Lead Data Scientist, Ad Research

5014 Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC; Iowa (LA); On-site; USD 155,700 - 208,700; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Bonus potential

Long-term incentive units

Job summary

5014 Disney Entertainment & Sports LLC is seeking a Lead Data Scientist for its research/AI team. This role focuses on enhancing advertising effectiveness through AI and data science, offering significant career growth opportunities. You will drive innovation and collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop rigorous data models and insights.

The ideal candidate has over 7 years of experience in data science, strong statistical knowledge, and a passion for the advertising domain.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in data science at leading technology companies.
• Experience in advertising is a strong bonus.
• Solid knowledge of data science and statistics is required.

Responsibilities

• Drive innovation in advertising serving using data science.
• Translate business questions into a data science framework.
• Mentor team members and support their technical growth.

Skills

Data science

Statistical analysis

SQL

Python

Machine Learning

Strong communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s in computer science or statistics

MS or PhD in computer science or statistics (nice-to-have)

Tools

Tableau

Airflow

Databricks

Sagemaker

Job description

Lead Data Scientist, Ad Research

The research/AI team is the dedicated AI/ML and data science arm of the Ad Platform organization. Its mission is to advance AI and machine learning capabilities across Ad Platform by delivering scalable, high impact AI/ML and data science solutions that enhance ad decisioning, forecasting, experimentation, and ad experience. We are seeking a Lead Data Scientist to join this innovative team.

What you’ll do

• Drive innovation and apply data science and statistical analysis in a variety of areas to enhance every aspect of advertising serving, including inventory forecasting, ad experience, ad pacing, pricing, targeting, advertising creation and enhancement, and efficient ad delivery.
• Translate business questions into a data science framework; develop data analysis and data models for complex ad challenges with fast turnaround.
• Develop rigorous evaluation pipelines for generative AI technologies, including visual generations (image, video) and/or LLM-based agentic generations.
• Define and evaluate key metrics in various product areas.
• Partner closely with generative AI specialists to support the creation of datasets for generative AI modeling applications.
• Develop Standard Operating Procedures for human-driven evaluations or labeling.
• Deliver data insights and provide data-driven recommendations to cross-team stakeholders.
• Design and analyze A/B tests for machine learning algorithm iterations.
• Establish strong partnership with stakeholders, including product managers, engineers and program managers, in a collaborative environment.
• Mentor team members and support their technical growth.

What to bring

• Bachelor’s in computer science, statistics or equivalent experience.
• At least 7 years of relevant industry experience in data science at leading internet or creative technology companies.
• Experience in the advertising domain is a strong bonus.
• Experience creating ML datasets and rigorous dataset labeling or evaluation processes for models.
• Strong interest to learn about generative mixed media, generative video, and diffusion-based technology.
• Solid knowledge of data science and statistics.
• Strong communication skills and business acumen.
• Proficient in SQL, Python, Java, or R.
• Familiar with Tableau, and/or other visualization tools.
• Experience designing and building machine learning models.
• Passionate about understanding the ad business, applying data science to relevant business scenarios, and seeking innovation opportunities to enhance business effectiveness.
• Interested in supporting rapid prototyping, generative AI, and creative technologies, including applications to advertisement creation and enhancement.
• Experienced building data-driven services and applications for production.
• A proven track record of thriving in a fast-paced, data-driven, and collaborative work environment.

Nice-to-haves

• MS or PhD in computer science, statistics or equivalent experience.
• Experience in digital video advertising or digital marketing domain.
• Experience in production-grade development, rapid prototyping, or generative AI related research using LLMs, generative imagery or video, or agentic flows.
• Experience with Airflow, data warehouse, Databricks or Sagemaker.

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA area is $155,700 – $208,700 per year and Seattle Area is $163,100 – $218,700. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.