Design and prototype media intelligence solutions using Samba data and external sources. Partner with sales and product to translate customer needs into analytic and product concepts, apply statistical and predictive methods, build interactive dashboards and AI-enabled workflows, validate with customers, and prepare scalable templates for measurement, targeting, planning, and optimization.
Samba is a media intelligence company. We know what the world is watching, reading, and thinking about — in real time, at scale, across every screen. Our data exists with the consent of over a billion people, organized into the most complete picture of consumer attention ever built. The biggest brands in the world use that picture to make smarter decisions. We think it’s the most interesting data asset on the planet, because it’s the most culturally relevant.
The Principal, Insights & Innovation pairs deep data and statistical expertise with strong business acumen and industry knowledge to develop new, cutting-edge solutions and thought leadership in media intelligence, spanning behavioral and contextual targeting, media planning and insights, measurement, activation and optimization. Built on Samba's data and informed by customer discovery, industry trends, and competitive analysis, these solutions take the form of personalized, interactive applications that move counter to monolithic, one-size-fits-all interfaces, while incorporating AI and agentic workflows. Operating within the Insights & Innovation team, the role serves both internal teams (Sales, Product, Engineering, and Marketing) and external customers, always building toward where the market is headed rather than where it stands today.
What You'll Do
- Design and build new media intelligence solutions using internal Samba data assets and external data sourced through licensing and partnerships. Solutions include behavioral and contextual targeting, media planning and insights, measurement, and optimization.
- Partner with Samba’s sales team to conduct customer discovery, ideation, and solutions development, translating business needs into well-scoped analytic and product concepts that are designed through select accounts, but built for all customers.
- Monitor industry trends and the competitive landscape to identify where the market is heading and where Samba can lead.
- Select and apply the appropriate statistical methods for each problem, including descriptive, inferential, and predictive techniques, with rigor in model selection, tuning, and performance.
- Develop personalized, interactive client deliverables (for example, browser-based dashboards using JavaScript and React) that move beyond monolithic, one-size-fits-all platforms.
- Incorporate AI and agentic workflows into internal and external solutions, including approaches such as data embeddings, vector databases, and multimodal models.
- Supporting thought leadership and conducting partnership-based research that strengthens Samba's industry position.
- Partner with Sales, Product, Engineering, and Marketing, pitching solutions for adoption into the product roadmap when demand warrants.
- Prototype quickly, validate with customers, and prepare proven solutions to be templated and scaled by the broader team.
- Applying Samba methodology to billions of raw data signals, helping customers make data driven media decisions
What You Bring
- Education: Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field (analytics, statistics, data science, computer science, or mathematics) or equivalent practical experience; an advanced degree is a plus.
- Work Experience: 4 to 6 years in data science, analytics, computer science or applied research, ideally including experience building and shipping data-driven applications and presenting results to stakeholders or customers.
- Industry Knowledge: Media, advertising, or measurement experience (e.g. cross-channel but with a focus on CTV, addressable audiences, contextual targeting, attribution, and causal inference).
What We're Looking For
- Behaviors and values: Curiosity paired with a strong bias to build; ownership and independence within a self-directed function; customer obsession; a forward-looking mindset that prioritizes where the industry is going over where it is today; cross-functional collaboration; and comfort operating amid ambiguity and rapid iteration.
- Personality and communication (soft skills): An exceptional storyteller and presenter who distills complex statistical work into simple, compelling narratives for non-technical audiences; consultative and skilled at customer discovery; credible and poised with customers and sellers; and able to influence without authority while evangelizing new ideas internally.
- Hard skills (required): Python; SQL; descriptive, inferential, and predictive statistics with sound model selection, tuning, and best practices; BI and data-visualization tools (Tableau, Looker, Power BI, or similar); and building interactive applications with JavaScript and React.
- Hard skills (preferred): Developing agents and agentic workflows; data embeddings and vector databases; applications built on multimodal models.
Samba is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We strive to empower connection with one another, reflect the communities we serve, and tackle meaningful projects that make a real impact.
Samba may collect personal information directly from you, as a job applicant, Samba may also receive personal information from third parties, for example, in connection with a background, employment or reference check, in accordance with the applicable law. For further details, please see Samba's Applicant Privacy Policy. For residents of the EU , Samba Inc. is the data controller.
Samba TV New York, New York, USA Office
114 W 26th St, New York, NY, United States, 10001
Similar Jobs
Artificial Intelligence • Consumer Web • Edtech • Enterprise Web • HR Tech • Social Impact • Generative AI
Lead category-level growth initiatives from diagnosis through execution to improve revenue, paid conversion, retention, and LTV. Analyze portfolio performance, prioritize high-impact opportunities, design experiments and operating mechanisms, and drive cross-functional teams to deliver measurable business outcomes and scalable decision frameworks.
Top Skills:
SQL
Artificial Intelligence • Consumer Web • Edtech • Enterprise Web • HR Tech • Social Impact • Generative AI
The Senior Data Scientist partners with Customer Success to perform deep-dive analyses, diagnose metric shifts, build predictive models (churn/upsell), apply causal inference and experimentation, measure business impact, and develop AI/LLM solutions. Responsibilities include self-serving across the data stack for extraction, pipelining, and dashboards, defining KPIs, and delivering actionable insights to reduce churn, drive revenue, and improve operational efficiency.
Top Skills:
Ai/LlmAirflowDbtPythonSigmaSQLTableau
Big Data • Fintech • Information Technology • Business Intelligence • Financial Services • Cybersecurity • Big Data Analytics
Lead strategy, roadmap, and delivery for a portfolio of fraud products. Translate business objectives into scalable technical solutions, partner with engineering and architecture, manage product lifecycle, set success metrics, and mentor Technical Product Managers in an Agile environment.
Top Skills:
AgileAPIsAWSData PlatformsGoogle Cloud PlatformMicroservicesAzureScrumService-Oriented ArchitectureSystem Integrations
What you need to know about the NYC Tech Scene
As the undisputed financial capital of the world, New York City is an epicenter of startup funding activity. The city has a thriving fintech scene and is a major player in verticals ranging from AI to biotech, cybersecurity and digital media. It also has universities like NYU, Columbia and Cornell Tech attracting students and researchers from across the globe, providing the ecosystem with a constant influx of world-class talent. And its East Coast location and three international airports make it a perfect spot for European companies establishing a foothold in the United States.
Key Facts About NYC Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 549,200; 6% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Capgemini, Bloomberg, IBM, Spotify
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, Fintech
- Funding Landscape: $25.5 billion in venture capital funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Greycroft, Thrive Capital, Union Square Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Tiger Global Management, Tribeca Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Two Sigma Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: Columbia University, New York University, Fordham University, CUNY, AI Now Institute, Flatiron Institute, C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, NASA Space Radiation Laboratory
