Head of Data Science

We're looking for a Head of Data Science to lead the next chapter of data science initiatives at Ranker.

Ranker is a premium destination for engaging and consumer-driven opinions and rankings on pretty much everything. We believe that the wisdom of crowds is more relevant (and far more predictive) than the opinion of one critic, and capture millions of votes weekly, translating into a tremendous amount of psychographic data, revealing consumer tastes in everything from movies, to TV, to music, to sports, to brands. With 30Mil monthly unique visitors we have the scale to turn this data into the ultimate recommendation engine, both on ranker.com and via offshoot products in both the B2B and B2C space, including “Watchworthy,” a TV recommender app, and Ranker Insights, a B2B business around psychographic insights that studios, networks, and brands can use to guide their decisions.

Recent industry accolades and recognition include:

• Fast Company's 10 Most Innovative Companies in 2021 in Data Science

• AdExchanger Awards finalist for Best Publisher First-Party Data Platform

Based in the heart of Los Angeles and established 10 years ago, the company is solidly profitable and has 110+ employees and is growing. 

The Head of Data Science will play a leading role in executing on the plan already laid out to take our rankings, recommender system and psychographics platform forward to the next level and into something truly game-changing for the entertainment industry, and eventually, for the broader market research universe.

You Will Enjoy The Role If:

• Your passion and curiosity for data is infectious

• You get excited about taking ownership of problems and solving them in a fast-paced and scrappy environment, working cross-functionally with both technical and non-technical people

• You are a strong critical thinker with a passion for Entertainment and Opinion Data, understanding complex issues and are comfortable working on ambiguous problems

• You are output-focused and see data science as a powerful tool to get things done, rather than as an end in itself

• You want a strong data infrastructure and engineering team to back you up, rather than having to start from scratch

What You’ll Do:

• Build new models and tools and improve or maintain existing ones

• Take business problems, translate them into data requirements, identify and develop the appropriate models, and collaborate with engineers to put them into production

• Convey complex ideas and analyses and give data-driven recommendations to business leaders in comprehensible terms

• Coach and grow a lean but mean team of individual contributor data scientists

What You’ll Need:

• A degree in statistics, computer science, mathematics, data science, or other quantitative field. Graduate degree preferred but not required.

• Demonstrated technical leadership and hands-on experience building statistics and machine learning-based solutions as well as solid understanding of theory (experience with rankings and recommender systems a strong plus)

• Facility with Python and SQL 

• Experience with cloud platforms (GCP preferred)

• Experience with version control systems (Git preferred)

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to work effectively with both technical and non-technical team members, including the ability to explain complex, technical concepts in a way understood by non-technical team members

• Experience in team building, mentoring, coaching and people development

About Ranker:

Ranker, attracting more than 30 million monthly unique visitors worldwide, is the leader in fan-powered rankings on just about everything. Whatever the topic - TV, movies, video games, sports, brands, food, lifestyle - Ranker puts the vote into the hands of millions rather than a few critics to answer the questions we are most passionate about. Over 1 billion votes now power Ranker Insights, a treasure trove of psychographic correlation data that delivers personalized consumer recommendations (“if you like X, you’ll also like Y, Z”), and also audience insights to marketers, studios, and platforms seeking a deeper understanding of consumer tastes and preferences. Launched in 2020 and powered by Ranker Insights, Watchworthy is the only statistically relevant, crowd-sourced TV recommendation app available to consumers. Ranker is listed on 2020’s Inc 5000 and Inc. 5000: California Series, Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500 and Built In LA’s Top 50 Mid-Sized Companies To Work For in 2020 & 2021, and #5 on Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2021. Headquartered in Los Angeles with over 115 employees, Ranker also has an offices in NYC and Chicago.