative external data sources and the design of new policy strategies to expand access while protecting the portfolio.
- Own credit policy governance and reporting: maintain policy documentation, change logs, and approval artifacts, and deliver recurring portfolio performance and policy-impact reporting to credit risk committees, senior leadership, and bank oversight functions.
- Propose and design experiments for credit products — champion/challenger tests, randomized holdouts, and staged rollouts across approval, limit, and pricing strategy — with clear hypotheses, success metrics, guardrails, and loss-exposure budgets.
- Review experiment designs proposed by partner teams, assessing statistical rigor, sample sizing, risk exposure, fair lending considerations, and alignment with credit policy and regulatory requirements before launch.
- Form policy guidelines and frameworks — risk appetite thresholds, approval and limit standards, and concentration limits — that enable credit portfolios to scale responsibly while meeting growth, loss, and profitability objectives.
- Partner with Risk Management, Compliance and Internal Audit teams to ensure policy changes meet governance standards and are well documented and exam-ready.
- Support team members in ad-hoc and scheduled updates to existing policies and strategies, and help troubleshoot issues in a real-time production environment.
- Operate effectively within the framework of a regulated bank (SFS), balancing rapid innovation with the requirements of safety, soundness, and compliance.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 8+ years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6+ years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3+ years experience; or equivalent experience
- A degree in a technical field (e.g., Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or Engineering). We have a strong preference for candidates with a demonstrated track record of scientific research or an advanced degree.
- Demonstrated experience in credit policy governance at a bank, fintech, or consumer/small business lender — including documenting and approving policy changes, preparing materials for credit or risk committees, and supporting regulatory exams and internal audits.
- Hands-on experience proposing, designing, and reviewing experiments for credit products (e.g., champion/challenger tests, randomized holdouts, and staged rollouts on approval, line assignment, or pricing), including power and sample sizing, loss-exposure guardrails, and decision-ready readouts.
- A track record of building and owning portfolio monitoring and reporting — KPIs, early-warning indicators, vintage and roll-rate analysis — used to steer credit policy and communicate performance to leadership.
- Experience translating business objectives into credit policy guidelines, such as risk appetite thresholds, approval and limit standards, and concentration limits, that allow portfolios to scale while staying within loss and profitability targets.
- Familiarity with regulatory expectations for credit products is strongly preferred.
- Strong quantitative intuition and data visualization skills, with a proven ability to conduct sophisticated ad-hoc and exploratory analysis.
- Strong proficiency in SQL and Python preferred, including the ability to contribute across the analytical stack—from data pipelines to production-ready policy logic.
- The versatility to communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences, particularly in the context of high-visibility projects and senior stakeholders.
- A pragmatic approach to problem-solving, with a willingness to utilize whichever tool is most appropriate for the situation while balancing complex business, technical, and regulatory constraints.
COMPENSATION
Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.
Zone A:
$198,000—$297,000 USD
Zone B:
$188,100—$282,100 USD
Zone C:
$178,200—$267,400 USD
Zone D:
$168,300—$252,500 USD
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
Candidates may submit up to 9 active applications within a 60-day period. Reapplications to the same role are accepted 90 days after a previous application has been reviewed.
USE OF AI IN OUR HIRING PROCESS
We may use automated AI tools to evaluate job applications for efficiency and consistency. These tools comply with local regulations, including bias audits, and we handle all personal data in accordance with state and local privacy laws.
Contact us here with hiring practice or data usage questions.
Every benefit we offer is designed with one goal: empowering you to do the best work of your career while building the life you want. Remote work, medical insurance, flexible time off, retirement savings plans, and modern family planning are just some of our offering.
Block, Inc. (NYSE: XYZ) builds technology to increase access to the global economy. Each of our brands unlocks different aspects of the economy for more people. Square makes commerce and financial services accessible to sellers. Cash App is the easy way to spend, send, and store money. Afterpay is transforming the way customers manage their spending over time. TIDAL is a music platform that empowers artists to thrive as entrepreneurs. Bitkey is a simple self-custody wallet built for bitcoin. Proto is a suite of bitcoin mining products and services. Together, we’re helping build a financial system that is open to everyone.
See all 903+ H-1B Visa Staff Scientist Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new H-1B Visa Staff Scientist Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship as a Staff Scientist
Map your degree to your specialty
Your degree field must directly relate to Staff Scientist duties, not just science broadly. Align your CV to the specific discipline, whether biochemistry, materials science, or computational biology, before applying. Mismatched credentials are a leading cause of H-1B visa RFEs for research roles.
Look up prevailing wages before negotiating
Use the OFLC Wage Search to find the Level I through Level IV prevailing wage for your SOC code and work location. Your offer must meet or beat that figure on the certified LCA, so knowing it in advance protects you from accepting a non-compliant package.
Verify the LCA covers every worksite
Staff Scientists often rotate between labs, field sites, or partner institutions. Each worksite address must appear on a separately certified LCA. Confirm with your employer's immigration counsel that all locations are listed before USCIS receives the I-129 petition.
Target employers with active research pipelines
Pharma, biotech, national labs, and R&D-heavy universities file LCAs regularly for Staff Scientist and related titles. Use Migrate Mate to identify employers with verified H-1B sponsorship history in your research discipline, filtered by role and location.
Front-load your publication and grant record
USCIS adjudicators evaluate specialty occupation partly through the actual duties described in the petition. A strong record of peer-reviewed publications, grant co-authorship, or patent filings reinforces that the role requires specialized degree-level expertise, reducing RFE risk during adjudication.
Understand the cap and your timeline
Most Staff Scientist roles at private employers are subject to the annual H-1B cap, and selection rules have changed recently. If you're currently on OPT or CPT, factor in your authorization end date and work backward from USCIS processing timelines to avoid a gap in work eligibility.
H-1B Visa Staff Scientist: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Staff Scientist role qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation?
Yes. Staff Scientist positions typically require at least a bachelor's degree in a specific scientific discipline, such as biology, chemistry, physics, or engineering, as a baseline for the role. That degree requirement is what qualifies the position as a specialty occupation under H-1B rules. Employers document this in the I-129 petition by detailing the duties and the minimum educational requirement.
Which employers sponsor H-1B visas for Staff Scientist jobs?
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, federal contract research organizations, national laboratories, and research-intensive universities are the most active H-1B sponsors for Staff Scientist roles. You can browse employers with verified H-1B LCA sponsorship history for scientific research positions on Migrate Mate, searchable by location and research area.
What happens if I move to a different lab or facility after my H-1B is approved?
Each worksite requires its own DOL-certified LCA. If you transfer to a new lab location, your employer must file an amended I-129 petition with a newly certified LCA covering that address before you begin working there. This is a common compliance gap for Staff Scientists who rotate between sites or take on fieldwork assignments.
How long does H-1B status last for a Staff Scientist position?
USCIS grants H-1B status for up to three years on initial approval, with a single extension possible to reach the six-year maximum. Beyond six years, continued stay requires an employer-sponsored immigrant visa petition at an approvable stage, such as an approved I-140. There is no automatic indefinite extension for H-1B holders.
Can I switch employers during my H-1B as a Staff Scientist?
Yes, through H-1B portability. If you've been in valid H-1B status and your new employer files a non-frivolous I-129 petition on your behalf before your current status expires, you can begin working for the new employer once USCIS receives the petition. The new employer must file a fresh LCA certified for your new worksite and role.