As a Data Science Manager, you will lead both people and innovation in experimentation and causal inference, helping shape the future of decision-making and product innovation at SIE. This is a hands-on leadership role blending technical depth with managerial responsibilities. You will drive cutting-edge research in experimentation methodologies while mentoring and guiding a team of data scientists. You’ll be responsible for elevating our experimentation strategy, fostering a culture of curiosity and rigor, and helping cross-functional teams deliver player-first experiences through strong evidence-based decisions.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Lead a team of data scientists focused on experimentation and causal inference; provide technical direction, career development, and mentorship.
• Drive innovation in experimentation research by developing and overseeing new methodologies and frameworks that improve the quality, speed, and scalability of experiments.
• Guide the advancement of experimentation infrastructure and tooling, incorporating statistical and machine learning methods to refine analysis capabilities.
• Partner with product managers, game studios, and business leaders to identify high-impact experimentation opportunities and ensure alignment with PlayStation’s strategic goals.
• Act as a thought leader in experimentation and causal inference, evangelizing best practices and fostering learning across teams.
• Contribute directly to research and prototyping of novel experimentation techniques that address complex real-world constraints, such as user behavior variability and data limitations.
• Champion the growth of a data-driven culture by advocating for experimentation standards, ethical practices, and reproducibility.
• Represent the team’s insights, innovations, and impact across the broader data science and product communities within PlayStation.
• Stay abreast of emerging developments in experimentation, causal inference, and applied machine learning to continuously evolve our capabilities.

What We’re Looking For:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent experience in Applied Math, Economics, Statistics, Computer Science, or related field. Ph.D. or equivalent experience preferred.
• Strong familiarity with the gaming industry and contemporary gaming experiences.
• 6+ years of experience in data science, including hands-on work in experimentation, with at least 2+ years in a formal people management or technical leadership role.
• Proven track record of leading experimentation innovation and scaling frameworks within a dynamic business environment.
• Proficiency in SQL and statistical programming languages (e.g., R or Python), especially for causal inference, experimental analysis, and scalable modeling.
• Expertise in causal inference techniques and designing both randomized and quasi-experiments.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate cross-functionally and influence data strategies that inform business and product decisions.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, especially in conveying complex concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience working with modern data engineering and visualization tools (e.g., Airflow, Git, Tableau, MicroStrategy).
• A strong sense of ownership and an inclusive leadership style that encourages collaboration and innovation.

The role 

We are looking for a Data Engineer to join Sony Interactive Entertainment, where data plays a key role in how we build, improve and understand PlayStation experiences around the world.

As part of our Data Engineering team, you will help design, build and evolve the data processing platforms that power reporting, analytics and insight across our global business. Your work will support teams in understanding how our products are used and enjoyed, helping us make better decisions in service of our players.

You will be part of a collaborative and welcoming team that values curiosity, learning and shared problem solving. This role offers the opportunity to take ownership of meaningful work, grow your technical skills, and explore new tools and ideas in a supportive environment. Based in our London office, you will join a diverse team where different perspectives are valued and building great things together is part of the culture.

What you’ll be doing

• Designing, building and maintaining reliable data pipelines and processing components used across the business
• Writing clean, maintainable code and improving performance, data quality and cost efficiency over time
• Taking ownership of defined pieces of work, with support from the wider team, from development through to delivery
• Contributing to technical design, estimation and planning discussions to help the team deliver effectively
• Reviewing code and sharing feedback to support guidelines and collective code quality
• Working closely with project managers, analysts and other engineers to deliver work on time and to a high standard
• Operating comfortably in a fast-paced environment, balancing multiple priorities and adapting as requirements evolve
• Learning and applying new tools, technologies and approaches as the platform and team continue to grow
• Collaborating with teammates across different countries and cultures, with flexibility around time zones and ways of working

