At the NBA, we’re passionate about growing and celebrating the game of basketball. Through the intensity of the game and the amazing athletic skill of our players, we deliver excitement to hundreds of millions of fans around the world. As a global sports and media business, the NBA is so much more. While Basketball Operations runs the league’s on-court activities, other departments manage relationships with television and digital media partners, develop marketing partnerships with some of the world’s most recognizable companies, oversee the licensing of NBA merchandise, and handle a wide range of responsibilities that drive the NBA’s success.

The NBA is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace. To safeguard our employees and their families, our visitors and the broader community from COVID-19, and in consideration of recommendations from health authorities and the NBA’s own advisors, any individual working onsite in our New York and New Jersey offices must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The NBA will discuss accommodations for individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.

Position Summary:

At the NBA, we`re passionate about growing and celebrating the game of basketball. Through the intensity of the game and the amazing athletic skill of our players, we deliver excitement to hundreds of millions of fans around the world. As a global sports and media business, the NBA is so much more. While Basketball Operations runs the league`s on-court activities, other departments manage relationships with television and digital media partners, develop marketing partnerships with some of the world`s most recognizable companies, oversee the licensing of NBA merchandise, and handle a wide range of responsibilities that drive the NBA`s success. The Data Scientist will support the Senior Vice President, Game Analytics & Strategy in analyzing, maintaining, and presenting data to support various decisions. This role also will assist in selecting new initiatives and executing long-term projects aligned with the goals of the Game Analytics & Strategy group. You will be responsible for designing and performing rigorous statistical analysis and visualizations in support of league operations decision-making; focusing on referee performance, rule changes, game play and any other questions related to cross-departmental initiatives when needed, such as player health and performance.

Major Responsibility:

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  Generate ideas and innovate analytics to support the Game Analytics & Strategy group
• Responsibilities include, among other things, collaborating on research for both ongoing and case- by-case studies, planning and/or conducting statistical analysis, developing material for internal and external dissemination, and presenting research findings
• Perform exploratory analysis of new data sources to assess data quality and applicability in decision-making
• Produce stats-based reporting
• Craft professional-looking presentations and reports to effectively communicate statistical findings
• Help design procedures to maintain data integrity

Required Skills/Knowledge:

• 
  Experienced understanding of advanced methods used to analyze basketball statistics
• A real passion for analytical work in sports. Ability to maintain the highest level of confidentiality
• Applied knowledge of statistical regression methods
• Supervised and unsupervised learning techniques in machine learning (e.g. dimensionality reduction and clustering)
• Experience with a database management language (e.g. SQL) as well as scripting languages (e.g. R or Python)
• Experience working with data visualization tools (e.g. Shiny or Tableau)
• Experience deploying and maintaining projects in production
• Ability to work independently, effectively and efficiently with high-levels of curiosity and detail
• Excellent technical writer and communicator with an eye for detail
• Handle changing priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Creative and innovative thinker with excellent written, and interpersonal skills
• Preferable: minimum of 3 - 5 years of professional work experience in a business environment, ideally in roles that have relied heavily on technical, communication and presentation skills, or commensurate experience (i.e. graduate level work, particularly in statistics or computer science)

Education:

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  Bachelor`s Degree Required; Major in Mathematics, Statistics, Econometrics or related discipline or Master`s Degree are preferred

We Consider Applicants For All Positions On The Basis Of Merit, Qualifications And Business Needs, And Without Regard To Race, Color, National Origin, Religion, Sex, Gender Identity, Age, Disability, Alienage Or Citizenship Status, Ancestry, Marital Status, Creed, Genetic Predisposition Or Carrier Status, Sexual Orientation, Veteran Status, Familial Status, Status As A Victim Of Domestic Violence Or Any Other Status Or Characteristic Protected By Applicable Federal, State, Or Local Law.