Role Purpose:

The Manager - Data Science Product is responsible for supporting on developing and delivering the product vision and roadmap in close collaboration with our product developers, data engineers and data analysts who are spearheading the Advanced Analytics transformation across Majid Al Futtaim Retail.

Majid Al Futtaim Retail is continuing to develop and build its analytics talent to support its advanced analytics agenda. The various analytics use cases launched by the Retail Analytics Unit on a start-up mode will establish the unit’s foundation to develop a powerful product portfolio following it’s sustainable growth. As such, team members are given the latitude to shape the trajectory of the unit and bring their ideas and visions into fruition.  

He/she will be at the forefront of enhancing the Advanced Analytics value proposition, in line with the long-term digital and non-digital objectives of Majid Al Futtaim.

Role Details – Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

Designing, Testing & Implementing data models

• Design methodologies to estimate business value and track adoption of the developed solutions
• Leverage expertise in quantitative analysis, data mining, and data manipulation to develop high quality, advanced statistical models, and partner with product owners advising on approach and solutioning
• Enhance new algorithms to address structured/unstructured Retail Analytics problems, and improve existing algorithms to achieve data-driven decision making
• Lead the development/enhancement of scalable, advanced models for new and existing solutions; and validate and optimize models’ performance
• Lead the solution development process from proof of concept through to deployment stage
• Run experiments to assess model’s results, analyze project’s key metrics and develop impact measurement framework
• Ideate and develop proof of concepts for new analytics initiatives having a customer-centric approach. Build new and creative analytics products with the aim of optimizing the user experience and business operations
• Actively participate in squad meetings, update teams on the progress using proper sprint documents, communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audience elaborating on the models and recommending data-driven solutions
• Develop talent and build the Data Scientist/Analyst NextGen skilled and fully engaged team members

Coordination and Communication

• Act as a thought partner to the analytics team and other key stakeholders, to identify the scope of improvement and drive the right processes to deliver on the business objectives
• Liaise with the product team to implement new modules, maintain and release production pipelines in a timely and responsible manner
• Ensure regular information exchange with all relevant stakeholders and update them on the development progress across projects
• Contribute to the development of presentations on advanced analytics and performance in key areas of the business and communicate results across the organisation
• Build relationships and maintain strong partnerships with key personnel to help achieve organisational goals
• Collaborate with key stakeholders to ensure clarity of the specifications and expectations of the Retail Analytics Unit

Audit and Reporting  

• Responsible for the preparation of business presentations and reports related to Retail Analytics for various stakeholders, on periodic and ad hoc basis as and when required 
• Support on performing regular audit of various processes and databases for the Retail Analytics Unit in order to identify gaps and risks, and propose corrective actions  

Policies and Procedures

• Support on developing and reviewing the Retail Analytics policies and procedures and ensure it is implemented and reported on as a part of the policies and procedures for the Retail Analytics Unit
• Support on the development and implementation of relevant policies and procedures

Human Capital Responsibilities

• Assist with the implementation of the performance management process by setting objectives, monitoring performance, and provide constructive feedback and provide inputs to senior management
• Provide mentorship for the purpose of developing a continuous talent pipeline for key roles
• Provide inputs on training needs and coordinate with the HC department to ensure facilitation of training requirements
• Develop and implement on the job-training for the team
• Provide inputs for the development of annual manpower plan
• Ensure the implementation of MAF Retail’s corporate policies and relevant procedures

Disclaimer: This role description reflects the general details considered necessary to describe the principal responsibilities of the role identified and shall not be construed as an exhaustive description of all the work requirements inherent to success in the role.

Personal Characteristics and Required Background:

Minimum Qualifications/education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in an IT-related field or Computer Engineering from a premier insitute
• Master’s Degree in a similar field is preferred

Minimum and preferred experience:

• 5-8 years in a senior Data Scientist role in an international environment; building advanced analytics models/solutions/products with the ability to demonstrate value and track record

• 2+ years in the Retail/FMCG business is preferred
• Preferred Experience with delivering Retail commercial solutions :

                    - Pricing and Promotions optimization/Forecasting, Category/Range optimization

                    - Performance KPIs and Metrics in Retail analytical solutions

• AI/GenAI experience is an added advantage over and above the minimum requirements

Skills:

• Experience in several visualization tools such as PowerBI, Qlik, BO etc.
• Proficiency in various programming languages is a must, such as Python/SQL/ PySpark
• Strong knowledge of algorithm/modeling techniques is a must, such as Logistic Regression, Linear Regression, Clustering, Decision Trees, Randfom Forest, SVM, KNN etc.

• Good experience in deploying machine learning models on cloud services (Azure etc.)

• Experience in time series forecasting, boosting algorithms, optimization techniques, NLP, recommendation systems, ElasticNet
• Experience in data visualization software and packages (Power BI, matplotlib, d3, highcharts)
• Advanced experience in Azure, Spark, and git-Basic as well as understanding of web application framework (Django, Flask, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, Ajax, jQuery etc.)

• Collaborative, pragmatic and proactive problem solver
• Proven ability to deliver initiatives from conception through to completion, sound understanding of the analytics ecosystem and value chain from both a business and a technical standpoint
• Ability to work independently and in cross-functional teams
• Strong business communication and presentation skills with proven experience managing executive-level communications
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to prioritize workload
• Strong English language skills (Speaking, Reading and Writing) with exceptional business writing, Arabic is a plus
• Proficient in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)