Data Scientist, Game Analytics & Strategy

WORK OPTION: 4 days a week in the New York, NY office

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  Built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in 60 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2023-24 season featured a record 125 international players from 40 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.3 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms.  NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social responsibility platform, partners with renowned community-based organizations around the world to address important social issues in the areas of education, inclusion, youth and family development, and health and wellness. 
 

Group Summary:

At the NBA, we’re passionate about growing and celebrating the game of basketball. Through the intensity of the game and the amazing athletic skill of our players, we deliver excitement to hundreds of millions of fans around the world. As a global sports and media business, the NBA is so much more. While Basketball Operations runs the league’s on-court activities, other departments manage relationships with television and digital media partners, develop marketing partnerships with some of the world’s most recognizable companies, oversee the licensing of NBA merchandise, and handle a wide range of responsibilities that drive the NBA’s success.

Job Summary:
The Data Scientist will support the Senior Vice President, Game Analytics & Strategy in analyzing, maintaining, and presenting data to support various decisions, particularly in the areas of continuous improvement to officiating performance, analyses of proposed and newly implemented rules and how the game is being officiated and played. The person in this role will need to be able to work with very large, raw, data sets to identify patterns, relationship and trends, as well as effectively communicate and visualize (or animate in some cases) their findings to support management decision-making. 

Major Responsibilities:

• Work efficiently and effectively to aggregate large datasets in terms of volume, complexity and variety into meaningful, actionable insights and information 
• Develop an in-depth knowledge of specific basketball rules and officiating methods and techniques
• Collaborate with the Head of Game Analytics and Strategy and other key stakeholders to identify and prioritize areas of analysis, and to design, develop and execute analyses to answer specific questions 
• Utilize large datasets in less-structured, exploratory ways to help identify potential areas of concern or general improvement 
• Craft professional-looking presentations and reports to effectively communicate statistical findings Help design procedures to maintain data integrity 
• Deliver timely, accurate and relevant work product, as defined

Required Education/Professional Experience:

• Proven expertise with database management (e.g., SQL) and programming (r and/or Python) languages 
• Proficiency with big data application tools (e.g., Spark, BigQuery), visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, etc.) and database management systems (e.g., MySQL)
• Experience with custom data visualization libraries (e.g., Matplotlib), machine learning and/or cloud computing (e.g., Azure) a plus 
• Experience deploying and maintaining application in production 
• A preferred minimum of 3 - 5 years of professional work experience in a business environment, or other commensurate experience (i.e. graduate level work)
• Bachelor’s Degree required, with a major in Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, etc.; graduate degree a plus 
• A passion for analytical work in sports. 

Required Skills/Knowledge Attributes:

• Ability to work independently, effectively and efficiently with a high level of curiosity and resourcefulness 
• Excellent communicator 
• Ability to handle changing priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Creative and innovative thinker with excellent written, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality

Salary Range: $170,000 - $190,000 

Job Posting Title: Director 

The NBA does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms or any other third parties. Any unsolicited resume sent to the NBA will be considered NBA property, and the NBA will not pay a fee should it hire the subject of any unsolicited resume. 

The NBA considers applicants for all positions on the basis of merit, qualifications, and business needs, and without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, alienage or citizenship status, ancestry, marital status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, veteran status, familial status, status as a victim of domestic violence, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

About the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  Built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 215 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2021-22 season featured a record 121 international players from 40 countries.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 2.1 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.