What we are looking for

Must have

• Experience as a data engineer (or similar), delivering production-ready, scalable code
• Strong SQL skills and experience with relational and analytical databases
• Programming experience in one or more of Python, Java, C or Spark-based technologies (PySpark, Spark)
• Experience contributing to data platforms handling complex, high-volume data (Databricks)
• Experience with data warehouse or analytical platforms (for example Snowflake or Teradata)
• Understanding of performance and cost considerations in data processing systems
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to handle multiple priorities
• Clear communication skills, including explaining technical concepts to non-technical partners
• Experience working in UNIX or Linux environments, including shell scripting
• Curiosity and eagerness to learn new tools and technologies
• Eligibility to work in the UK, with ability to travel occasionally to the US and Japan

Nice to have

• Familiarity with additional data processing or integration technologies
• Experience with graphical or low-code data development tools (for example Ab Initio)
• Understanding of data modelling concepts
• Experience translating business requirements into technical solutions

At PlayStation, Data Science plays a critical role in shaping how we invest in, retain, and delight our global player base. The CLV & Personalisation team focuses on understanding player behaviour and driving more effective engagement across the player lifecycle — from acquisition and onboarding through to retention, monetisation, and long-term value. 

As a Senior Data Scientist, you will drive the development of advanced modelling and analytical approaches that influence key commercial and product decisions at scale and are evaluated based on their impact on commercial outcomes. You will work on complex and often ambiguous problems, helping define how we measure player value and how we deliver more personalised player experiences. 

This role combines deep hands-on modelling with ownership of problem definition, approach, and impact. You will work with a high degree of autonomy across ambiguous problem spaces, shaping how data informs strategy and decision-making across the business. 

What You’ll Do 

• Design and deliver advanced machine learning models to drive player value, engagement, and growth across the lifecycle. 

• Own ambiguous problem spaces, defining modelling approaches and breaking down complex business challenges into actionable solutions. 

• Partner with senior stakeholders to shape strategies, and ensure Data Science drives high-impact decisions. 

• Apply advanced machine learning techniques, including deep learning and sequence modelling, where appropriate to capture complex player behaviours and improve model performance. 

• Evaluate and select modelling approaches based on problem context, balancing performance, scalability, and interpretability. 

• Work within cross-functional teams, including engineering, product, and commercial stakeholders, to ensure solutions are scalable, production-ready, and aligned with long-term architecture. 

• Mentor other data scientists and contribute to best practices across the team. 

• Communicate complex modelling approaches, assumptions, and outcomes clearly to senior technical and non-technical audiences. 

What We’re Looking For 

You combine technical depth in machine learning with a proactive, solution-oriented mindset, and the ability to influence strategy and inspire others. You thrive on solving sophisticated problems that deepen PlayStation’s understanding of its players and you use this understanding to inform data-driven decisions and strategies that drive player growth. 

• Proven industry experience delivering impactful, production-ready machine learning solutions in areas such as customer value, retention, or personalisation. 

• Strong expertise in modern machine learning approaches, including applying techniques such as transformers, embeddings, or sequence-based models to real-world behavioural data. 

• Ability to critically assess when advanced approaches are warranted versus simpler solutions. 

• Experience owning projects end-to-end, including problem definition, navigating ambiguity, selecting modelling approaches, and delivering impactful solutions. 

• Ability to work with large, complex datasets and translate them into scalable solutions. 

• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence decisions and communicate results persuasively to both technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and modern ML tooling (such as Tensorflow, PyTorch, MLlib, feature stores); experience with PySpark or equivalent distributed data processing tools. 

• A strong academic background, typically a Master’s or PhD in a technical or quantitative field, specialising in Machine Learning. 

• Experience deploying models into production and maintaining business-critical or consumer facing models. 

Nice to Have 

• Background in gaming, e-commerce, or subscription-based businesses. 

• Industry experience with experimentation frameworks and causal inference. 

• Experience working in agile, fast-paced environments 

Role Overview:

The Senior Director of Data Engineering & Services is a critical leadership role at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), responsible for shaping and driving the data product strategy that powers intelligence across the company. This role focuses on designing, building, and scaling decision and AI-ready data assets that enable deeper, faster insights and drive data-informed decisions across Player, Creator, Publisher, and Enterprise experiences. It blends deep technical expertise with strong business knowledge, playing a key role in advancing SIE’s connected data ecosystem and enabling the next generation of intelligence and operational efficiency across the company.

