Senior Data Scientist Words With Friends at Zynga

AVAILABLE POSITIONS Senior Data Scientist – Words with Friends
Zynga is a leading developer of the world’s most popular games that are played by people around the world every single day. To-date, more than 1 billion people have played our games including Empires & Puzzles, Toon Blast, FarmVille, Words With Friends, Zynga Poker, Merge Dragons, Hit it Rich! Slots and CSR.
The big part of the success of all of Zynga’s games is insightful and innovative ways of using data. Zynga’s Data Science and Analytics team uses the latest analytics technologies across our expansive data to deliver fundamental insights on who our audience is, how they engage with our games, and what are the best ways to personalize their in-game experience. We strive for a better understanding of our players which translates into challenges and features that delight them.
What we are looking for is a passion for analytics and data science and the ability to impact game performance through customer-centric, data-driven initiatives. This role will work closely with the Words with Friends team at Zynga to identify and act on, opportunities to increase engagement, retention, revenue, optimization, and to improve the player experience for our customers. Furthermore, the role entails close coordination with the wider Zynga’s analytics team to provide novel opportunities based on shared insights as well as an introduction on new analytics methods.
This is a great opportunity for an analytics expert looking to build end-to-end data solutions to generate impactful insights and work on exciting, large-scale projects. Furthermore, you’ll have a chance to tackle a variety of projects ranging from creating intuitive dashboards to owning advanced data science solutions, as well as becoming a thought leader in analytics to facilitate coordination of global initiatives.
Lastly, this role requires strong technical skills across a wide spectrum, including strong proficiency in scripting languages such as SQL and Python, telemetry definition and data modeling, data aggregation and manipulation, customer analytics, business intelligence, data visualization, and data science techniques.
Main Responsibilities: 

Act as a thought leader, suggesting opportunities and driving analytics value for Words with Friends and the wider Zynga business both strategically and operationally.


Work closely with the product leadership with a focus on generating actionable insights and end-to-end data solutions that have a measurable impact on the core KPIs.


Specifically, you may encounter projects focused on: modeling the in-game economy through simulation, personalizing our in-game store using recommendation algorithms, or combating fraud and abusive behavior through near-real-time interventions.


Proactively bring forth new analytical approaches and data science solutions to our team. Collaborate with engineers to drive key strategic initiatives for the improvement of the data and analytics infrastructure.


Be a champion of best practices when defining telemetry events, architecting data models, and defining data quality governance.


Leverage our modern tech stack, AWS (Redshift & Kinesis), Databricks and PySpark, Airflow, and Tableau to identify opportunities to improve the experience that Zynga provides to its players.


Own experimentation efforts, including experimental design and analysis.

Desired Skills and Experience: 

Bachelor’s degree in Math, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, Operations Research, or other quantitative field required.


4+ years of relevant work experience in data science or analytics roles; game industry experience is a bonus.


Demonstrated experience with the following: machine learning, predictive modeling, statistics, experimental design, computational analytics, econometric modeling.


Strong experience in SQL, Python, and fluent in other programming languages; Experience in applying machine learning on large datasets. Familiarity with Databricks is a bonus.


Skilled in at least one visualization tool such as Tableau.


Strong written and oral communication skills.


Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities.


Comfortable working in different work environments and cultures with ease.


Able to coordinate complex initiatives with different stakeholders.


Passion for gaming.

What we offer you:
Competitive salary, bonus plan, Take-Two RSU’s (Restricted Stock Units), ESPP (Employee Stock Purchase Plan)
401K Company Match Contribution (US)
RRSP Company Match Contribution (Canada)
Extended Health coverage, dental, disability, critical illness, EAP, and life insurance (Canada)
Medical, dental, vision, EAP, life insurance, and disability benefits (US)
Virtual mental health and neurodiversity support programs
Fitness benefits (offering varies by location)
Financial wellness program with unlimited access to certified financial planners
Discretionary Time Off policy for many employees
Family planning support program
Generous paid maternity/parental leave
Subsidized Back-up child care
Zynga happy hours and frequent employee events
Flexible working hours on many teams
Culture of diversity and inclusion including employee resource groups
Work with cool people and impact millions of daily players
We are an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to building a diverse and talented workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, medical condition, disability, or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable law. We welcome job-seekers, players, employees, and partners from all backgrounds to join us!
We will consider all qualified job-seekers with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law.
We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities in order to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.  Please contact us at AccommodationRequest@zynga.com to request an accommodation associated with your application for an open position.
This is a fully remote role that may be based anywhere in the United States. The pay range for this position for applicants based in Colorado at the start of employment is expected to be between $118,000 and $133,000 per year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.   Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits.  Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.
Zynga does not  engage in financial exchanges during the recruitment or onboarding process. We do not conduct job interviews over third-party messaging apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp or others. We will never ask you for your personal or financial information over unofficial chat channels. Our in-house recruitment team only contacts individuals via official company email addresses (i.e., via a zynga.com or naturalmotion.com email domain).
If you believe you have been the victim of a scam, you may wish to contact the authorities. In the United States, you may file a complaint with the FBI. More information is available here: https://www.ic3.gov.
Careers Category: Data, Analytics & User Research
Careers location: Remote, US
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