Senior Executive - Data Science

Key Skills

Java Programming, Python Programming, C++, C Programming, SQL, Cloud computing, Scala Programming, Machine learning techniques, Data science techniques, MATLAB Programming, PyTorch, TensorFlow, R Programming

Job Description

This Data & Analytics function endeavours to create clear accountability for all aspects of Data Strategy, Data Management, Information Management, Analytics, and Insights. We are accountable for impact of solutions, maintaining market relevance and minimising unnecessary overlaps in analytics products, ensuring simplicity and that our solutions better meet the needs of our users. We partner with the Digital and Data Legal Counsel to ensure that our Data Defence (Privacy, Governance, Quality, etc) is well structured and sufficiently robust to use data and AI correctly throughout the enterprise. We democratize information across the business, while supporting the culture shift required for data driven decision making.

Our vision is to make Unilever data intelligent, partnering with the business to power key decisions with data, advanced analytics and AI to accelerate growth. Our 5 strategies to achieve this are:

• Accelerate & simplify access to relevant data, information and insights
• Build in-house, leading-edge data, information, insights & analytics capability
• Lead the data & insights culture and careers to empower employees across Unilever
• Rapidly embed analytics products, solutions and services to drive growth
• Advance Information Automation at Scale

The Data Scientist role sit within the Data Science Centre of Excellence (CoE) team in D&A. This team builds state of the art machine learning algorithms, maximising the impact of D&A’s solutions in driving enterprise performance. Typical initiatives include optimizing trade promotion investments, accurately forecasting customer demand, using NLP to glean insight on consumer trends from search data, and making individual assortment recommendations for each of the millions of stores that sell Unilever products. The role will work closely with a D&A functional team such as Customer Development or Supply Chain along with business stakeholders, addressing both large transformation programs and near-term business problems.

Main Purpose of the Job:

The Data Scientist improves business performance in the functional area of Unilever they serve, through the application of world class data science capability. They support delivery of data science on a range of projects.

Key accountabilities:

• With guidance from the Senior/Lead Data Scientist, understand business challenges and the planned data science solutions
• Contribute refinements to the plan through your own data science knowledge
• Prototype experimental solutions, particularly machine learning models
• Where required, support the build of scaled solutions
• Facilitate industrialization and ongoing operation of solutions through well organised code, clear documentation and collaboration with ML Ops resources
• Interact with stakeholder teams, clearly communicating relevant data science issues
• Support your data science peers with technical advice in your areas of expertise
• Support the growth of D&A’s data science capability by contributing to activities such as tool and vendor selection, best practice definition, recruitment, and creation of training materials
• Build the reputation of D&A’s data science capability within Unilever and externally, through activities such as community engagement (e.g. Yammer) and presenting at team meetings
• Provide ad-hoc & immediate support to the business when needed (for example Covid-19 crisis support)

Experience and qualifications required:

Standards of Leadership Required in This Role

• Personal Mastery (Data-science and advanced analytics)
• Agility
• Passion for High Performance

Key Skills Required

Professional Skills

• Machine learning
• Statistical modelling
• Forecasting
• Optimisation techniques and tools
• Python coding
• Data science platform tools e.g. MS Azure, Databricks
• Deep learning (and applications to NLP & Computer Vision)
• Collaborative development using Git repos
• Automated Machine Learning platforms

General Skills

• Change Management
• Project Management
• Strong communication and collaboration skills
• Ability to influence laterally and vertically

Relevant Experience:

• Minimum of B.S. in a relevant technical field (e.g. Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Operations Research); preferably a postgraduate (Masters or Doctorate) degree
• At least 2 years building data science solutions to solve business problems, preferably in the CPG industry
• Experience with open source languages (eg. Python) and equivalent tools for distributed computing (PySpark)
• Experience deploying solutions in a modern cloud-based architecture
• Experience presenting insights to technical and non-technical colleagues

Key interfaces

Internal

• Unilever operational, marketing, customer development, supply chain, product & finance teams
• Internal D&A teams (Engagement teams; Data CoE; Solution Factory; BDL Factory; Information Factory; Tech Transformation)
• Wider Unilever analytics and data science professionals

External

• 3rd party Data Science vendors
• Universities