Sr. Data Scientist (Inventory & Supply Chain)

Key Skills

A/B Testing, Algorithms, Analytical Techniques, Causal inference, Confluence, Data Modeling, Optimization, Python Programming, SQL

Job Description

Come work at a place where innovation and teamwork come together to support the most exciting missions in the world!

Enterprise Analytics & Data Science (EADS) is the advanced analytics department at Petco, delivering data products across Inventory & Supply Chain, Merchandising, Pricing, Customer and Marketing.

Our EADS inventory team applies data science to guide the right product to the right location at the right time to maximize sales across channels, while balancing inventory investment / logistics cost across our ~1,500 stores and multi-echelon fulfilment network.

We are seeking a high-caliber data scientist to accelerate our capabilities in optimization and predictive modelling. This role reports into the Director, Inventory Analytics and will work alongside two other Data Scientists and an Inventory Analytics Manager.

Ideal capabilities

• An executor– you have a demonstrated history in developing & productionizing data products, and are motivated to deliver outputs that improve business performance
• An owner – you are comfortable taking ownership of a project, and can progress independently, seeking support where needed. You suggest the next best step vs. needing this to be provided
• A solver – you are willing to think creatively to design analytical solutions. When you hit roadblocks you use your expertise to evaluate approaches and discuss their merits with the team
• Data fluency– You are comfortable transforming large datasets (~20K products, ~25M product-locations, ~10B product-location-days per year) and building clean data pipelines to feed tools
• Domain expertise– You have a solid foundation of inventory optimization & logistics (ideally within a retail environment), or the capacity to pick up this knowledge at pace

Project roadmap

We support the business with a mix of advanced analytics and data science initiatives – all projects are aligned upfront with Petco leadership and should deliver measurable business value.

Examples of projects that you can expect to lead / contribute to:

Substitutability model

Modelling a “substitutability” score for each product and surfacing the primary alternatives for customers (based on strength of substitute relationships).

Long-term DC capacity

Using features like assortment trajectory, long-term demand, inventory turns etc. to project future DC capacity and predict need for investment in new facilities

DC delivery optimization

Evaluating store demand, proximity to DC / other stores, DC labor capacity etc. to determine a store’s optimal replenishment frequency and truck routes.

Service level optimization

Considering inventory holding cost, stockout cost, sell probability etc. to evaluate the optimal service level for each product-location to maximize margin.

Multi-echelon safety stock

For imported items that flow through our import (parent) DC to other DCs, reducing safety stock through simultaneous optimization across all levels of the network.

“Cold start” forecasting

Using features like product attributes, brand, price point, substitutability, to improve new item forecasts and maximize margin through optimal initial order quantities.

What you’ll do

• Take ownership of one or more project(s) – partnering with functional areas (Merch Planning, Logistics) to understand challenges, and applying your analytical skillset to design a solution
• Build the project roadmap – what data will you need, what analysis is required, what approach / algorithm is most effective, how will you measure success and update business teams
• Synthesize data in the right format for use in your tools / models
• Develop the model / optimization / analysis as required to achieve business goals
• Communicate (verbally & written presentation) to share insights and recommendations to audiences of varying technical understanding
• Create / maintain documentation to educate our team (and business) on tools, key concepts
• Identify new opportunities / initiatives for our team to tackle, and communicate their value
• Educate colleagues and junior team members on how to apply data science concepts effectively
• Lead / contribute to analytics initiatives where needed (this role is predominantly data science focused, but business need may necessitate collaboration on other analytics efforts)

What you’ll need

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field (Data Science, Statistics, Research, Engineering, etc.)
• 3+ years hands-on experience in an analytical role involving application of advanced analytics and modelling to address business challenges
  • Understanding of typical retail datasets is a significant plus (e.g. sales history, inventory history, purchase history, network transfers, planograms, pricing)
• Knowledge & experience in inventory optimization / logistics is highly preferred
• Strong technical competency with data science toolset & platforms:
  • Core: Python & SQL mastery (efficient, clean code that can be shared)
  • Core: Ability to evaluate and apply statistical tools to achieve business goals
  • Core: Experience applying linear programming / MIP (e.g. PuLP, OR-tools) to find optimal solutions (e.g. in the presence of supply chain constraints)
  • Core: Familiarity with collaborative programming tools: Git, Confluence, etc.
  • Ideal: Experience building simulations (e.g. to predict future inventory levels in the presence of variable lead times and demand)
  • Ideal: EDA and feature engineering skillset (encoding for categorical features etc.)
  • Ideal: Experience with retail-specific modelling considerations – cannibalization, halo effects, cross-elasticity of demand (from substitutes)
  • Ideal: Ability to test impact of tools in a noisy retail environment (A/B, causal inference)

Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or any other protected classification.

The pay range(s) below are provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different in other locations.

$119,300.00 - $178,900.00

Exact rate of pay will be based on position, location, and experience level.