Jobs · Engineering · Washington

Lead Data Scientist, Ad Research

The Walt Disney Company · Seattle, WA · 2 mo ago
On-siteEngineering$156k–$209k/yrFull-time

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

  • 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 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.

Qualifications

  • 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 is required.

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. Otherwise a strong interest to learn.
  • Experience with Airflow, data warehouse, Databricks or Sagemaker.

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