Data Scientist (Recommendation Science), Media Group Decision Sciences

Company Description

NBCUniversal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. We create world-class content, which we distribute across our portfolio of film, television, and streaming, and bring to life through our theme parks and consumer experiences. We own and operate leading entertainment and news brands, including NBC, NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports, Telemundo, NBC Local Stations, Bravo, USA Network, and Peacock, our premium ad-supported streaming service. We produce and distribute premier filmed entertainment and programming through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group and Universal Studio Group, and have world-renowned theme parks and attractions through Universal Destinations & Experiences. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.

Our impact is rooted in improving the communities where our employees, customers, and audiences live and work. We have a rich tradition of giving back and ensuring our employees have the opportunity to serve their communities. We champion an inclusive culture and strive to attract and develop a talented workforce to create and deliver a wide range of content reflecting our world.

Comcast NBCUniversal has announced its intent to create a new publicly traded company ('SpinCo') comprised of most of NBCUniversal's cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. The well-capitalized company will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. The spin-off is expected to be completed during 2025.

Job Description

The Media Group at NBCU supports a powerhouse collection of consumer-first brands, including Peacock, NBC, Bravo, NBC Sports, and NBCU International. With unequalled scale, our teams make the most out of every opportunity to collaborate and learn from one another. We’re always looking for ways to innovate faster, accelerate our growth, and consistently offer the very best in consumer experience. But most of all, we’re backed by a culture of respect. We embrace authenticity and inspire people to thrive.

As part of the Peacock Data Science team, this Data Scientist will be responsible for creating live content recommendations solutions for one or more verticals of NBCU’s video streaming service. In this role, you will use advanced content recommendation methodologies, including collaborative filtering, deep learning, reinforcement learning, on-line modeling, etc., and work closely with teammates and engineers to build a state-of-the-art real-time video streaming service.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Build prescriptive content recommendation models using statistical, machine learning, and data mining methodologies.
• Apply cleansing, discretization, imputation, selection, generalization, etc., to create high-quality features for the modeling process.
• Use big data, relational, and non-relational data sources to access data at the appropriate level of granularity for the needs of specific analytical projects. Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of the relevant data set structures, access levels, and ownership information.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to build real-time and automated batch implementations of the data science solutions.
• Continually work on improving the codebase and machine learning lifecycle infrastructure. Have active participation in all aspects of the teamwork.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree with specialization in Statistics, Business Analytics, Data Science, or similar quantitative field.
• Hands-on experience in statistical methods and machine learning with special emphasis on the advanced data science algorithms like neural networks, SVM, random forests, bagging, gradient boosting machines, k-means++, deep learning, or reinforcement learning. Expert level in 3+ classes of algorithms.
• Experience with recommender systems.
• Experience with deep learning using TensorFlow.
• Experience implementing scalable, distributed, and highly available systems using Google Cloud Platform.
• Experience with Google AI Platform/Vertex AI, Kubeflow, and Airflow.
• Experience in data processing, including SQL and PySpark.

Desired Characteristics:

• Understanding of algorithmic complexity of model training and testing, particularly for real-time and near real-time models.
• Experience with multi-billion record datasets.
• Knowledge of enterprise-level digital analytics platforms (e.g. Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics, etc.)
• Experience with large-scale video assets
• Team-oriented and collaborative approach with a demonstrated aptitude and willingness to learn new methods and tools
• Pride and ownership in your work and confident representation of your team to other parts of NBCUniversal

This position is eligible for company-sponsored benefits, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k), paid leave, tuition reimbursement, and a variety of other discounts and perks. Learn more about the benefits offered by NBCUniversal by visiting the Benefits page of the Careers website. Salary range: $95,000-$130,000

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law. 

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access nbcunicareers.com as a result of your disability. You can request reasonable accommodations by emailing AccessibilitySupport@nbcuni.com.

For LA County and City Residents Only:  NBCUniversal will consider for employment  qualified applicants with criminal histories, or arrest or conviction records, in a manner  consistent with relevant legal requirements, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative For Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, where applicable.