Lead Data Scientist — ML & Personalization for Media

The Walt Disney Company; Glendale (CA); On-site; USD 156,000 - 209,000; Full time

Job summary

The Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles, CA is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to guide the N&E ML Platform, translating data insights into product decisions for Disney's News & Entertainment portfolio.

You will partner with ML Engineers, design experiments, and define success metrics, using Python, SQL, and PySpark to build scalable data pipelines and personalized experiences across ABC News, National Geographic, Marvel, and Disney Studios.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS, statistics, or quantitative field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years in data science/analytics with product or engineering collaboration.
• Strong Python, SQL, and PySpark skills.

Responsibilities

• Conduct Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) across user, content, and engagement data to identify patterns and insights.
• Design, implement, and evaluate A/B tests and controlled experiments to validate product changes.
• Define success metrics for ML-driven features and measure model performance.
• Collaborate with ML Engineers on feature design, drift detection, and model evaluation.
• Translate data insights into clear, actionable product recommendations for cross-functional teams.
• Apply statistical analysis using Python, SQL, and PySpark on large-scale datasets and leverage analytics tools to understand audience behavior.

Skills

Python

SQL

PySpark

Machine learning

A/B testing

Data visualization

Communication

Agile/Scrum

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Statistics/Math or equivalent

Tools

AWS

Databricks

Snowflake

Adobe Analytics

Tableau/Looker

Job description

The Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles, CA is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to guide the N&E ML Platform, translating data insights into product decisions for Disney's News & Entertainment portfolio.

You will partner with ML Engineers, design experiments, and define success metrics, using Python, SQL, and PySpark to build scalable data pipelines and personalized experiences across ABC News, National Geographic, Marvel, and Disney Studios.