Basketball Analyst at New Orleans Saints and Pelicans
Job Description
If you are interested in sports jobs with the New Orleans Pelicans,
you’re in the right place!
Reports To: Director, Basketball Analytics
Direct Reports: None
FLSA Status: Full-time salaried, Exempt
Work Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Our Mission and Your Impact
The New Orleans Saints and Pelicans proudly represent both the NFL and NBA, using our platform to uplift the Gulf Coast and create lasting community impact. Rooted in the vibrant spirit of New Orleans, we celebrate diversity, embrace culture, and unite people through the power of sports. Guided by our core values—community, teamwork, celebrating individuality, people first, integrity, and excellence—we foster an inclusive culture and seek people who share these values to help strengthen the bond between our teams and the city we call home.
Position Summary:
The Basketball Analyst will work within the Pelicans Basketball Operations department, reporting to the Director, Basketball Analytics, and is responsible for research, model development, and analytical support for Coaching, Player Personnel / Scouting, Player Development, Health & Performance and Salary Cap Management.
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Own basketball research initiatives end to end, translating ambiguous questions from basketball staff into defined research designs, models, and clear recommendations.
- Build, validate, deploy, and monitor models that evaluate players, teams, lineups, tactics, and roster and strategy decisions, including feature development and ongoing performance review.
- Work across large and complex basketball datasets — optical tracking and spatiotemporal data, play-by-play and event data, lineup and personnel data, and scouting inputs — using statistical modeling, machine learning, and exploratory analysis.
- Support the Director, Basketball Analytics on projects spanning on-court strategy, player acquisition, injury monitoring, and player development.
- Deliver recurring in-season reporting for coaching and front office use.
- Work alongside front office, strategy, coaching, scouting, player development, G League, and health & performance staff to keep analysis connected to live basketball decisions.
- Communicate findings through clear written reports, visualizations, and presentations, applying basketball judgment to state limitations and practical next steps alongside results.
- Build internal tools, dashboards, and repeatable workflows that put analysis directly in the hands of basketball staff.
- Leverage proprietary data and internal context to produce insights that cannot be replicated externally, and evaluate new methods and data sources worth bringing in-house.
- Other duties as assigned.
What You’ll Bring:
Minimum:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science, Economics, or equivalent field, or equivalent work experience.
- Minimum of 2 years of experience applying statistical modeling and machine learning to large, complex datasets. Experience gained through coursework or personal projects qualify.
- Proficiency in R or Python.
- Proficiency in SQL, including writing and optimizing queries against large relational databases.
- Demonstrated ability to build, validate, and maintain predictive models.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate technical results to non-technical audiences through writing, visualization, and presentation.
- Experience with Git or similar version control software.
- Strong knowledge of NBA rules, regulations, and standards.
- Willing and able to provide after-hours and weekend support.
- Ability to problem solve and learn new technologies quickly.
- Ability to work independently or collaboratively with a small team.
- Ability to multi-task efficiently to meet aggressive deadlines.
Preferred:
- Advanced degree in a quantitative field.
- Experience working with optical tracking or other spatiotemporal data.
- Experience working with play-by-play and event-level sports data.
- Experience deploying and monitoring models in a production environment.
- Experience building dashboards or internal tools that put analysis in front of non-technical users.
- Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Prior experience in professional or collegiate basketball.
All Candidates Should Have:
- Commitment to community and a people-first mindset
- Strong teamwork and collaboration skills
- Ability to celebrate individuality and value diverse perspectives
- High integrity and a proactive, solutions-oriented “winning” mindset
What We Offer:
- Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance options
- 401K with employer contributions
- Paid parental leave
- PTO and paid holidays
- Wellness Program
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