Data Scientist (NYC, LA, SF or Seattle)
Onsite Hybrid role - 3 days a week
We are seeking a highly motivated and talented Senior Data Scientist to join our team of experts in developing and maintaining recommendation and personalization algorithms for Disney Streaming's suite of streaming video apps. As a member of our team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our streaming services by applying state-of-the-art machine learning methods to meet strategic product personalization goals.
• Algorithm Development and Maintenance:
o Utilize cutting-edge machine learning techniques to develop and enhance algorithms for personalization, recommendation, and predictive systems.
o Take ownership of maintaining and optimizing algorithms deployed in production environments.
o Serve as the point person for explaining methodologies to both technical and non-technical teams, fostering clear communication.
• Analysis and Algorithm Optimization:
o Conduct in-depth analysis of user interactions within our apps and user profiles to drive improvements in key personalization metrics.
o Collaborate with data scientists and engineers to refine algorithms and enhance their performance continually.
• MVP Development:
o Innovate and develop machine learning products that can be used for new production features or by downstream production algorithms.
o Work closely with cross-functional teams to prototype and operationalize personalization solutions.
• Development Best Practices:
o Maintain and establish best practices for algorithm development, testing, and deployment, ensuring high-quality code and efficient processes.
• Collaboration with Product and Business Stakeholders:
o Identify and define new personalization opportunities by collaborating with product and business stakeholders.
o Collaborate with other data teams to improve data collection, experimentation, and analysis methods.
Required Qualifications:
• 7+ years of analytical experience
• 5+ years of experience developing machine learning models and performing data analysis with Python and tensor-based model development frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, Tensorflow)
• 5+ years writing production-level, scalable code (e.g. Python, Scala)
• 5+ years of experience developing algorithms for deployment to production systems
• In-depth understanding of modern machine learning (e.g. deep learning methods), models, and their mathematical underpinnings for recommendation engines
• In-depth understanding of the latest in natural language processing techniques and contextualized word embedding models
• Experience deploying and maintaining pipelines (AWS, Docker, Airflow) and in engineering big-data solutions using technologies like Databricks, S3, and Spark
• Familiarity with data exploration and data visualization tools like Tableau, Looker, etc.
• Understanding of statistical concepts (e.g., hypothesis testing, regression analysis)
• Ability to gauge the complexity of machine learning problems and a willingness to execute simple approaches for quick, effective solutions as appropriate
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to explain how models are used and algorithms behave to both technical and non-technical audiences
Additional Preferred Qualifications:
• MS or PhD in computer science, data science, statistics, math, or related quantitative field
• Production experience with developing content recommendation algorithms at scale
• Experience building and deploying full stack ML pipelines: data extraction, data mining, model training, feature development, testing, and deployment
• Experience with graph-based data workflows such as Apache Airflow
• Experience engineering big-data solutions using technologies like EMR, S3, Spark, Databricks
• Familiar with metadata management, data lineage, and principles of data governance
• Experience loading and querying cloud-hosted databases such as Snowflake
• Familiarity with automated deployment, AWS infrastructure, Docker or similar containers
Flexible work from home options available.