Lead Data Scientist – Personalization & ML Platforms

Disney Cruise Line - The Walt Disney Company

Glendale (CA)

On-site

Confidential

Full time

11 days ago

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Job summary

Disney Cruise Line - The Walt Disney Company is seeking a Lead Data Scientist to bridge data and product decisions for the News & Entertainment ML platform across ABC News, ABC Entertainment, National Geographic, Marvel, and Disney Studios. You will conduct exploratory analyses, design experiments, and define success metrics to drive measurable business impact.

You will collaborate with ML engineers, design experiments, and translate insights into actionable recommendations for product and

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, statistics, mathematics, economics, or a comparable quantitative field of study, and/or equivalent work experience.
7+ years of experience in data science, analytics, or a related field, including experience partnering directly with engineering and product teams.
Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and PySpark for large-scale data analysis and manipulation.
Deep experience with cloud data platforms such as AWS, Databricks, or Snowflake.
Deep experience with statistical analysis and experimentation, including designing, running, and interpreting A/B tests.
Demonstrated ability to conduct exploratory data analysis.

Responsibilities

Exploratory Data Analysis & Insights: Conduct exploratory data analysis (EDA) across user, content, and engagement data to identify patterns, trends, and behavioral insights across the N&E portfolio (ABC News, ABC Entertainment, National Geographic, Marvel, and Disney Studios).
Experimentation & A/B Testing: Design, implement, and evaluate A/B tests and other controlled experiments to validate product and personalization changes, applying sound statistical methodology to ensure results are reliable and actionable.
Success Metrics & Model Evaluation: Define success metrics for ML-driven features and measure model performance against them, ensuring that model improvements are grounded in measurable, statistically valid outcomes.
Partnership with ML Engineering: Partner closely with Machine Learning Engineers on feature design, drift detection, and model evaluation, acting as the analytical counterpart that ensures models remain accurate and relevant as data and user behavior evolve.
Translating Insights into Action: Translate data insights into clear, actionable product recommendations, working with product managers, designers, and engineering stakeholders to prioritize changes with the greatest expected business impact.
Statistical Analysis & Reporting: Apply statistical analysis using Python, SQL, and PySpark to large-scale datasets, and leverage tools such as Adobe Analytics to understand user behavior and content performance across brands.
Bridging Data and Product: Act as the bridge between data and product decisions, ensuring that ML and personalization improvements translate into measurable business impact for guests across the N&E portfolio.