Senior Data Scientist

Who We Are

Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company,  publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms,  include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment.

Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing  stewards of our growing library of  critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, The Darkness, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, WWE 2K, and XCOM. 

At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We are dedicated to diversity and inclusion, and want our community of candidates to reflect this commitment. We encourage all qualified applicants to explore our global positions. 

2K is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

What We Need

We’re looking for skilled and passionate senior and staff-level data scientists to work in our growing central Data Science team. They will be primarily passionate about console/PC games and be responsible for crunching data, building models, and extracting insights. Model outputs are used in a production environment to power live-ops (in-game monetization) and marketing (in-game, in-console, and direct). 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.

What You Will Do

• Be responsible for developing analytics and machine learning models related to game growth, player retention, DAU, engagement and in game revenue.
• Oversee machine learning building, time series analysis, experiment design, forecasting and metrics/reporting design to help our growth teams operate effectively.
• Be responsible for 2K`s data driven operational efficiency, operational excellence and business impact.
• Communicate machine learning, analytics and data science models` outputs and directly assist senior leaders in decision making.
• Own the strategy, analytics and data science of all aspects of pricing and promotions at 2K.
• Focus on using data and hypothesis driven decision making to drive future growth and customer lifetime value.
• Analyze player gameplay and economy telemetry data to understand player behavior and suggest actions to improve the player experience.
• Collaborate with growth, marketing, and product to build new ML algorithms and features.
• Build player churn prediction; spend propensity, lifetime value and marketing efficacy models.
• Build longitudinal forecasting, economic/financial, and operational efficiency models.
• Test acquisition, engagement and monetization strategies to improve performance across each.
• Work closely with development teams to provide insights into game quality, difficulty, and fun.
• Establish and distribute regular performance reports based on simple telemetry and sophisticated models.
• Perform ad hoc analyses for growth, marketing, production and operations.
• Present analysis findings in writing and via presentation (including for remote groups)

Who We Believe Will Be a Great Fit:

The ideal candidate 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. Being a solution oriented, creative problem solver; a self-starter with the passion and enthusiasm to get results for meaningful change is critical for this role.

What We Need

• MS or PhD in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Sciences (or in another quantitative discipline).
• Senior Data Scientist-level:
  • 4 years of experience data mining & analytics, building machine learning models with very large, sophisticated and multi-dimensional data sets.
• Data Scientist-level:
  • 2 years of experience, and technical leadership skills -  improve those around you by example and through formal / informal mentoring, pairing, and code reviews.
• Experience with predictive modeling techniques and accomplished in use of 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.
• Experience with data visualization tools, Tableau preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, with a proven track record of working across all levels of the organization – having the information is one thing, you must be able to disseminate and educate.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, rapidly prototyping and testing new insights
• Ability to influence and collaborate in cross-functional capacity with leaders in growth, engineering, product, marketing, finance
• Drive to solve problems, meet deadlines, and build whatever is vital along the way

Especially for Senior-level:

• Experience understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different modeling approaches and can effectively reason about when to apply different combinations and iterate.
• Demonstrated expert communication, facilitation, and collaboration skills to effectively present, explain, influence, and advise within cross-functional teams.
• Video games proven experience and/or gaming familiarity helpful.
• Technically not a "skill", but you are comfortable with working hours 10am-6:30pm enabling greater connection with our US HQ

Bonus Points:

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation.

Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts.