Head of Data Science

Job Description Summary

• A work environment that encourages collaboration and innovation. We consistently explore new technologies and tools to be agile.

• Flexible time off, workplace flexibility, an environment that welcomes continued professional growth through support of tuition reimbursement, conferences and seminars.

• Our culture encourages our people to hone current skills and build new capabilities, while discovering their genius.

• We provide a modern computing environment based on best-in-class "big data" and cloud computing technologies and the freedom to explore new data sources and statistical and machine learning methodologies.

• Our Analytics team is home to some of the most brilliant minds in the market. Here, we will not only understand your stats jokes, we'll appreciate them.

This position is responsible for supporting the development of analytic solutions through consulting engagements for TransUnion's clients across a broad array of credit, fraud, insurance and marketing business applications.

• You will manage a team of 3 to 6 data scientists, owning the organization of workloads and priorities and providing mentorship aimed at fostering associate growth and effectiveness in the role.
• You will be the subject matter expert on internal and external cross-functional teams to drive new business initiatives and deliver long term, value-added solutions to TransUnion customers. These tasks will include – among others – independently leading the development of technical solutions to complex problems with minimal direct supervision.
• You will be the first-point-of-contact for TransUnion's established and emergent strategic customers and will work with them to identify strategies and opportunities to test and adopt TransUnion's analytic products and services. In this capacity, you will be expected to work closely and in a consultative manner with a variety of internal stakeholders (e.g. line-of-business vertical leaders and Sales executives) and external customers.
• You will lead complex custom analytic engagements in support of a variety of business use cases from start to finish; contributing to opportunity management (e.g. writing RFP responses), designing solutions, leading analytic developments, and seeing solutions through to deployment and on-going monitoring. In the process, you will independently identify new approaches to existing or unsolved problems across TransUnion without established procedures and prior examples.
• You will deliver analytic insights and recommendations in succinct and compelling presentations for internal and external customers representing a wide range of backgrounds and levels.
• You will provide oversight and hands-on support for the development of analytic solutions using languages such as R, Python, SQL, Hive and Spark, formalizing some of these efforts into repeatable process improvements.
• You will lead research and innovation initiatives in collaboration with other DSA peers and will lead multi-resource, multi-team projects, as needed.
• You will research competitors, stay current on the competitive landscape, and TransUnion's position relative to the industry portfolio.
• You will represent TransUnion externally at seminars, summits, or advisory boards, and attend independently sponsored conferences and tradeshows on behalf of TransUnion.
• You will participate in the mentoring and training of junior colleagues, fostering a high-performance culture and cultivating an environment that promotes excellence and reflects the TransUnion brand.

• You will participate in the interviewing and evaluation of new talent.

• Master's or PhD degree in statistics, applied mathematics, financial mathematics, computer science, engineering, operations research, or other highly quantitative field; or a Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field with at least three (3) years of relevant professional experience. In either case, the candidate will demonstrate a consistent track record of academic excellence.

• Experience and demonstrated success directly supporting internal or external clients over a period of at least eight (8) years and at least four (4) years of professional experience performing analytic work, preferably in industries served by Transunion. At least one (1) year in a successful team management and leadership role. These experiences may or may not overlap.
• Evidence of strong analytical, critical, and creative thinking and willingness to take initiative in problem-solving. Demonstrated interest and proven career path in industries served by TransUnion, such as financial services, insurance, fraud, and digital marketing.
• Advanced programming skills and aptitude; mastery with statistical programs such as R or Python; mastery of other programming and data manipulation languages and big data platforms (SQL, Hive, Spark, C/C++, Java); high level of familiarity with Microsoft Office tools.
• Ability to lead complex analytic projects under limited supervision. This may entail the design, development, and delivery of complex solutions in close coordination with TransUnion's Sales and vertical support teams, and in direct communication with customers.
• Strong project and time management skills to lead multiple complex portfolios and work streams simultaneously with minimal if any direct supervision in a collaborative and fast-paced environment. This may require the need to make impactful project decisions and recommendations, taking ownership for actions and providing a robust framework for justifying, defending, and documenting such actions across multiple stakeholder levels. Additionally, the role may require the management of multiple resources within a project and the effective coordination of tasks across resources using clear workflows.
• Excellent business acumen and versatile interpersonal skills to communicate effectively at multiple levels - including executive ranks - within a complex and dynamic matrix organization. Knows the organization and can flexibility adapt to changes in business objectives or organizational structure.
• Good verbal and written communication skills. Proven ability to translate technical concepts into articulate actionable recommendations in a manner that is suitable to influence business partners and decision-makers inside and outside towards desired outcomes.