Data Scientist II, Forecasting and Workforce Planning

Data Scientist II, Forecasting and Workforce Planning

Expedia Group brands power global travel for everyone, everywhere. We design cutting-edge tech to make travel smoother and more memorable, and we create groundbreaking solutions for our partners. Our diverse, vibrant, and welcoming community is essential in driving our success.

Why Join Us?
To shape the future of travel, people must come first. Guided by our Values and Leadership Agreements, we foster an open culture where everyone belongs, differences are celebrated and know that when one of us wins, we all win.

We provide a full benefits package, including exciting travel perks, generous time-off, parental leave, a global hybrid work setup (with some pretty cool offices), and career development resources, all to fuel our employees' passion for travel and ensure a rewarding career journey. We`re building a more open world. Join us.

Data Scientist II, Forecasting and Workforce Planning
As a Data Scientist II on the Traveler and Partner Service Platform team at Expedia, you'll play a key role in predicting customer behaviour and supporting our global Workforce Management (WFM) needs. Your main responsibility is to develop and improve statistical models that help us forecast contact demand. These forecasts help our operations team plan staffing across different centers. You'll work with large data sets using tools like SAS Viya, ensuring the data is accurate and that our predictions are reliable. You'll also collaborate with various stakeholders to understand what drives customer contact and use that information to improve forecasts. In addition, you`ll help automate data processes and provide leadership with insights for better business planning.

What you'll do:

1. Provide demand forecasts across multiple contact and operations centers, delivering accurate and timely forecasts that will be used for short-term operational execution and long-term budget planning.
2. Learn and leverage SAS Viya forecasting suite to find data insights for the generation of regular forecast outputs at different time grains that work to drive ongoing accuracy in forecasting.
3. Develop forecast models using multiple techniques and identify those that generate best fit and most accurate forecasts.
4. Track and analyze contact volumes and arrival patterns, handle times, and other relevant data to develop and maintain forecast models of workload and effort.
5. Work with stakeholders to identify and analyze contact drivers and source relevant data for each business area, to empower machine learning findings that will help the business make informed decisions on future forecasts.
6. Initiate and govern data processing automation tasks to improve efficiency and reduce manual tasks.
7. Ensure data integrity and accuracy through comprehensive data management practices.
8. Incorporate into forecasts any business initiatives impacting customer contact demand.
9. Identify anomalies and maintain historical data hygiene.
10. Proactively adjust forecast models to account for changes in business processes, metrics, org design, external drivers, etc, measuring the impact of change through data and presenting recommendations both in verbal and written formats.
11. Assist with creation of forecast reviews and presentations as needed by team management.
12. Support weekly, monthly and/or quarterly reviews showing forecast performance against stated objectives, including observed trends.
13. Drive continuous process improvements for the process of forecasting demand.
14. Analyze data to identify trends and/or patterns or solve business problems, and make recommendations as appropriate to improve forecast accuracy.
15. Conduct data mining and statistical analysis to identify trends and opportunities for business growth.
16. Work collaboratively with stakeholders to gain a profound knowledge of business drivers and factors impacting on volume and share findings and observations.
17. Train and mentor junior analysts on the use of SAS Viya and other analytical tools.

Who you are:

1. Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Mathematics, Data Science or similar.
2. 3-5+ years in data science and/or data modelling roles, with preferred experience in an operational or financial analysis role with an emphasis in forecasting business activity.
3. Demonstrated experience of delivering data-driven insights and recommendations that drove change or performance improvement for stakeholders.
4. Demonstrable intermediate level experience of using R, Python or SQL for data analysis, structuring, transforming and visualizing big data.
5. Understanding of basic machine learning concepts and experience with AI/Machine Learning capabilities an advantage.
6. Advanced spreadsheet and data table skills required, including macros, pivots, interacting with databases, and manipulating large data sets.
7. Experience in use of additional complex analytical tools, eg, database querying (SQL), relational databases, Business Objects, Salesforce, Tableau, SAS, etc.
8. Experience in contact center environment and knowledge of standard contact center planning metrics and methodology highly advantageous.
9. Experience producing meaningful presentations and reports.
10. You possess excellent interpersonal skills and have demonstrated the ability to work with all levels of management, across different organizations.
11. You are an excellent verbal and written communicator with the ability to present ideas clearly and gain consensus with peers and leaders.
12. You possess a strong intellectual curiosity and demonstrate proven analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate information with attention to detail and accuracy.
13. You are a self-starter who can work independently to turn vision into results.
14. You have a passion for using data to drive better decision making.
15. You have a growth mindset and are both flexible and pragmatic when faced with complex challenges.
16. You are comfortable working with people in multiple countries and time zones and in a hybrid work environment.
17. You are extremely well organized with the ability to work on and manage multiple projects at the same time and within tight timelines.
18. You have a passion for innovation and continuous improvement.
19. You have proven skills for business problem identification, pattern recognition, data collection and preparation, and independent problem solving.
20. You are a team player who enjoys working with colleagues to learn and share knowledge.