Principal Data Scientist

NBCUniversal
Brentford
1 week ago
Applications closed

Related Jobs

View all jobs

Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist

Principal Data Scientist: Scale ML for Audiences (Hybrid)

Principal Data Scientist: ML Leader, Mentor, Hybrid Role

Job Description

NBCUniversal, the global media company that brought you some of the world’s most iconic television and film franchises, including: The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Real Housewives, Mr. Robot, The Voice, This Is Us, The Fast & The Furious, Jurassic Park, Minions, and more is looking for a Principal Data Scientist to lead a team working on personalization at Peacock. 
 Are you a fan of machine learning solutions, reinforcement learning, deep learning, and foundation models? Do you want to be a part of the team that builds an advanced recommender engine, active leaning platforms, and personalized solutions for marketing and advertisement? Join the world-class international team of smart and hungry professionals who are working at the cutting edge of technology and science at the epicenter of content, technology and culture.

Position Overview: 

As part of the Media Group Decision Sciences team, the Principal Data Scientist will be responsible for creating machine learning solutions for NBCU’s video streaming service including but not limited to, content recommendations and product experience personalization. 

In this role specifically, the Principal Data Scientist (Deep Learning) will lead algorithmic solution design, rapid prototyping, and technical review for the ML/AI models underlying personalized user experiences and content promotion. They will be a key point of contact for cross-functional architects and software developers as they integrate personalized data products and capabilities across our suite of global and domestic products. They will work with a dynamic cohort of high caliber individuals across Product, Technology, Marketing, Content Discovery, Editorial, and more to build a state-of-the-art real-time video streaming service 

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

Be a resident expert in recommendation systems design and implementation.

Lead the team in the development of a recommendation system modeling and experimentation framework. 

Work with business stakeholders to define priorities, approaches and business requirements for analytical solutions. 

Manage multiple priorities across business verticals and machine learning lifecycle projects.

Laise with engineering teams to define data science driven requirements and solutions for major initiatives and opportunities of the streaming service functionality. 

Drive innovation of the statistical and machine learning methodologies and tools used by the team. Lead improvements in machine learning lifecycle infrastructure.

Drive a data science culture that inspires and motivates the team to succeed. 

Qualifications

Advanced (Master or PhD) degree with specialization in Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Economics, Mathematics, Machine Learning, Operations Research or another quantitative field or equivalent. 

6+ years of combined experience in software development or data science.

Experience with commercial recommender systems or a lead role in an advanced research recommender system project. 

Working experience with deep learning, including computer vision, computational linguistics/conversational AI, or recommender systems. Strong experience with deep learning using TensorFlow.

Experience with Google AI Platform/Vertex AI, Kubeflow and Airflow. 

Proficiency in Python.

Experience in data processing using SQL and PySpark, and extensive experience with NoSQL and Feature Store production interactions. 

Good understanding of algorithmic complexity of model training and testing, particularly for real-time and near real-time models.

Desired Characteristics: 

Experience in content streaming or commerce as a senior contributor to AI/ML-powered product features and user experiences. 

Experience with reinforcement learning based systems.

Experience with large-scale video assets. 

Ability to build trust across the organization and socialize solutions and identified data insights. 

Pride and ownership in your work and confident representation of your team to other parts of NBCUniversal. 

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to AccessibilityS.

Subscribe to Future Tech Insights for the latest jobs & insights, direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.

Industry Insights

Discover insightful articles, industry insights, expert tips, and curated resources.

How to Write an AI Job Ad That Attracts the Right People

Artificial intelligence is now embedded across almost every sector of the UK economy. From fintech and healthcare to retail, defence and climate tech, organisations are competing for AI talent at an unprecedented pace. Yet despite the volume of AI job adverts online, many employers struggle to attract the right candidates. Roles are flooded with unsuitable applications, while highly capable AI professionals scroll past adverts that feel vague, inflated or disconnected from reality. In most cases, the issue isn’t a shortage of AI talent — it’s the quality of the job advert. Writing an effective AI job ad requires more care than traditional tech hiring. AI professionals are analytical, sceptical of hype and highly selective about where they apply. A poorly written advert doesn’t just fail to convert — it actively damages your credibility. This guide explains how to write an AI job ad that attracts the right people, filters out mismatches and positions your organisation as a serious employer in the AI space.

Maths for AI Jobs: The Only Topics You Actually Need (& How to Learn Them)

If you are a software engineer, data scientist or analyst looking to move into AI or you are a UK undergraduate or postgraduate in computer science, maths, engineering or a related subject applying for AI roles, the maths can feel like the biggest barrier. Job descriptions say “strong maths” or “solid fundamentals” but rarely spell out what that means day to day. The good news is you do not need a full maths degree worth of theory to start applying. For most UK roles like Machine Learning Engineer, AI Engineer, Data Scientist, Applied Scientist, NLP Engineer or Computer Vision Engineer, the maths you actually use again & again is concentrated in a handful of topics: Linear algebra essentials Probability & statistics for uncertainty & evaluation Calculus essentials for gradients & backprop Optimisation basics for training & tuning A small amount of discrete maths for practical reasoning This guide turns vague requirements into a clear checklist, a 6-week learning plan & portfolio projects that prove you can translate maths into working code.

Neurodiversity in AI Careers: Turning Different Thinking into a Superpower

The AI industry moves quickly, breaks rules & rewards people who see the world differently. That makes it a natural home for many neurodivergent people – including those with ADHD, autism & dyslexia. If you’re neurodivergent & considering a career in artificial intelligence, you might have been told your brain is “too much”, “too scattered” or “too different” for a technical field. In reality, many of the strengths that come with ADHD, autism & dyslexia map beautifully onto AI work – from spotting patterns in data to creative problem-solving & deep focus. This guide is written for AI job seekers in the UK. We’ll explore: What neurodiversity means in an AI context How ADHD, autism & dyslexia strengths match specific AI roles Practical workplace adjustments you can ask for under UK law How to talk about your neurodivergence during applications & interviews By the end, you’ll have a clearer picture of where you might thrive in AI – & how to set yourself up for success.