Principal Data Scientist, Marketing Analytics and Data Science (Hybrid) (Atlanta)

At ALSAC, you do more than make a living; you make a difference.

We value diversity and unique perspectives, which is why we encourage individuals who are different to join our team. As a leading nonprofit dedicated to helping St. Jude cure childhood cancer, we seek game-changers, innovators, and visionaries to contribute to our mission: Finding cures. Saving children.

Job Description
ALSAC is seeking a visionary Principal Data Scientist to lead the development of our Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) capabilities within a newly formed Marketing Analytics and Data Science team. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape measurement frameworks, drive strategic planning through scenario simulation, and pioneer AI-driven innovation in donor intelligence. As a senior individual contributor, you will provide technical leadership , collaborate with external vendors in a build-operate-transfer model , and mentor junior data scientists. Your role will involve translating complex business questions into actionable analytical frameworks, ensuring modeling outputs are rigorous and aligned with strategic goals.

Key Responsibilities

1. MMM Capability Ownership: Lead the design, validation, and improvement of MMM solutions. Collaborate with vendors and internal teams for scalable, accurate models.
2. Cross-Functional Partnership: Work with marketing, finance, and media teams to align modeling efforts with business objectives and ensure insights are actionable.
3. Model Quality & Innovation: Champion data integrity, model validation, and stay ahead of industry trends in MMM, MTA, and causal inference.
4. Testing & Experimentation Strategy: Design testing frameworks to evaluate model reliability pre- and post-deployment.
5. Integrated Measurement Strategy: Support integration of MMM with other measurement approaches like MTA for a unified view of marketing performance.
6. Analytical Framework Development: Translate business challenges into structured approaches, collaborating with analysts and stakeholders.
7. Mentorship & Best Practices: Mentor junior team members, promote modeling standards, and foster a culture of excellence.

Top Skills & Experience

1. Advanced Modeling & Causal Inference: Expertise in MTA, Bayesian modeling, Markov chains, SEM, survival analysis, and causal inference techniques like DiD, synthetic control, BART.
2. Enterprise-Scale Forecasting & Simulation: Experience building modular forecasting pipelines, designing scenario simulators with real-time feedback, familiarity with ensemble models, neural networks, and meta-modeling.
3. Strategic Insight & Stakeholder Engagement: Ability to translate complex outputs into insights, present to senior leadership, and communicate uncertainty effectively.
4. Data Engineering Fluency: Deep understanding of feature engineering, temporal alignment, data lineage, and collaboration with ML engineers and MLOps teams.

Additional Impact Areas

• Enterprise-Wide Modeling: Extend MMM frameworks to include donor experience, bequests, and internal investments.
• Scenario Simulation Leadership: Co-lead the design of ALSACs What-If Scenario Simulator.
• AI & GenAI Innovation: Contribute to AI agent and GenAI tool development for donor intelligence and planning.
• Governance & Transparency: Implement model governance, version control, and explainability tools like SHAP and LIME.
• Strategic Growth Path: Role evolves with ALSACs analytics maturity, offering long-term leadership opportunities.

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, or related field.
• 10+ years in marketing analytics, data science, or econometric modeling, focusing on MMM.
• Advanced degree (Masters or PhD) preferred.
• Proven success in enterprise-scale modeling and strategic analytics leadership.

This role can be based at our Memphis headquarters or any of our 28 US territory offices.

Benefits & Perks
We offer comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, 401K with employer contribution, paid time off, parental leave, education assistance, and more.

ALSAC is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or genetic information.

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