Director, Game Data Science

Who We Are

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 world-class 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.

What We Need

We are looking for a skilled and passionate Director to guide our Game Science teams, a core pillar of the Game Science and Applied AI group.  In this role, you will coach teams focused on efficiently crunching data, building high-impact models, and extracting actionable insights from gameplay telemetry and other data sources across the entire 2K console/PC portfolio.

The most critical partners to your success are the game studios, Product Development leads, and Live Services/Commercial teams.  An influential Director must develop lasting relationships with each of these teams and departments at every level – from the mid-level producer to the guide designer to the commercial execs and decision-makers. Your teams must deliver studies that have a measurable impact on all aspects of the games (from the core gameplay to live services and incremental/DLC content) by identifying optimization paths for the game and business. 

What You Will Do

• Manage a talented team of seven (and growing) data scientists, situated both locally (SF Bay Area) and abroad (Dublin, IR).
• Build continually refines and executes a roadmap for the team in collaboration with management, game studios, Production team, Live Services/Commercial team.
• Prompt and shape incoming requests, and supervise team deliverables which include:
  • Research player gameplay and economy telemetry data to understand player behavior and suggest actions to improve the player experience.
  • Create and evolve in-game measurement and experimentation methodologies.
  • Work closely with the Game Applied AI team to understand the performance of production Matchmaking, Promotions and Communications, Antifraud/toxicity, and Content Recommendations models deeply.
  • Test acquisition, engagement, marketing, communication, and monetization strategies to improve performance
  • Work closely with development teams to provide insights into game quality, difficulty, and fun.
  • Establish and distribute regular performance reports based on detailed telemetry and advanced models (other teams do basic business reporting / BI).
  • Present research findings in writing and via presentation (including for small groups)

Who We Think Will Be a Great Fit

The ideal candidate must see the underlying story in the data, build sophisticated or simple models depending on the situation, and develop compelling communication to executives. Being a solution-oriented, creative problem solver; a self-starter with the passion and enthusiasm to drive results for meaningful change is critical for this role.

• 2+ years managing people (hiring and promoting) and shipping data science models and impact-generating studies. Keen ability to mentor staff.
• 5+ years of experience in data mining & analytics, building models with vast, complex, and multi-dimensional data sets.
• Video games industry experience and/or gaming familiarity a big bonus but demonstrated ability to partner effectively with partner teams/companies (development studios) required.
• Experience with predictive modeling techniques and accomplished using R or Python machine learning and related modules.
• Expert in relational databases, SQL data carpentry. Experience with big data technologies such as Spark or NoSQL DBs, columnar databases like Vertica a plus.  We use Snowflake for our DWH.