Principal Data Scientist

Join us and build a streaming platform used by millions.  

Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, and a part of Comcast Corporation, which also owns NBCUniversal (NBCU). 

At Sky Czech Republic, we’re building the tech backbone that powers some of the world’s biggest streaming services. Ever heard of Peacock in the USA, Showmax in Africa, or SkyShowtime in the Czech Republic? They all run on our global streaming platform—a kind of technological skeleton where each service plugs in its own content and branding. Our platform serves millions of users worldwide. Just to give you an idea—Peacock alone has 36 million users in the USA.  

Thousands of engineers globally are shaping this platform, and our Prague tech hub is a key part of that effort. But we don’t just keep the engine running—we push the tech boundaries of what’s possible, alongside teams from Lisbon, London, and New York. Here in Prague, we have teams specializing in frontend development (including mobile, TV, and web), backend development (Java), DevOps & Platform Engineering, AWS, and data science. 

What is the plot?  

Millions of customers use our apps, and we have always been looking to understand their preferences and behaviors, so we can keep pushing our products forward and provide a service our customers would love. 

What role will you play? 

As part of the Decision Sciences team, the Principal Data Scientist will be responsible for creating analytical solutions for various verticals of global video streaming service. This includes, but is not limited to, dynamic pricing, messaging optimization, CRM solutions and customer value assessment. 

In this role, the Principal Data Scientist will employ advanced data science methodologies such as causal uplift modeling, contextual and non-contextual bandits, experimentation, and Generative AI (LLMs). They will collaborate closely with business owners, team mates and engineers to develop state-of-the-art algorithmic targeting solutions for a dynamic media platform. Additionally, they will be responsible for building, maintaining, and testing robust production-ready systems that may need to serve low-latency predictions. 

Your daily tasks:  

• Own and deliver results on complex projects related to the development of analytical models using machine learning, causal uplift modeling, contextual bandits, and Gen AI techniques.  

• Provide mentorship to teammates through pairing and code reviews.  

• Serve as a technical lead for the team; stay updated on state-of-the-art methods and help apply them as needed.  

• Communicate work and project implications effectively to stakeholders of varying technical expertise.  

• Develop templates and examples for the team on coding, readmes, and presentation materials.  

• Conduct rigorous cross-validation, backtesting, and offline policy evaluation of machine learning models.  

• Expertise with CI/CD processes and contribute to a sustainable and robust codebase.  

• Experience with batch jobs/data pipelines and comfortable deploying through systems like Airflow, Luigi, and Composer.  

• Build and interact with production systems for serving machine learning predictions, including real-time systems like TensorFlow Extended (TFX) pipelines and TensorFlow Serving.  

• Work cross-functionally across data, engineering, and product teams to launch and maintain machine learning-driven projects. 

What skills do you need to play your role well?  

• Advanced (Master's or PhD) degree with specialization in Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Economics, Mathematics, Operations Research, or another quantitative field, or equivalent.  

• Solid experience in data science within industry or research.  

• Expert knowledge of standard data science and statistical techniques.  

• Expertise in two of the following: causal inference techniques, Gen AI (LLM) implementation, or contextual bandits.  

• Experience implementing scalable systems (Google Cloud preferred).  

• Proficiency with data visualization tools and techniques.  

• Expert knowledge of Python and SQL 

• Ability to work with stakeholders to drive project ideas and turn them into rigorous solutions.  

What skills would additionally help to play your role? 

• Proven experience working with product teams to deploy prescriptive machine learning models to drive one or more KPIs.  

• Knowledge of enterprise-level digital analytics platforms (e.g., Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics).  

• Demonstrated ability to implement and own end-to-end data projects with a diverse group of stakeholders.  

• Experience building and working with low response time machine learning APIs for use cases such as search, recommendations, or prediction.  

• Proven track record of serving as the “tech lead” for a stakeholder-facing data science team.  

• Experience contributing to unit, integration, and data integrity tests for a machine learning codebase. 

What can you expect in return?  

• Global Impact: Work in an international environment on cutting-edge technology that scales globally. 

• People-First Culture: We care about our people just as much as we care about the stability of our platform. 

• Performance Bonuses: Earn an annual bonus based on your performance. 

• Hybrid Work: Enjoy the best of both worlds with a mix of office and home working. 

• Work-Life Balance: Flexible working hours to help you balance work and life. 

• 25 days of holidays. 

• 5 days of on-demand leave (sick days). 

• 2 days of paid community volunteering leave. 

• 1 day of paid leave for moving house. 

• Wellbeing Allowance: 18,000 CZK per year to invest in your personal wellbeing. 

• Fitness Perks: Get a fully covered Multisport card or a 950 CZK monthly contribution to a Benefit Card. 

• Meal Allowance: 225 CZK per day to keep you fueled. 

• Premium Life Insurance: Enjoy peace of mind with our premium life insurance scheme. 

• Fun Perks: Free tickets to Universal Theme Parks.