What is a Data Analyst at Rent The Runway?

At Rent The Runway (RTR), Data Analysts play a pivotal role in powering the "Closet in the Cloud." You are not just analyzing e-commerce transactions; you are optimizing a complex, circular economy engine that involves reverse logistics, inventory management, and a highly customizable subscription model. Data is embedded in every decision, from predicting which designer styles will trend next season to optimizing the warehouse operations that clean and ship thousands of garments daily.

This role sits at the intersection of business strategy and technical execution. Whether you are defining KPIs for the Customer Experience team or refactoring core data models to improve reporting speed, your work directly impacts user retention and operational efficiency. The environment is fast-paced and innovative, requiring analysts who can navigate ambiguity and deliver scalable, high-quality insights.

You will likely work within the Data Analytics team, often functioning as a bridge between business stakeholders and Data Engineering. With the company’s strong focus on Analytics Engineering, you will be expected to apply software engineering best practices—such as version control, testing, and modular code design—to data analytics. This is a role for someone who cares deeply about data quality, governance, and the "why" behind the numbers.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparation for Rent The Runway requires a balance of strong technical skills and a deep understanding of their unique business model. You should treat your preparation as if you are already a consultant for the company, ready to solve problems regarding inventory utilization and subscriber growth.

Technical Execution & Tooling – 2–3 sentences describing: RTR relies heavily on a modern data stack, specifically SQL, dbt, and Looker. You must demonstrate not only the ability to write complex queries but also the ability to build scalable data models and maintainable code. Proficiency in Git-based workflows and understanding data warehousing (Snowflake/BigQuery) is critical.

Business Acumen & Metric Definition – 2–3 sentences describing: You will be tested on your ability to translate vague business questions into concrete metrics. Interviewers look for candidates who understand the nuances of a subscription business (e.g., churn, LTV, CAC) and the logistical constraints of a rental inventory model. You must be able to explain why a metric matters, not just how to calculate it.

Communication & Stakeholder Management – 2–3 sentences describing: Data at RTR is self-service oriented, meaning you must empower non-technical stakeholders to use data effectively. You will be evaluated on your ability to simplify complex data concepts and influence decision-making across Product, Engineering, and Operations teams.

Cultural Alignment – 2–3 sentences describing: RTR values "high ownership" and "scrappiness." Candidates should demonstrate a proactive approach to finding solutions, a willingness to iterate quickly, and a passion for disrupting the traditional fashion industry.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process at Rent The Runway is rigorous and designed to test both your coding chops and your analytical thinking. It typically begins with a recruiter screen to align on your background and interest in the circular fashion space. This is followed by a hiring manager screen, which digs into your past projects, your experience with the modern data stack (specifically dbt and Looker), and your understanding of the role.

Following the initial screens, you will likely face a technical assessment. This often takes the form of a take-home assignment or a live coding session focused on SQL and data modeling. For the Data Analyst and Analytics Engineering roles, expect to be tested on your ability to transform raw data into a usable model, demonstrating your grasp of dbt concepts and clean coding practices. If you pass this stage, you will move to the onsite loop.

The onsite stage (often virtual) consists of multiple rounds covering technical deep dives, business case studies, and behavioral interviews. You will meet with cross-functional partners (such as Product Managers or Data Engineers) to assess how you collaborate. The team puts a strong emphasis on "Analytics Engineering" principles, so expect questions that probe your ability to build robust, tested, and documented data pipelines, not just one-off analyses.

This timeline illustrates the typical flow from application to offer. Note that the "Technical Screen" often serves as a major filter; ensure you are comfortable with SQL window functions and dimensional modeling before this stage. The process is thorough because RTR looks for candidates who can immediately contribute to their dbt and Looker ecosystems.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

SQL and Data Manipulation

This is the foundation of the role. You will be expected to write clean, efficient, and optimized SQL. RTR deals with large-scale datasets involving subscription lifecycles and event data (e.g., Heap).

Be ready to go over:

• Advanced Joins and Aggregations – Handling complex relationships between inventory, users, and subscriptions.
• Window Functions – Calculating running totals, ranking user engagement, or analyzing session trends.
• Query Optimization – Writing queries that are performant in a cloud warehouse environment like Snowflake or BigQuery.
• Data Cleaning – Handling NULLs, duplicates, and messy raw data from various sources.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Write a query to calculate the month-over-month retention rate for new subscribers."
• "How would you identify the top 3 most rented items per category for each region?"
• "Given a table of user events, find the average time between a user's first rental and their second rental."

