Data Scientist

Key Skills

Java Programming, Python Programming, SQL, R Programming, SAS

Job Description

Data Science is at the core of Nielsen’s business. Our team of researchers come from diverse disciplines and they drive innovation, new product ideation, experimental design and testing, complex analysis and delivery of data insights around the world. We support all International Media clients and are located where our clients are.

The Data Scientist position will support the statistical operations and product enhancement of our Television Audience Measurement portfolio, using the right data, algorithms, and tools to ensure Nielsen clients receive a complete and representative view of how people watch television content. Make an immediate impact as we evolve our methodologies to fuel Nielsen’s overall strategy of transforming audience measurement, blending the strengths of high quality representative panel data with the scale of “big data” assets such as set top boxes and smart TVs.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to grow your foundational data science skills (coding, modeling/machine learning, statistics) through all aspects of the data science workflow and data product lifecycle. You will write new packages to support the implementation of existing statistical processes (e.g. sample weighting, data integration) by producing production ready code (scalable, reusable/modular). You will work closely with other members of the team to optimize the current codebase, create simulation environments and have the opportunity to conduct research that will augment the utility of our data through use of predictive models and machine learning approaches (examples of projects include in-audience prediction, bias reduction through use of propensity score models, and small area estimation approaches when dealing with sparse data).

The ideal candidate will have a strong desire to understand all aspects of Nielsen data and learn and grow their technical and statistical skills, to understand our clients’ problems to ensure our data methodologies directly address and solve them.

What will I do?

• Learn and become an expert in TV Audience Measurement, with a focus on data structures and computations. 
• Conduct research and analytics to ensure methodologies are fit for purpose and working as intended; troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve when they are not.
• Independently write custom Python, Spark, and SQL code.
• Develop, implement and maintain good programming standards and practices across our data science and analytics codebase.
• Champion and govern best practices for data use and software development.
• Use git and cloud development tools extensively to iterate and improve data science workstreams.
• Implement strategies to automate implementation of methodologies. Actively participate in code reviews.
• Apply predictive models and machine learning approaches to enhance our data products.
• Support analyses for Data Science teams including custom requests, client inquiries, impact of changing methodologies, standards and best practices.
• Pro-actively gather information, as needed, to work independently as well as in a team environment.
• Key tasks include – but are not limited to – data integration, automation, examining large volumes of data, identifying trends and being able to understand the methodology to be able to explain said trends, and identifying methodological and process improvements. Other project areas may include representation/sampling, bias reduction, and indirect estimation.

Is this for me?

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative research field, such as data science, computer science, statistics, mathematics, social sciences, biological/physical sciences, etc. 
• Outstanding statistical and analytical skills with working knowledge of sampling theory and predictive models
• Working experience with Python & SQL
• Collaborative code development experience, including version control, unit/integration testing, code review and sharing
• Curiosity and skepticism