Lead Data Scientist, Ad Research

Lead Data Scientist, Ad Research

Technology is at the heart of Disney's past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney's media business globally.

The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company's media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world.

Ad Platforms is responsible for Disney's industry-leading ad technology and products – driving advertising performance, innovation, and value in Disney's sports, news, and entertainment content, across all media platforms.

The research/AI team is the dedicated AI/ML and data science arm of the Ad Platform organization. Its mission is to advance AI and machine learning capabilities across Ad Platform by delivering scalable, high impact AI/ML and data science solutions that enhance ad decisioning, forecasting, experimentation and ad experience. We are seeking a Lead Data Scientist to join this innovative team. This role is a critical leadership opportunity for a seasoned data science professional who thrives at the intersection of advanced analytics, machine learning, and business strategy.

As a Lead Data Scientist, you will spearhead ML and data science initiatives that shape the future of advertising technology. You will support generative AI production development through rigorous evaluation and data generation pipelines. You will be responsible for designing and executing ML and data science solutions that drive measurable impact across ad decisioning, forecasting, experimentation, and user experience optimization, as well leading evaluation and optimization of generative AI mixed media advertisement creation and enhancement technologies.

Drive innovation and apply data science and statistical analysis in a variety of areas to enhance every aspect of advertising serving, including inventory forecasting, ad experience, ad pacing, pricing, targeting, advertising creation and enhancement, and efficient ad delivery.

• Translate business questions into data science framework; develop data analysis and data models for complex ad challenges with fast turnaround.
• Develop rigorous evaluation pipelines for generative AI technologies, including visual generations (image, video) and/or LLM-based agentic generations.
• Define and evaluate key metrics in various product areas.
• Partner closely with generative AI specialists to support the creation of datasets for generative AI modeling applications.
• Develop Standard Operating Procedures for human-driven evaluations or labeling.
• Deliver data insights and provide data-driven recommendations to cross-team stakeholders.
• Design and analyze A/B tests for machine learning algorithm iterations.
• Establish strong partnership with stakeholders, including product managers, engineers and program managers, in a collaborative environment.
• Mentor team members and support their technical growth.

Bachelor's in computer science, statistics or equivalent experience

• At least 7 years of relevant industry experience in data science at leading internet or creative technology companies. Experience in the advertising domain is a strong bonus.
• Experience creating ML datasets and rigorous dataset labeling or evaluation processes for models.
• Strong interest to learn about generative mixed media, generative video, and diffusion-based technology.
• Solid knowledge of data science and statistics. Strong communication skills and business acumen.
• Proficient in SQL, Python, Java, or R. Familiar with Tableau, and/or other visualization tools.
• Experience designing and building machine learning models.
• Passionate about understanding the ad business, applying data science to relevant business scenarios, and seeking innovation opportunities to enhance business effectiveness.
• Interested in supporting rapid prototyping, generative AI, and creative technologies, including applications to advertisement creation and enhancement.
• Experienced building data-driven services and applications for production.
• A proven track record of thriving in a fast-paced, data-driven, and collaborative work environment is required.

MS or PhD in computer science, statistics or equivalent experience

• Experience in digital video advertising or digital marketing domain
• Experience in production-grade development, rapid prototyping, or generative AI related research using LLMs, generative imagery or video, or agentic flows. Otherwise a strong interest to learn.
• Experience with Airflow, data warehouse, Databricks or Sagemaker.

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA area is $155,700 - $208,700 per year and Seattle Area is $163,100 - $218,700. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.