Senior Data Scientist

at  Discovery Education

At Discovery Education, we are dedicated to creating exceptional educational resources that inspire students and teachers. We are looking for a Senior Data Scientist to join our AI team. You will apply data science and artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies to drive product development and innovation. This role involves supporting the development, evaluation, and deployment of machine learning (ML) or AI solutions that measurably improve the learning experience for teachers and students. You will also support product development by leveraging your expertise in statistical modeling and predictive analytics. Positioned within the Research and Analytics vertical, you will work cross-functionally with product managers, user researchers, designers, engineers, and data analysts to fuel product growth and enhance educational content and delivery.

About the Role

• Lead the selection, collection, cleaning, and preprocessing of large datasets, including textual data, ensuring their readiness for advanced model training and insightful analysis.
• Perform exploratory data analysis on both numerical and textual datasets to extract insights that drive the development and refinement of machine learning models.
• Cultivate expertise in the application of ML and statistical models to various business problems.
• Contribute to the integration of AI and ML technologies within our products.
• Serve as an intellectual leader in defining and standardizing evaluation methodologies, actively guiding stakeholder discussions to establish and implement robust metrics that assess model performance in alignment with strategic objectives and product requirements.
• Oversee the optimization of models for improved accuracy, efficiency, and scalability, including the deployment of models into cloud-based and production environments.
• Collaborate closely with software engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of models into applications and systems, enhancing user experience and product value.
• Maintain responsibility for the documentation of data products, ML models, data pipelines, and technical strategies, ensuring transparency and reproducibility.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and technological advancements in modern data science (e.g. LLMs) and the broader field of EdTech, supporting a culture of continuous learning and innovation within the team.
• Experiment with and recommend new data science techniques and technologies to advance our educational technology solutions.
• Mentor junior data scientists & analysts, fostering a culture of learning and growth within the team by sharing knowledge, best practices, and providing constructive feedback on their projects and development.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (computer science, data science, physics, mathematics, economics, or related field) with 4+ years experience in data science, or Master’s degree with 3+ years experience in industry data science, or Ph.D. with 2+ years in industry data science following completion.
• Strong communication skills are expected for this role. • Experience with product analytics frameworks and product evaluation best practices.
• Demonstrated track record building successful data products for stakeholders or developing ML models for production environments with an emphasis on evaluation.
• Experience with LLMs for natural language processing tasks is a plus.
• Expertise in graph databases and network analysis is highly regarded.
• Competent programming skills in Python, R, or Java, and experience with machine learning libraries and frameworks. Ability to write clean, efficient, and production-ready code.
• Proficient in data manipulation and analysis tools (e.g., Pandas, NumPy) and familiar with data visualization technologies (e.g., Matplotlib, Seaborn).
• Experience with cloud computing and MLOps tools and best practices (e.g., AWS, Azure, Sagemaker, Docker, Prefect, MLFlow).
• Exceptional problem-solving capabilities and attention to detail.
• Adept at collaborating with cross-functional teams to drive product innovation.
• Experience with product development methodologies such as Agile is a plus.
• Legal right to work in the United States.

Benefits

We are proud to offer employees and their families a comprehensive benefits package:

• Medical-Dental-Vision
• Health Care Dependent Care
• Short & Long Term Disability
• Summer Hours
• Life Insurance
• 401(k)

• Lead the selection, collection, cleaning, and preprocessing of large datasets, including textual data, ensuring their readiness for advanced model training and insightful analysis.
• Perform exploratory data analysis on both numerical and textual datasets to extract insights that drive the development and refinement of machine learning models.
• Cultivate expertise in the application of ML and statistical models to various business problems.
• Contribute to the integration of AI and ML technologies within our products.
• Serve as an intellectual leader in defining and standardizing evaluation methodologies, actively guiding stakeholder discussions to establish and implement robust metrics that assess model performance in alignment with strategic objectives and product requirements.
• Oversee the optimization of models for improved accuracy, efficiency, and scalability, including the deployment of models into cloud-based and production environments.
• Collaborate closely with software engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of models into applications and systems, enhancing user experience and product value.
• Maintain responsibility for the documentation of data products, ML models, data pipelines, and technical strategies, ensuring transparency and reproducibility.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and technological advancements in modern data science (e.g. LLMs) and the broader field of EdTech, supporting a culture of continuous learning and innovation within the team.
• Experiment with and recommend new data science techniques and technologies to advance our educational technology solutions.
• Mentor junior data scientists & analysts, fostering a culture of learning and growth within the team by sharing knowledge, best practices, and providing constructive feedback on their projects and development