Founded in 2005, 2K is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios — including Visual Concepts, Gearbox, Firaxis, Hangar 13, Cloud Chamber and HB Studios — develop 2K's portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, spanning sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy and more.
Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers are the professional publishing stewards of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, Borderlands, Sid Meier's Civilization, BioShock, Mafia, WWE 2K, PGA 2K and XCOM. 2K is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).
At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work. We encourage all qualified applicants to explore our global positions.
The Director, Game Science & Insights is a senior technical leader within the Game Science & Insights (GSI) organisation, reporting to the Senior Director, Game Science & Insights. This role focuses on proactive problem solving through causal inference, experimentation, predictive modelling and AI integration. Our data scientists act as strategic partners, turning complex business challenges into testable hypotheses, validating them through causal inference or controlled experimentation, and then scaling the successful findings into predictive models and AI systems that help the business anticipate change and address challenges before they occur.
In this role you will lead and grow a multidisciplinary team of data scientists, data analysts and ML practitioners across our US, Ireland and UK hubs, using sophisticated player and commercial data to understand and influence engagement, retention and monetization across our AAA and live-service franchises — directly shaping product decisions and business outcomes. The scope is significant: you will own analytical operations including recurring analysis, ad-hoc insight, experimentation and the AI/ML systems that productionise our work.
This is a hands-on, deeply technical leadership position. You are expected to be fluent in — and set the standard for — the modern data and AI stack we are deploying across the business today, and to keep 2K ahead of the curve as the technology landscape evolves.
You will lead delivery on, and be highly proficient across, the platform and tooling we are actively deploying:
- Cloud data platforms: Snowflake and Databricks — data modelling, performance, governance at scale.
- Programming & modelling: Python as the primary language for analysis, experimentation, statistical modelling and machine learning; production-grade, well-tested code.
- Analytics & BI: Tableau/ Power BI for data storytelling, self-service analytics and executive-ready reporting.
- AI & generative AI: Claude and other large language models applied to data science workflows, insight generation and internal tooling; broad fluency in modern AI/ML and GenAI techniques and how to apply them pragmatically and responsibly.
- AI-assisted engineering: GitHub and GitHub AI (Copilot) for version control, code review and AI-accelerated development across the team.
- SQL: expert-level SQL underpinning all of the above.
- Project Management: Experience with project management and communication tools such as Asana, Confluence, JIRA, and Slack.
Game Science & Insights Strategy, Prioritisation and Execution
- Define the technical direction for the team — setting priorities and driving successful execution of analytics, experimentation and AI/ML projects across the product suite.
- Oversee the full AI/ML development lifecycle, from research and prototyping through to scalable deployment, monitoring and iteration on Snowflake and Databricks.
- Champion best practice in machine learning engineering, MLOps and cloud-native development, embedding AI-assisted tooling (Claude, GitHub AI) into how the team works.
- Direct experimentation and A/B testing initiatives, and apply causal inference to pinpoint winning strategies that boost conversion and long-term player value with precision.
- Establish clear expectations for the effort required to deliver different types of analysis and data requests, manage bandwidth and bottlenecks, and ensure work progresses at quality and on time.
- Oversee the development of risk registers and contingency playbooks, particularly around game releases, and inform the development or licensing of key tools used by GSI.
Cross-Functional Partnership and Execution
- Partner with product, commercial and marketing leaders to shape intelligent, player-focused solutions grounded in evidence.
- Build strong partner relationships through honest, precise and consistent communication; evaluate, triage and prioritise incoming requests against team capacity.
- Transform intricate analytics into compelling, actionable guidance that empowers leadership — including the C-suite — to lead with confidence.
- Amplify the 2k and central data strategy by engaging the right cross-functional partners to build scalable, impactful solutions across the business.
- Communicate team plans, actions and outcomes across all levels of 2K and Take-Two leadership.
Leadership and Team Building
- Lead, mentor and grow a multidisciplinary team of data scientists, data analysts and ML/software practitioners across Dublin and London, including individual contributors, team leads and managers.
- Delegate meaningful authority to technical leads and data science managers so individual teams execute with velocity and autonomy, while retaining effective day-to-day visibility.
- Detail specific guidelines and expectations for how each role can make the best impact, and foster a culture of innovation, ownership and continuous improvement.
- Take primary responsibility for recruiting within your organisation, and maintain a strong external network from which top talent can be drawn for strategic roles.
- Align team capacity to business needs when setting and adjusting FY OKRs, and proactively anticipate and address technical, managerial and procedural gaps (such as single points of failure) before they reach crisis level.
- Jump in to provide direct, hands-on support when the team gets stuck or an all-hands-on-deck data emergency arises.
The ideal candidate is, first and foremost, passionate about optimising great player experiences through data-driven insight, experimentation and AI. They are a highly autonomous, technically credible leader who is consistently focused on sustainably increasing productivity and efficiency. They care deeply about their team and take strong ownership of each person's professional development.
They have the team seeking the 'Why' and 'So What' insights that move the needle, anticipate oncoming issues, and devise resourceful solutions. They are articulate and polished, and are ready to engage credibly with all levels of the organisation — from data scientists to the C-suite. They also bring a proven understanding of live-service games and how live services operate across genres today.
- Experience in data science / advanced analytics, working with very large, sophisticated and multi-dimensional data sets.
- People-management experience, growing and developing teams of analysts and data scientists.
- Deep, hands-on technical expertise across our stack: Snowflake, Databricks, Python, Tableau and expert SQL.
- Strong applied fluency in AI and machine learning, including the use of Claude / LLMs and GitHub AI (Copilot) to accelerate data science and engineering, applied pragmatically and responsibly.
- Strong command of user segmentation, targeting, A/B testing, controlled experimentation, causal inference and predictive modelling.
- Experience overseeing the AI/ML lifecycle end-to-end — research, prototyping, deployment, MLOps and monitoring.
- Experience identifying, communicating, managing and mitigating risk; comfortable managing ambiguity while solving ambitious problems.
- Excellent verbal and written communication, with the ability to translate complex analysis into clear guidance for technical and executive audiences.
- Proven track record contributing as part of a leadership team in a driven, fast-paced, creative environment, and collaborating across numerous internal and external teams.
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Econometrics, Economics or a related field, or equivalent directly relevant industry experience; an advanced degree is a plus.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation.
Please note that 2K Games and its studios never use instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews, and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts.
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