You will oversee domain-focused data engineering organizations spanning Player Data, Partner Data, and Enterprise Enablement, driving a unified strategy for how SIE designs, builds, and scales its data products.

• In the Player Data domain, you will define how PlayStation’s player data ecosystem evolves—advancing unified attribution, identity and Player360, and trusted metrics that enable lifetime value modeling, next-best actions, causal measurement, and experimentation across player experiences.
• In the Partner Data domain, you will shape how PlayStation’s partner and creator ecosystem uses data through Partner360, secure data sharing, and self-serve analytics that provide insight into partner performance and lifecycle value—enabling insights that drive creator success, optimize publishing outcomes, and strengthen PlayStation as the preferred platform for partners.
• In the Enterprise Enablement domain, you will lead the strategy and execution of enterprise data capabilities that make SIE’s core functions—Finance, IT, Supply Chain, and HR—increasingly data-driven. Your leadership will ensure these functions operate with connected, governed, and intelligence-ready data, enabling better planning, forecasting, operational efficiency, and strategic decision-making.

What you'll be doing:

Strategic Leadership

• Define and drive the long-term data engineering strategy that powers SIE’s Connected Data Ecosystem — delivering trusted, high-impact data products aligned to strategic business priorities.
• Partner with business and product leaders to identify and deliver the most valuable data opportunities across Player, Creator, Publisher, and Enterprise domains.
• Ensure data engineering teams are building for insight velocity, reusability, and scalability, enabling faster and more informed decision-making across the organization.
• Develop a high-performance engineering culture built on quality, ownership, and continuous improvement across global data teams.

Data Engineering Excellence

• Lead the design, architecture, and execution of SIE’s connected data ecosystem, ensuring seamless integration across business domains and platforms.
• Deliver decision and AI-ready data pipelines and foundational datasets that power analytics, reporting, personalization, and operational intelligence.
• Establish and scale guidelines for data modeling, integration, processing, quality, lineage, and observability.
• Optimize for data usability, trust, and performance while managing cost efficiency and reliability at scale.
• Ensure all data engineering outputs meet enterprise standards for security, privacy, and compliance.

Multi-functional Collaboration

• Partner with Product, Analytics, and Business teams to understand data needs and translate them into scalable, high-quality solutions.
• Collaborate with AI/ML, BI, and Platform teams to ensure data assets are discoverable, governed, and integrated into analytical and operational tools.
• Work closely with Data Governance, Privacy, and Security teams to ensure responsible data use and compliance with regulatory frameworks.
• Drive adoption of data products by ensuring discoverability, documentation, and seamless integration into workflows and decision systems.

Innovation & Efficiency

• Lead initiatives to optimize data operations, improve pipeline efficiency, and reduce total cost of ownership across environments.
• Champion innovation in data engineering — advancing streaming, near-real-time, and event-driven architectures that improve agility and insight delivery.
• Partner with platform engineering to implement new capabilities that enhance data delivery and improve developer productivity.

What we're looking for:

Experience and Technical Expertise

• Proven experience building strong partnerships with product, business, and technology leaders to align on data strategy, accelerate delivery, and improve the strategic value of data across the organization.
• Extensive experience in data engineering or related fields, with deep expertise in designing, building, and scaling enterprise-grade data solutions that enable analytics and business intelligence.
• Proven track record of delivering high-quality, reusable, and trusted data assets that power decision-making across complex global organizations.
• Deep expertise in data architecture and modeling, with experience designing scalable ELT/ETL frameworks and distributed processing systems that support both batch and real-time workloads.
• Proven success in building and optimizing modern data platforms using technologies such as Databricks, Snowflake, and Kafka, with strong focus on data quality, lineage, observability, and reliability.
• Skilled in cloud-native data ecosystems (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and governance practices, ensuring performance, scalability, compliance, and trusted access through tools such as Alation and Collibra.
• Demonstrated ability to design and deliver domain-aligned data products
• Experience working across data privacy and regulatory frameworks, ensuring compliance while supporting global data operations.
• Proven leadership experience in building, mentoring, and growing high-performing global engineering teams, fostering a culture of inclusion, innovation, and accountability.
• Exceptional communicator and collaborator, capable of bridging technical depth and business impact.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related technical field.

