Senior Data Scientist at MLS League Office

Overview Major League Soccer’s Strategy and Business Intelligence group is tasked with supporting strategic decision making and resource allocation across the League – with a focus on driving fan growth, revenue capture, and operating efficiencies – by providing impactful data driven insights, analysis, and recommendations. This individual contributor position requires a curious, analytical, and collaborative mindset — someone who brings structure to complexity and thrives at the intersection of data science and marketing impact. This role applies advanced analytics and modeling to fan and marketing data — including the League’s Fan Genome — to uncover engagement trends, build predictive attributes, and inform marketing strategy across League and Club initiatives. The ideal candidate is a hands-on data scientist with a strong understanding of marketing performance, audience segmentation, and personalization. They will translate complex data into actionable insights that enhance fan engagement, optimize marketing investments, and accelerate the League’s growth. Responsibilities • Apply advanced statistical and machine learning models to measure and predict marketing performance (e.g., media mix modeling, multi-touch attribution, churn and LTV forecasting, audience clustering). • Analyze fan and marketing data within the Fan Genome platform to identify trends in engagement, retention, and conversion. • Build and refine fan attributes, predictive scores, and segmentation models that inform targeting and personalization strategies at League and Clubs. • Develop machine learning solutions (forecasting, classification, recommendation, clustering) utilizing Python (scikit-learn, XGBoost, TensorFlow/PyTorch). • Design and analyze marketing experiments (A/B, multivariate, holdout tests) to determine causal impact of campaigns. • Translate data science model outputs into actionable insights and recommendations for the Marketing organization. • Build and maintain recurring dashboards and automated reports connecting campaign data, model results, and business KPIs. • Partner with Data Engineering to operationalize model outputs into CRM and marketing platforms (Salesforce, Braze, Marketo, etc.). • Ensure data quality and consistency across marketing data sources and analytical environments. • Present analytical findings in clear, concise, and visual formats for both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Qualifications Education and Experience • Bachelor’s Degree required • 8+ years of experience required Required Skills and Experience • Advanced expertise with Python, ML frameworks (scikit-learn/XGBoost/TensorFlow/PyTorch), & MLOps (feature stores, MLflow/model registry, CI/CD, online serving) required. • Strong experience with marketing analytics modeling techniques (MMM, MTA, regression, clustering, uplift, time-series forecasting, and Bayesian modeling). • Familiarity with lifecycle marketing analytics, marketing automation, and customer journey optimization using platforms such as Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze, Marketo, etc. • Experience operationalizing data science models into production systems or marketing workflows. • Understanding of causal inference and experimental design in marketing contexts. • Experience with data modeling and orchestration tools (DBT, Databricks, Airflow, Astronomer) • Experience building and automating training and inference ML pipelines at scale • Strong SQL skills (AWS, Snowflake or MySQL) • Experience with dashboarding software (Power BI, Looker or Tableau) • Ability to gather and clearly communicate technical requirements to Data Engineering and Martech teams • Demonstrated mastery of CRM and Paid Media Marketing tactics • High-level of commitment to a quality work product and organizational ethics, integrity and compliance • Ability to work effectively in a fast paced, team environment • Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to effectively communicate, both verbally and in writing • Demonstrated decision making and problem-solving skills • High attention to detail with the ability to multi-task and meet deadlines with minimal supervision • Proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook Total Rewards Major League Soccer offers a competitive starting base salary of $130,000 - $150,000, based on individual qualifications, market financials, and operational business needs. We are committed to providing a Total Rewards package that attracts, supports, engages, and retains talent. Our benefits package includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, a $500 wellness reimbursement, and generous Holiday and PTO schedule to promote work-life balance. We also prioritize career and professional development, offering on-the-job training, feedback, and ongoing educational opportunities. ...