Sr. Data Scientist

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.

Our vision at 2K is to create 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 focused on 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 focused on 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 advanced product analytics / data science for similar games with large ingame economies and rich and varied gameplay.

What You Will Do:

• Analyse player gameplay and economy telemetry data to understand player behaviour and suggest actions to improve the player experience.
• Create 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 drive results for meaningful change is critical for this role.

• MSc or PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Sciences (or in another quantitative discipline).
• 4+ years of experience data mining & analytics, building models with large, complex 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 industry experience and/or gaming familiarity important, ability to partner effectively 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 ideas with little guidance. Drive to solve problems, meet deadlines, and build whatever is necessary 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.