Senior Data Scientist I

The Nielsen Company•Madison, MS

1d•$93,940 - $156,530

About The Position

The Custom Media Analytics Delivery team sits within Nielsen's Commercial organization and functions as an incubator for new innovative products. We leverage existing Nielsen datasets to build custom solutions that don't yet exist in Nielsen's standard product portfolio. That means taking raw, often messy datasets from across Nielsen's ecosystem and turning them into something a client can actually use — which requires knowing the data deeply, modeling it correctly, and moving fast.

Requirements

3+ years working directly with Nielsen datasets (TAM, DAR/N1Ads, DCR, Audio, or similar) with hands-on knowledge of Nielsen's weighting, projection, and audience estimation methodology
Proven ability to merge and reconcile multiple Nielsen data sources, navigating differences in sample design, universe estimates, and reporting conventions
Solid grasp of US media research fundamentals across Television, and Digital
Advanced degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related quantitative field
5+ years in data science or analytical research roles, with a track record of delivering production-grade models — not just analyses
Strong foundations in statistical modeling, sampling theory, weighting, and survey-based projections; comfortable with ML techniques where they fit
Expert-level Python and SQL; strong PySpark for big data work in cloud environments (AWS preferred)
Experience with Databricks for large-scale data processing and ML workflows; familiarity with warehouse-native ML (Databricks ML, Snowflake, or BigQuery ML) is a plus
Experience building and maintaining ETL pipelines using Airflow or equivalent orchestration tools
Familiarity with data warehousing concepts, cloud-native storage (Redshift, S3, or similar), and data engineering principles
Active daily use of AI tools (LLMs, copilot-style assistants) for code generation, model validation, documentation, and workflow acceleration — this is a core expectation of the role
Experience designing agentic AI workflows for automation — chaining tools, validation steps, and outputs to reduce manual effort on repeatable tasks
Comfortable evaluating where AI outputs need verification versus where they can be trusted; understands the limits as well as the leverage
Ability to explain methodology decisions to non-technical stakeholders without oversimplifying the tradeoffs
Strong documentation habits — methods, data dictionaries, and assumptions written up so others can reproduce and build on your work
Proficiency in Tableau, Spotfire, or equivalent visualization tools for QA and client-facing output

Nice To Haves

This role is for someone who is energized by building things that don't exist yet, comfortable in ambiguity, and disciplined enough to get the methodology right the first time.

Responsibilities

Design and build new measurement products by combining Nielsen datasets across National and Local linear TV, Streaming, Audio, and Digital — understanding the weighting rules, projection logic, and methodology differences that make cross-dataset work hard to get right
Develop statistical and machine learning models that extend or adapt Nielsen methodologies to answer questions that standard products can't address
Write production-quality SQL, Python, and PySpark to extract, transform, and model data from Nielsen's cloud data environment
Build reusable data pipelines and ETL workflows that allow custom solutions to be delivered repeatably rather than rebuilt from scratch each time
Use AI tools actively — to validate models, accelerate pipeline development, stress-test logic, and compress the time between concept and delivery
Translate stakeholder requests into well-scoped analytical problems, push back when the ask is unclear, and deliver with clear documentation of methodology and assumptions
Collaborate with Research, Commercial Sales, and Client Insights teams; communicate complex model decisions in plain language