Data Science Director

As a Data Science Director within our Marketing Intelligence team, you will be responsible for understanding, designing and deploying data science projects for the purpose of enhancing and improving marketing intelligence activities. 

In order to successfully perform this role, you will need to be able to work with large and messy datasets of structured and unstructured data, build and implement models and algorithms, and design and run experiments to optimise media and customer experience. You are expected to have a relentless curiosity about various business problems and a passion for inventing data-based solutions to those challenges.

As a senior member of the Marketing Intelligence team, you are required to build bespoke data science solutions based on opportunities identified by you, other teams, or in response to client challenges & contexts.  The production process will include: 

• Understanding & defining the scope and success criteria of the project
• Advising the team/s on the requirements to perform the project successfully after initial exploration of the data
• Working with the client's/ Incubeta's analytics, data, tech and BI teams to get the requirements in place
• Research and architecture of existing and potential solutions
• Creation of the data pipeline & connections into BigQuery or similar DWH, as appropriate
• Adaption of solutions into a unique Incubeta template
• The automation of script triggering through Google Cloud or similar
• Presenting any findings as well as training to team members and clients who will use the tool/ model

You are required to: 

• Design, build, and implement predictive models and algorithms to improve and optimise media performance, customer experiences, revenue generation, and other business outcomes.
• Build & develop new data services & solutions through ML/AI that generate revenue opportunities for Incubeta.
• Build well-managed data solutions, tools, and innovative prototypes to enable self-service frameworks.
• Oversee a team of data science & marketing intelligence professionals, and their technical output.  
• Deliver effective presentations of findings and recommendations to internal and external technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Support in-market scoping, commercials and upskilling for our data science offering.
• Document projects in a manner that ensures specific processes can be replicated and scaled across the organisation.
• Collaborate with multiple teams and stakeholders in an agile and dynamic environment.

PLACE WITHIN ORGANISATION

The Data Science Director reports directly to the EMEA Head of Data Science and Engineering. This role is based in our Cape Town office and operates within the EMEA Marketing Intelligence team. You will be an integral part of a dynamic and collaborative team, working alongside marketing intelligence professionals across EMEA, including:

• Data Analysts
• Data Engineers
• Analytics Implementation Specialists
• Data & Analytics Consultants
• Technical Project Managers

You will also collaborate closely with:

• In-market teams in Cape Town, across various disciplines
• Commercial & client service teams across EMEA
• Operations personnel
• Other marketing intelligence resources globally

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

In order to successfully perform this role, you will need the following hard and soft skills:

Hard Skills

• Strong technical capabilities: 
  • Data science, data infrastructure and engineering
  • ML and modelling (pLTV, Propensity, MMM)
  • Experience with DWH (BigQuery)
  • Data visualisation (Looker Studio, Power BI, Tableau)
  • Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure)
  • Google Cloud Platform certified (Advantageous)
  • ETL tooling (FiveTran, Supermetrics)
  • Coding & Programming (Python, SQL, R, JavaScript)
  • Understanding of Analytics platforms & impact of data within - in particular Google Analytics 4
  • Data Modelling, prescriptive, predictive and statistical modelling 
  • Probability and Statistics
• Knowledge of Key Metrics and Dimensions for GMP Platforms (DV360, CM360, SA360), Google Ads and Facebook (Advantageous)
• Knowledge of Digital Media Strategy (Advantageous)
• Can confidently deal with breadth of enquiries around analytics & data
• Strong understanding of industry trends and the ability to pivot business strategies accordingly
• Skilled in utilising Google Workspace for communication, presentations and reporting (e.g. Gmail, Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Sheets)

Soft Skills

• Demonstrable expertise in strong client relationship management, and experience of building and managing key partner relationships
• Ability to foster a positive organisational culture and promote talent development
• Strong technical storyteller - able to turn complex technical concepts into simple and easy to understand concepts for both internal teams and clients
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills
• Excellent problem-solving abilities
• Ability to work in a fast paced, dynamic, pro-learning environment on multiple priorities simultaneously
• Relentless enthusiasm and highly reliable
• Accountable, driven, and proactive in development and making progress
• Display a hunger for knowledge and a willingness to learn for any situation
• Ability to think and act independently as well as collaboratively
• Can establish influential relationships with both internal and external stakeholders
• Thought leadership and participation in industry events
• Exceptional attention to detail and pride in any work produced
• Strong ability to prioritise and manage own time as well as assisting teams where needed
• Display honesty and integrity at all times
• Accountable for actions even when making mistakes
• Organised and detail oriented
• Be approachable and open to constructive feedback

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Your tasks and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Client Impact: 
  • Oversee ideation and implementation of solutions and feature sets for customers, and work collaboratively within the EMEA Marketing Intelligence hub to create and deliver. 
  • Formulating, suggesting, and managing data-driven projects which are geared at furthering our clients' business and marketing interests. 
  • Suggesting ways in which insights obtained might be used to inform business and digital marketing strategies. 
  • Identify and prioritise new solutions based on customer feedback and industry needs.

• Team Management
  • Develop & progress direct reports through constructive and real time feedback, direction & mentorship.
  • Reviewing the outputs and the delivery standards of your team - continuously assessing & improving our best practices.
  • Work closely with the EMEA Head of Data Science and Engineering to implement evolutions of our ways of working, and inspire your team to adopt them.
  • Train and upskill team so they are self-sufficient in satisfying client demands, building trust with our partners, and delivering projects successfully.
  • Implement QA processing and encourage proactivity amongst the team.
  • Ensure team processes and standards are regularly revised to maximise efficiency and communication, and maintained.
  • Team technical and support documentation is contributed to and maintained.

• Specialisation Development:
  • Identify and prioritise new solutions based on customer feedback and industry needs. 
  • Staying informed about developments in Data Science and adjacent fields to ensure that outputs are always relevant. 

• Technical Excellence and Innovation:
  • Build ways to analyse and understand consumer engagement and product performance through modelling and data visualisation. 
  • Selecting and employing advanced statistical procedures to drive and obtain actionable insights. 
  • Cross-validating models to ensure their generalizability. 
  • Proven commitment to clear communication and knowledge sharing by  producing and disseminating non-technical close-out reports that detail the successes and limitations of each project. 

REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS

• At least an honours-level degree in data science, statistics, computer science, or similar.
• Minimum 5 - 12 years of professional experience in a data science role, developing and deploying machine learning techniques.
• Demonstrable certifications in Google Cloud Platform & BigQuery
• Demonstrable certifications and courses in coding - SQL, Python, R

Incubeta Company Values:

• Earn Trust: Focused on maintaining and increasing customer focus, works with the customer in mind earning trust along each step with clients and colleagues
• Help Others Succeed: Makes an active contribution to a joint result (organizational target) or to resolving problems or conflicts. Think in terms of possibilities. Is able to solve issues and problems in a timely and effective manner, working as a team.
• Dare to Lead: Is willing to improve individual performance and stimulate others to act accordingly. Setting the standard and example. Being solution driven.
• Exceed Expectations: Carries out tasks without help from others; takes command of problem situations and aims to achieve more than the basic requirements. Goes above and beyond the basic expectations of the role and the business.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Incubeta is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Application Process:

If you feel you meet the criteria please kindly submit your resume, cover letter, and portfolio of relevant work. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.Please take note that if you do not receive a response within 2 weeks of applying, you should consider your application as unsuccessful.

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