Analytics Engineering & dbt

Because RTR is building a dedicated Analytics Engineering function, this area is critical. You need to show that you treat data as code.

Be ready to go over:

• Data Modeling – Designing Star Schemas, defining facts and dimensions, and normalizing/denormalizing data appropriately.
• dbt Fundamentals – Understanding ref(), incremental models, snapshots, and the importance of DAGs (Directed Acyclic Graphs).
• Quality & Testing – Implementing data tests (unique, not null, referential integrity) to ensure reliability.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Jinja templating in dbt, macro creation, and orchestration tools like Prefect.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you refactor a massive, 1000-line SQL query into a modular dbt project?"
• "Explain your strategy for handling slowly changing dimensions (SCDs) for our inventory catalog."
• "How do you manage dependencies between models to ensure data freshness?"

Business Intelligence & Visualization

Your output must be consumable by the business. Proficiency in Looker is a significant advantage, as it is the primary BI tool at RTR.

Be ready to go over:

• LookML – Defining dimensions, measures, and explores in Looker’s modeling language.
• Dashboard Design – Creating intuitive visualizations that answer specific business questions without overwhelming the user.
• Self-Service Enablement – Designing models that allow stakeholders to answer their own questions.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Design a dashboard for the Logistics team to monitor warehouse turnaround time."
• "A stakeholder says a metric looks 'wrong' on a dashboard. How do you investigate and resolve this?"
• "How do you balance granular data access with dashboard performance?"

Product Sense & Metrics

You must understand the business behind the data. RTR operates on a subscription model, which is distinct from traditional retail.

Be ready to go over:

• Subscription Metrics – Churn, Retention, CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), LTV (Lifetime Value), and ARPU (Average Revenue Per User).
• Inventory Metrics – Utilization rates, turn rates, and reverse logistics efficiency.
• A/B Testing – Designing experiments to test new features or pricing tiers.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "We are seeing a dip in subscription renewals. How would you investigate the root cause?"
• "How would you measure the success of a new 'closet swap' feature?"
• "Define a metric to track the 'health' of our reverse logistics operations."

Key Responsibilities

As a Data Analyst at Rent The Runway, your day-to-day work revolves around maintaining and improving the core data models that power the entire business. You will spend a significant amount of time in dbt, refactoring legacy SQL into clean, modular code, and ensuring that the data pipeline is robust and scalable. You are the architect of the "truth" that the rest of the company relies on.

Collaboration is central to this role. You will partner closely with Data Engineering to improve ingestion pipelines and orchestration flows, acting as the bridge between raw infrastructure and business insights. Simultaneously, you will work with Product Managers and Operations Leads to define the metrics that matter. You aren't just taking ticket requests; you are helping teams define what they should be measuring.

Additionally, you will own the presentation layer in Looker. This involves not just building dashboards, but maintaining the LookML layer to ensure that "Revenue" or "Active Subscriber" is defined consistently across every report. You will also be involved in high-impact initiatives, such as the migration of data warehouses (e.g., Snowflake to BigQuery) or the implementation of new data governance standards.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

Candidates who succeed at RTR combine strong technical engineering skills with analytical intuition.

• Must-have skills

  • SQL Expertise: Ability to write highly optimized, complex SQL queries.
  • dbt Experience: Proven experience building and maintaining production dbt models (testing, documentation, modularity).
  • Cloud Data Warehouses: Hands-on experience with Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift.
  • BI Tooling: Strong experience with Looker (preferred) or Tableau/PowerBI, including semantic modeling.
  • Version Control: Comfort with Git-based workflows (branching, PRs, code reviews).

• Nice-to-have skills

  • LookML: Specific experience writing LookML code.
  • Migration Experience: Experience moving data stacks (e.g., Snowflake to BigQuery).
  • Event Analytics: Familiarity with tools like Heap, Mixpanel, or Segment.
  • Python: For scripting or automation tasks.
  • Orchestration: Experience with tools like Prefect or Airflow.

