Staff Data Scientist - Full-time

Position Overview

The Office of Technology Enablement (OTE) is Disney’s central engine for transforming emerging tech into real world magic. We orchestrate company-wide efforts in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and mixed reality, empowering every segment—from Studios and ESPN to Parks and Experiences—to unlock new value and delight our guests through responsible innovation.

We are seeking an experienced Staff Data Scientist—a trusted technical counterpart to the Manager, AI Enablement and a catalyst for data-driven innovation across Disney’s businesses. You will lead the journey from exploratory discovery through model deployment while nurturing a scalable data flywheel.

This is not a remote role. You must be in the local area or open to relocation.

Location: Burbank, California | Job ID: 10127574 | Job Posting Company: The Walt Disney Studios

Reporting & Collaboration: Reports directly to the Director, ML Architecture & Engineering while partnering daily with the Manager, AI Enablement and Staff Architect to align technical design with product outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Opportunity Discovery and Diagnostic Investigation – Engage segment partners to surface hypotheses, perform data sleuthing to size value, and craft lean proofs of concept to validate ROI in weeks, not months.
• Experiment Design and Insight Reporting – Structure A/B tests or causal studies, measure impact, and package results into clear, decision-ready insights for executives and creative leaders.
• Data Science and ML Delivery – Design, train, and deploy predictive models, statistical analyses, and machine learning systems that drive guest and business impact.
• Data Flywheel and MLOps – Establish cloud-native pipelines, feature engineering workflows, and monitoring systems to maintain model health post-launch.
• Stakeholder Storytelling – Translate complex findings into compelling narratives and decision frameworks for product, creative, and executive audiences.
• People Leadership – Recruit, mentor, and coach 1–2 data scientists/engineers while codifying reusable assets and best practices.
• Responsible AI and Governance – Ensure all work aligns with Disney’s Responsible AI guardrails in partnership with Legal, Privacy, and Security.

Required Qualifications

• BS in advanced Mathematics, Statistics, or Data Science with 7+ years of experience or PhD in a comparable field with 3+ years of experience.
• Expert proficiency in Python, SQL, and modern ML/DL libraries (scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch) coupled with solid grounding in statistical modeling, experiment design, and causal inference.
• Hands-on experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure and familiarity with big data frameworks such as Snowflake, Spark, or Databricks.
• Proven ability to move from whiteboard idea to production solution and influence cross-functional teams through data storytelling.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals (version control, testing, CI/CD) and familiarity with data visualization or experimentation platforms (e.g., Looker, Tableau, Optimizely).

Preferred Qualifications

• Domain knowledge in media, streaming, sports, parks, or consumer products.
• Experience with LLMs, vector search, and retrieval augmented generation.
• Background in causal inference or experimentation platforms.
• Prior experience hiring or leading small technical teams.

Benefits & Perks

• Compensation Range: $152,200.00 to $204,100.00 per year.
• Bonus and/or Long-Term Incentive Units may be provided as part of the overall package.
• Medical, Financial, and Other Benefits offered based on position level and internal equity considerations.
• Base pay is determined by geographic region, skills, and experience.