Basketball Analytics & R&D Executive Director

Chicago Bulls; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 250,000 - 400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare

401(k) with employer match

Paid time off

Game tickets

Gym access

Job summary

Chicago Bulls are seeking an Executive Director of Research & Development to lead analytics, data science, and invention within Basketball Operations. This role directs data infrastructure, tools, and a high-performing team to translate insights into court-ready decisions.

The ideal leader combines deep quantitative expertise with strategic vision, exceptional communication, and a proven track record of building interdisciplinary teams that deliver tangible competitive advantages.

Qualifications

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Statistics, Data Science, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Operations Research, or equivalent practical quantitative research experience.
• High-stakes decision-making under uncertainty.
• Statistical modeling, forecasting, and probabilistic programming.
• Machine learning methods and model evaluation.
• Player-tracking/spatiotemporal data and video/computer-vision-derived features.
• Best practices in programming and AI agent integration.
• Generating insights from large data sets and distilling them into clear visualizations and communications for diverse audiences.
• Data engineering architecture to support research and rapid decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for the Bulls’ Research & Development department.
• Serve as a primary advisor to senior leadership on analytics insights.
• Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse, high-performing group of specialists.
• Scan research for competitive advantages and build processes to implement them.
• Set goals, priorities, and performance metrics for the R&D department.
• Lead buildout of predictive models and decision-support tools for player evaluation.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Data analytics

Team leadership

Communication

Project management

Education

Master's/PhD in Statistics/Data Science/CS

Tools

Python/R

SQL

Job description

Chicago Bulls are seeking an Executive Director of Research & Development to lead analytics, data science, and invention within Basketball Operations. This role directs data infrastructure, tools, and a high-performing team to translate insights into court-ready decisions.

The ideal leader combines deep quantitative expertise with strategic vision, exceptional communication, and a proven track record of building interdisciplinary teams that deliver tangible competitive advantages.