Lead Data Scientist

This is a Revenue Management Manager role that will be responsible for providing data science support across the Revenue Management & Analytics/Finance organization.

The Disneyland Resort Revenue Management & Analytics (RM&A)/Finance organization combines strategic and analytical thinking to drive commercial, financial, and operational value for Disney Experiences by shaping business decisions in Ticketing, Resorts, Merchandise, Food & Beverage, as well as all other lines of business in the core competencies of yield management, forecasting, pricing, promotions, optimization, and other predictive analytic techniques using mathematical and statistical approaches. 

Candidates will have strong communication, partnering, and analytical skills and will have a natural curiosity to understand the “why” behind business performance. They’ll take a proactive role in problem-solving, be results-oriented, be able to prioritize, and be a team player in a collaborative environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Problem-Seeker – Be curiosity driven; seek out business anomalies and patterns leveraging analytical tools and knowledge to shed light and gain understanding of the business to bolster strategies and initiatives

• Advanced Modeling – Lead the way in science innovation. Develop integrated predictive and prescriptive models that enhance forecasting and optimization analyses using advanced modeling techniques.

• Experiment Design – Uncover science-backed insights. Enable research and hypothesis-based testing cycles through scientific process design including structured peer review and recordation.

• Business Optimization – Approach the role from a strategic lens. Seek out opportunities to create business value through novel analyses. Prioritize efforts based on expected returns.

• Data Visualization – Leverage data visualization techniques, tools, and communication skills to present complex analytical findings in clear business terms that facilitate acceptance, decision-making, and execution by business partners and senior executives

• Business Optimization – Evaluate key business drivers to measure the success of commercial, financial, and operational decisions; and develop science-based approaches to help achieve business objectives and drive long-term strategic direction

• Project Management – Own projects from start to finish. Gather inputs and requirements from stakeholders, refine project parameters, track progress, escalate blockers, and prioritize effectively. Ensure stakeholder alignment and appropriate allocation of time and resources through an iterative approach.

• Best Practices – Act as data science subject matter expert. Use expertise to provide guidance to junior colleagues on their projects and analyses. Establish data science standards and toolkit for RM&A.

Basic Qualifications:

• Four plus years of work experience using Python or R to build predictive models and conduct statistical testing with sound experimental design

• In-depth understanding of modern machine learning techniques and theory

• Proficiency with relational databases and SQL programming

• Ability to conduct effective feature engineering by leveraging business knowledge and statistical techniques

• Ability to assess tradeoffs between time, complexity, and return when determining methodology

• Ability to prioritize effectively and set clear expectations with partners/leaders

• Ability to effectively communicate technical concepts and results to non-technical audiences

• Ability to clearly explain, document, and present coding designs to end users

• Experience influencing business decisions and strategy using effective storytelling

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• One plus year of experience with simulation and/or experiment design and execution

• Prior experience with pricing, revenue management, and/or forecasting

• Understanding of revenue management concepts (e.g., dilution, displacement)

• Prior experience with development of data structures within cloud environments, including remote database management, basic data ETL development, and version control

• Proficiency with Tableau

Education Requirements

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Statistics, Business Analytics, Mathematics, Economics, Engineering, Econometrics, or other quantitative fields

• Strongly preferred: Master’s degree in a technical field with basis in value extraction from data (Data Science, Statistics, Business Analytics, etc.)