Lead Data Scientist
Listed on 2026-05-15
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IT/Tech
Data Analyst, Data Science Manager, Data Scientist, AI Engineer
Lead Data Scientist
Job :
Location:
San Francisco, California, United States;
Glendale, California, United States;
New York, New York, United States
Business:
Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology
Date posted:
May 12, 2026
This is an on‑site role requiring 4 days in‑person at a designated office location.
The Lead Data Scientist is a senior technical leader responsible for driving innovation in personalization, experimentation, and large‑scale data insight generation across ESPN’s streaming products. The role blends deep statistical expertise, strong technical execution, and exceptional communication skills to influence product strategy and guide a growing team of data scientists.
Key focus areas include advanced experimentation frameworks, actionable dashboards, personalization insights, and scalable data science solutions that directly empower product managers, content programmers, and executive leadership.
Responsibilities and Duties of the Role- Lead Technical Direction & Mentorship Provide technical leadership for the data science team, guiding junior and mid‑level data scientists through best practices in experimentation, modeling, analytics, and data storytelling.
- Drive Personalization Insights & Strategy Identify, analyze, and deliver high‑impact insights for ESPN personalization—including user behavior trends, recommendation system performance, and content engagement patterns—to influence product decisions.
- Architect & Execute Advanced Experimentation Design and analyze large‑scale A/B and multivariate experiments using rigorous statistical methods, power analysis, variance reduction techniques, and causal inference frameworks.
- Develop Scalable Data Insight Products Lead the design of automated dashboards, visualizations, and decision‑support tools, while partnering with Data Engineering to build durable, production‑ready data pipelines and science workflows.
- Lead High‑Impact, Cross‑Functional Projects Own end‑to‑end delivery of complex data science initiatives by collaborating with Product, Engineering, Content Programming, and Executive stakeholders, translating technical findings into actionable recommendations.
- 7+ years of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related field, ideally supporting large‑scale online platforms.
- Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or a relevant field or equivalent industry experience.
- Proven track record of delivering high‑quality experimentation analyses and actionable insights that influenced product strategy.
- Deep expertise in statistical testing, causal inference, and experiment design (A/B testing, power analysis, sequential testing, etc.).
- Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and modern ML/statistics libraries (pandas, scikit‑learn, PyTorch/Tensor Flow optional).
- Experience working with large‑scale datasets in distributed computing environments (Spark, Databricks, Snowflake, etc.).
- Strong familiarity with data engineering best practices and building durable data science assets on top of production‑grade data.
- Demonstrated success with dashboarding tools (Tableau, Looker, Mode) and crafting data stories for a variety of stakeholders.
- Experience applying automation and AI‑driven tools to streamline workflows, improve standardization, and optimize productivity.
- Exceptional communication skills, especially in translating technical analyses into compelling stories for product managers and executives.
- Ability to lead projects with high ambiguity and cross‑functional complexity.
- Experience with personalization algorithms, recommender systems, or ranking models.
- Familiarity with streaming or media tech ecosystems.
- Advanced degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, or a relevant field or equivalent industry experience.
The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA area is $155,700 – $208,700 per year; in San Francisco is $170,500 – $228,600 per year; and in New York City is $163,100 – $218,700 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s…
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