Senior Data Scientist Full-time, 12-month fixed term contract Location – Reading/London, UK (Hybrid) Data-Driven Research and Insights MarketCast combines the power of research, technology, and data science to help marketers and researchers maximize their advertising impact and unlock brand Fandom. Our data and insights guide critical marketing decisions, helping brands determine which fandom audiences to prioritize and product benefits to communicate, in addition to developing, launching, and measuring brand and advertising campaigns across media platforms. Today our clients represent the biggest names in entertainment, tech, consumer brands, and sports and video games, and our impact touches the lives of billions of people around the globe. FandomIsOurJam We’re Looking For Confidently work with senior internal stakeholders and handle high level stakeholder conversations, acting as the natural escalation point when needed. Lead and make difficult trade-off decisions within large-scale, high-impact projects, ensuring successful execution while independently managing client expectations and project outcomes. Develop and execute comprehensive project plans and budgets, ensuring that resources are effectively allocated. Champion and lead the creation or significant enhancements to Data Science products, contributing to the broader product development roadmap. Enable Data Scientists in your team to be successful and consistently take steps to support the growth and success of your teammates. Critically evaluate where improvements are required in our ways of working – always through the perspective of business benefit to maximize value delivered. Creatively think about how to address issues with models, leveraging more advanced techniques such as custom loss functions, ensemble models, and LLMOps for prompt optimisation Deploy and evaluate results from ML models in a production environment with a focus on model interpretability and explainable AI techniques. Guide more junior members of the team in model development, deployment, and complex machine learning tasks. Use tools and languages such as Python and SQL for reporting and analysis on our AWS data platform. Work with our India-based Data Engineering team and our Product and Operations teams in the US. It Would Be Good To Have Proven ability to manage large-scale and high-impact projects and make informed trade-off decisions, balancing competing priorities. 6-7 years of experience working within the Data Science domain, with a strong track record of delivering on complex projects. Expertise in advanced research methodologies (e.g., conjoint analysis, choice modelling) and an ability to work across a broad set of data sources (e.g., Customer, Demographics, Marketing Campaigns, Web, Social Media, Market Research, Sales, Government Data, Weather). Experience ideating new applications for existing data, identifying new data sources, and applying data in novel, valuable ways. The ability to deploy and evaluate results from ML models in a production environment, particularly with knowledge of model interpretability techniques and explainable AI. An in-depth of expertise in machine learning, including the design and implementation of custom loss functions and evaluation metrics, and proficiency in advanced algorithms such as large language models. A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Psychology, Computer Science). A Master’s Degree or higher is a plus. Strong data analytics skills, with proven proficiency in SQL, Python, and Pandas. The ability to understand business problems, draw conclusions from data, and recommend actions on how best to solve these problems. Excellent communication skills and an ability to document requirements and work effectively with other team members. Benefits And Perks 29 days annual leave, PLUS Bank Holidays Flexi-time with core hours between 10am and 3pm A suite of benefits, including food allowance for in-office days 2 days’ work from home, per week Regular social events in both of our UK locations Professional growth and career development Our Purpose Fandom connects people with shared passions and builds communities around them. It offers them space to express their joy and love, whether that’s for superheroes, sports teams, or even small batch whiskeys. At MarketCast, we believe in the power of fandom. It’s as important for brands as it is for action heroes and we do fandom research, data science and analytics better than anyone on the planet. This obsessive focus on fans helps the world’s top creators, media platforms, and sports leagues transform followers into fanatics and investments into impact. Our Values Curiosity Makes Us Tick Our love of learning manifests in everything we do - from the surveys we field and the datasets we analyze to the technology we develop. Where others pause, we push forward, uncovering hidden meaning and answers. Always learning, always looking for more. We Celebrate Wins Whether its wowing clients with research or solving everyday challenges, we pause to honor great work and everyone who plays a role in it. We acknowledge and recognize great work and hustle that helps deliver the very best outcomes. Trust is Always Trending Trust means everything to us. It’s lending a hand when deadlines loom, always delivering on the promises we make, and calling out behavior that harms our culture. And our client’s trust is what makes all this possible, something we never take for granted. We Roll with Change We embrace change as an opportunity to learn, grow, and further develop. We do this by challenging our biases and rethinking how things have always been done in the past. This fresh, open-minded approach keeps us agile, innovating, and adapting in the face of uncertainty. Diversity is Our Superpower Our differences make us stronger. As researchers and data scientists, we have a responsibility to reflect the diverse audiences and communities all around us. Understanding people, opinions and life experiences fuels our insights and deepens our perspectives. At MarketCast, we don't just accept difference - we embrace it, support it, and thrive on it for the benefit of our global culture and success. MarketCast is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Check us out: www.marketcast.com