Senior Data Scientist, Game Science Team

Who We Are:

2K Games Dublin is a hub passionate about performance marketing (including mobile User Acquisition), commercial strategy, data engineering and data science/analytics and is part of the 2K Games group of companies. 

Founded in 2005, the 2K label includes some of the most talented game development studios in the world today including Firaxis Games, Visual Concepts, Hangar 13, 2K Czech, and Cat Daddy Games. Our elite team of engineers, developers, graphic artists, and publishing professionals are stewards of a growing library of critically acclaimed franchises such as Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, The Darkness, Mafia, NBA 2K, Sid Meier’s Civilization, WWE 2K, and XCOM. 2K is headquartered in Novato, California, and is a wholly-owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

2K develops and publishes interactive entertainment globally for console systems, handheld gaming systems, and personal computers, including smartphones and tablets, which are delivered through physical retail, digital download, online platforms, and cloud streaming services. 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, sports, casual, and family entertainment.

Our vision at 2K is to build a diverse and inclusive environment to “Come as You are and Feel Equipped to do Your Best Work!” We are dedicated to promoting diversity, multiculturalism, and equality in all that we do. Our communities are passionate about increased access and personal growth, and their greatness depends on a diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, and perspective. We're an equal opportunity employer, and we're excited to build the future of co-living with the world's most hardworking and passionate people!

What We Need:

We’re looking for skilled and passionate Data Scientists to work in our growing central Game Science team. They will be primarily passionate about the console/PC versions of our flagship game NBA2k, and be responsible for crunching data, building models, and extracting insights. Insights are used by leadership to manage the business and improve the product. Our games are played by millions every day, and in-game monetization is part of the Analytics group, so our team has a very rich dataset to play with, and a direct path to implementing our outputs. The ideal candidate will have experience with sophisticated product analytics / data science for similar games with large in-game economies and rich and varied gameplay.

This role requires predictive models and monetisation experience for NBA 2K titles

What You Will Do:

• Analyse player gameplay and economy telemetry data to understand player behaviour and suggest actions to improve the player experience.
• Build in-game measurement and experimentation methodologies.
• Work closely with development teams to provide insights into game quality, difficulty, and fun.
• Cooperate closely with the Game Applied AI team to understand deeply the performance of production Matchmaking, Promotions and Communications, Antifraud/toxicity, and Content Recommendations models.
• Test engagement, communication, discounting/bundling and monetization strategies to improve performance.
• Present analysis findings in writing and via presentation (including for remote groups).

What Skills Are Needed:

You must be able to see the underlying story in the data, build sophisticated or simple models depending on the situation, and develop a compelling communication to executives. You are a solution oriented and creative problem solver; a self-starter with the passion and enthusiasm to get results for meaningful change is essential for this role!

• MSc or PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Sciences (or in another quantitative subject area).
• 4+ years of experience data mining & analytics, building models with large, sophisticated and multi-dimensional data sets. 6+ for Staff. Leadership experience for Lead.
• Experience with predictive modelling techniques and accomplished in use of R or Python machine learning and related modules.
• Experience in relational databases, SQL data carpentry. Experience with big data technologies such as Spark or NoSQL DBs a plus. We use Snowflake for our data warehouse and have access to direct streams as well.
• Video games experience or a love of games is important, along with the ability to partner successfully with partner teams / companies (development studios) required.
• Demonstrated communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills to effectively present, explain, influence, and advise within cross-functional teams.
• Able to work independently, rapidly prototyping and testing new insights with little mentorship. Drive to solve problems, meet deadlines, and build whatever is vital along the way.
• Experience understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different modelling approaches and can effectively reason about when to apply different combinations and iterate.
• Technically not a "skill", but, you are comfortable with working hours 10am-6:30pm enabling greater connection with our US HQ.