Summary of Role
We're looking for a Data Scientist to help drive the next chapter of data science initiatives at Ranker.
Ranker is the top destination for votable content on the internet. Our highly engaged visitors consistently generate 50 million upvotes and downvotes on practically everything in pop culture. All that voting translates into a tremendous amount of psychographic data, revealing consumer tastes in everything from movies, to TV, to music, to sports, to brands. We want to turn all this data into something that studios, networks, and brands can use to guide their decisions, and we need your help to do it.
The Data Scientist will play a leading role in determining how this data is leveraged and packaged. We need someone who not only has the expertise needed to navigate our data, but the vision to shape it into something truly game-changing for the entertainment industry, and eventually, for the broader market research universe. You will have professional or amateur data science experience in Recommendation Engines. You will have a passion for TV and Film and a strong intellectual curiosity in crowdsourcing. You’ll oversee the building of APIs, build and iterate on models, direct new analyses, develop user-facing products, and more.
You don’t have to worry about a “cold start” — Ranker already has the data infrastructure and talented engineering team you need to get to work immediately. Our data is structured and ready for analysis, allowing you to start digging into consumer tastes and building sophisticated models that studios, brands, and marketers can use to inform data-driven decisions and campaigns. There is a small Data Science team already in place that you would be joining, as well, strong data infrastructure and engineering teams ready to back you up.
We’re already expanding beyond our growing core media business and building offshoot products in both the B2B and B2C space. Much of your work will be centered around building these products, taking Ranker’s IP and building it into new tools. Our current budding projects include “Watchworthy,” a TV recommender app, and a B2B business around psychographic insights.
Based in the heart of Los Angeles and established 10 years ago, the company is solidly profitable and has 110+ employees and we are growing.
This role is currently remote due to the pandemic but will be located in our LA, California HQ once we re-open. We are open to applicants in all of California.
What you’ll do:
Take business problems, translate them into data requirements, identify and develop the appropriate models, and collaborate with engineers to put them into production
Build new models and tools and improve or maintain existing ones
Transform complex analyses into compelling, easy-to-understand deliverables
Convey complex ideas and analyses and give data-driven recommendations to business leaders in comprehensible terms
Be output focused and see data science as a powerful tool to get things done, rather than as an end in and of itself
What you’ll bring:
A deep understanding of TV and Entertainment Recommendation problems and passion about solving them
An intrigue, curiosity and affinity around rankings and data
An excitement about taking ownership of problems and solving them in a fast-paced and scrappy environment
Experience having successfully worked with cross-functional teams with both technical and non-technical people
A degree in statistics, computer science, mathematics, data science, or other quantitative fields
Graduate degree preferred, though not required
5+ years of relevant work experience in data science
Strong critical thinking skills with a passion towards understanding complex issues including tackling ambiguous problems
Facility with Python and SQL
Hands-on experience building statistics and machine learning-based solutions as well as solid understanding of theory
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
The ability to explain complex, technical concepts in a way understood by non-technical team members
Ability to work proactively and independently
What you’ll get:
Fully-paid medical, plus heavily subsidized voluntary dental and vision plans.
Paid holidays, plus additional days of paid time off per year.
Very casual workplace (t-shirts and shorts are totally fine) with a fully stocked kitchen including free healthy snacks, soda, Perrier, LaCroix, Mexican Coca-Cola.
We are located conveniently in West Los Angeles in the Mid-Wilshire district, minutes from Beverly Hills, Miracle Mile, and the 10 Freeway.
Ranker is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. 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. See also Ranker's EEO Policy and EEO is the Law.
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.