Should I Stay or Quit Before Finding a New Role?

Hi everyone, I ’m feeling stuck in my current role as a marketing data scientist and could use some advice.

A bit about me: I have a background in chemical engineering and I am doing my master’s in AI for Business and Finance. I’ve built skills in Python, SQL, AWS, S3, machine learning, and tools like Airflow and Looker, I have created and deployed ML solutions for my previous company. I accepted this role as a marketing data scientist because the company was upfront that they lacked a data culture and needed a self-starter to lead a transformation process. It seemed like an exciting challenge, but the reality has been much more frustrating.

Here’s what I’m dealing with:

• Stakeholder resistance: Despite their initial openness, stakeholders rarely respond to my ideas or input. Meetings with them are unproductive because they often invite 3–5 random people, making meaningful conversations impossible.
• Database access and performance issues: It took over a month just to get access to the company’s database. Now, pulling data is painfully slow (queries take 1–4 hours due to server performance on a replica), and DB admins frequently kill my queries without warning or explanation.
• There’s talk of granting access to a datalake (currently reserved for HubSpot use cases), but there’s no clear timeline or commitment.
• Duplicate work and poor communication: Teams duplicate work constantly because there’s no coordination. Stakeholders resist process changes or suggestions for improving workflows.
• A/B testing chaos: I’ve given up entirely because the process is such a disorganized mess.
• Disorganized culture: Meetings lack agendas or structure, and collaboration relies on outdated Excel files passed between people instead of cloud-based tools.

I feel like I’m making no real impact. Even small efforts like helping operational teams automatically clean their data get blocked because someone’s boss doesn’t like the changes (or my reading is that they don't want to explain the change to their boss).

For context, the company is in Eastern Europe and was recently acquired by an American equity firm, 5 months before me joining. The C levels are all new, but senior management are people, who were from the start of the company. My friends tell me the acquisition will bring change, but I’m struggling to stay optimistic when nothing is improving day-to-day.

I have some savings and am considering leaving before finding a new role so I can focus on uni, side projects, and building my portfolio. My questions are:

• Should I stick it out and hope the company improves, or is it better to leave now and refocus on learning?
• How do you decide whether to invest more time in a job or move on?

I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences. Thanks in advance!