Data Scientist

Playtika is looking for a Principal Data Scien tist to join the Data & AI Department and shape the scientific direction of our work across the player experience . This position is based in Herzliya , Israel .

We are looking for people with exceptional soft skills and outstanding hard skills .

W e love to address complex intellectual challenges and make sense of high dimension al and dynamic al data that impact the game experience of millions of players.

You will join a multidisciplinary team with a variety of business use-cases and algorithmic approaches , and you will help shape its scientific direction . We use strong statistical fundamentals with SOTA algorithms and cutting-edge technologies to provide a better experience for our players. Our solutions translate directly to production ( mostly as part of a product ) and serve the business needs from different use-cases & multiple studios.

The problems are varied and rigorous: understanding and predicting player behavior, optimization of game mechanics , causal inference and online experimentation, sequential decision-making with bandits and RL , and more . We care about what works in practice, not only what works on a benchmark.

Responsibilities

• Conduct full data driven research and solution development including problem definition, data collection and validation, model development, evaluation, and deployment
• Set the technical direction and road map for data science across multiple studios and use-cases, and influence senior stakeholders on research priorities
• Own and demonstrate the business impact of your solutions in a liv e production environment
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams ( business, engineers, BI, product) to develop, test, and deploy your models quickly and effectively
• Drive and contribute to scientific papers, blogs, conferences, etc. , representing Playtika in the wider data science community
• Mentor and coach DS/MLE colleagues, including senior team members, and act as the lead DS Subject Matter Expert within the organization

Qualifications

• M.Sc . or Ph . D . in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics , Engineering or a related field
• 8 + years of work experience, including a proven track record of leading complex data science initiatives end to end
• Exceptional problem-solving and scientific reasoning skills , including knowing which problems are worth solving and which methods fit them
• Deep theoretical and practical knowledge of machine learning , with recognized expertise in one or more areas (e.g., causal inference , LTV/churn prediction, experimentation, personalization )
• Strong Python and SQL, and fluency with AI-assisted development tools (Cursor, Claude Code, etc.) that make you faster
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills , with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences (e.g., product managers, business domain experts, executives)
• Ability to influence without authority and lead across teams
• A team-player mindset

Nice to have

• RL background (e.g. multi-armed bandits) – strong advantage
• W orking experience of G it
• Experience in the gaming industry

We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.