Benefits:

• Discretionary bonus opportunity
• Hybrid Working (within Flexmodes)
• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Scheme
• 25 days holiday per year
• On Site Gym
• Subsidised Café
• Free soft drinks
• On site bar
• Access to cycle garage and showers

Role Overview:

Our Data Science Analytics and Enablement (DSAE) team inspires PlayStation to make impactful, customer-centric decisions through seamless integration of data.

Currently there are over 100 people in the global DSAE team, including data science, data governance and analytics professionals. We work closely with engineering and product management teams to deliver data products, insight, predictive analytics, and data visualisation.

Data Scientists in the DSAE team apply sophisticated analytical methods and tools to drive value from the data through methods such as customer segmentation, predictive modelling, forecasting and other algorithms. Our work delivers an in-depth understanding of consumer behaviours and supports multi-channel targeting and personalisation.

We’re seeking a motivated and collaborative Data Scientist to join our CLV & Next Best Action / Personalisation team, which builds models that help PlayStation understand and influence the value, growth, and engagement of our global player base.

By connecting player behaviours to long-term outcomes, our work creates the intelligence that underpins Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) modelling and guides PlayStation’s Next Best Action and Personalisation strategies. You’ll help shape how PlayStation invests in, retains, and delights its players - and advance our use of modern machine learning at global scale.

This is an exciting opportunity to develop your skills in modern machine learning while contributing to high-impact projects that directly influence how PlayStation engages and retains its players.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Build and validate models for use cases such as churn prediction, purchase propensity, CLV modelling, and personalised engagement.
• Work with sequential and behavioural data, applying machine learning approaches (e.g., gradient boosting, embeddings, sequence models) to capture player behaviour and growth.
• Partner with commercial, finance, and lifecycle teams to translate business needs into modelling hypotheses that inform engagement strategies.
• Collaborate with analytics and engineering colleagues to ensure models are efficient, robust, and scalable.
• Communicate findings clearly to both technical and non-technical partners, ensuring insights drive measurable outcomes.
• Grow your expertise in modern ML approaches (transformers, representation learning, sequence-to-sequence modelling) through high-visibility projects.

What we're looking for:

You’re curious, analytical, and eager to grow your skills in a commercial data science environment. You bring strong fundamentals in modelling and data manipulation, and you’re motivated by the challenge of applying these to impactful business problems.

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with a passion for understanding customer behaviour and enabling data-driven growth.
• Practical experience with predictive modelling, such as churn, propensity, segmentation, or value modelling.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL, with fluency in common data science libraries.
• Ability to work with large datasets to uncover actionable insights that influence marketing, engagement, or retention strategies.
• Interest or early experience in deep learning approaches — such as transformers, embeddings, or sequence models — with motivation to learn and apply them.
• A collaborative attitude, with the ability to work in cross-functional teams.
• A strong academic background (typically with a Master’s in a technical or mathematical field) or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with A/B testing or experimentation frameworks.
• Familiarity with workflow orchestration tools (e.g., Airflow), feature stores, or visualisation platforms (e.g., Tableau, Domo).
• Exposure to gaming, e-commerce, or subscription-based business models.
• Proven experience of analysing and modelling with “big data” technologies.
• A personal interest in gaming and entertainment.

Benefits:

• Discretionary bonus opportunity
• Hybrid Working (within Flexmodes)
• Private Medical Insurance
• Dental Scheme
• 25 days holiday per year
• On Site Gym
• Subsidised Café
• Free soft drinks
• On site bar
• Access to cycle garage and showers

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.