Common Interview Questions

The following questions reflect the types of inquiries candidates face at Rent The Runway. They are designed to test your technical depth and your ability to apply data to fashion and logistics problems.

Technical & Data Modeling

This category tests your hard skills in SQL and dbt.

• "Walk me through how you would design a schema to track inventory movement from a customer's home back to the warehouse."
• "What is the difference between a view, a table, and an incremental model in dbt? When would you use each?"
• "Write a query to find the top 10% of users by revenue for the last year."
• "How do you handle data quality issues in a production pipeline? Give an example of a test you would implement."
• "Explain how you would optimize a query that is taking too long to run on a large dataset."

Business Case & Problem Solving

These questions assess your ability to think like a business owner.

• "If we wanted to launch a new 'Unlimited' plan, what metrics would you track to ensure it is profitable?"
• "Inventory utilization is down this month. What hypotheses would you investigate?"
• "How would you determine if a specific designer brand is worth keeping in our portfolio?"
• "A stakeholder wants a dashboard that shows 'everything.' How do you handle this request?"

Behavioral & Culture

RTR values collaboration and ownership.

• "Tell me about a time you identified a data quality issue that no one else noticed. How did you fix it?"
• "Describe a situation where you had to explain a complex technical concept to a non-technical stakeholder."
• "How do you prioritize your work when you have requests from multiple different teams?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to learn a new tool or technology quickly to get a job done."

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is the primary tech stack for the Data Analyst role? The core stack consists of Snowflake/BigQuery for warehousing, dbt for transformation and modeling, Looker for business intelligence, and GitHub for version control. Proficiency in this specific stack is highly valued.

Q: Is this role remote or hybrid? Rent The Runway generally operates on a hybrid model for its tech teams. Individual contributors typically follow a schedule that alternates between fully remote weeks and working from the office (e.g., Brooklyn, NY) a few days a week.

Q: How technical is the interview process? It is quite technical. Unlike some analyst roles that focus only on Excel or basic SQL, RTR expects "Analytics Engineering" capabilities. You should be comfortable with software engineering concepts applied to data, such as code reviews, testing, and CI/CD.

Q: What differentiates a Senior Analyst from a Lead? A Senior Analyst focuses on high-impact individual contribution and stakeholder partnership. A Lead (specifically Analytics Engineering Lead) takes on architectural ownership of the dbt project, defines technical strategy, and mentors other analysts, while also serving as the primary bridge to Data Engineering.

Q: How should I prepare for the "Case Study" round? Focus on the subscription business model. Understand the economics of renting vs. buying, inventory depreciation, and reverse logistics. Be prepared to structure your answer with a clear hypothesis, data requirements, and success metrics.

Other General Tips

Understand the "Closet in the Cloud": RTR is not just a retailer; it is a logistics company. When answering case questions, remember to consider the operational cost of shipping, dry cleaning, and restocking items. A great recommendation considers both customer delight and operational efficiency.

Emphasize "Data Governance": The job descriptions highlight a need for scalable, well-governed data. In your interviews, talk about the importance of documentation, clear naming conventions, and ownership boundaries. Show that you care about keeping the "data house" clean.

Show Your "Scrappiness": RTR thrives on innovation and moving fast. Share examples of how you delivered value quickly or solved a problem with limited resources. They want builders who can take ownership and drive results without waiting for permission.

Summary & Next Steps

Becoming a Data Analyst at Rent The Runway is an opportunity to work at the cutting edge of fashion and technology. You will be tasked with solving unique challenges in the circular economy, using a modern data stack to drive decisions that affect millions of customers and millions of inventory items. The role demands a blend of rigorous engineering standards and sharp business intuition.

To succeed, focus your preparation on advanced SQL, dbt architecture, and Looker modeling. Be ready to demonstrate how you build scalable data products, not just one-off reports. Review the fundamentals of subscription economics and think critically about the logistics of rental inventory.

The compensation for these roles reflects the high technical bar and strategic importance of the position. The ranges provided are base salary figures; total compensation may also include equity and benefits, which are significant components of the package at a growth-stage public company like RTR.

You have the roadmap. Now, dive into the data, refine your technical storytelling, and prepare to show Rent The Runway how you can help build the future of fashion. Good luck!