January 29, 2013

BP Announcements

Chicago Cubs Seek Director of Research & Development

by Joe Hamrahi

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Our friends in the Chicago Cubs front office asked that we post this excellent opportunity for someone qualified and interested in working in baseball. Don't forget to tell them Baseball Prospectus sent you!

Description

This role will be responsible for developing and overseeing the research and analytics function within Baseball Operations, reporting to the Assistant GM.

Responsibilities

• Perform advanced statistical analysis on large volumes of baseball-related data and implement predictive models to aid in decision-making.
• Develop and manage a talented staff (developers, analysts, and consultants) by identifying strong candidates, prioritizing work flows, supervising projects and providing productive feedback.
• Present high-level analysis in an effective and articulate manner through the use of written reports, charts, tables, graphics, and other tools that enhance the Department’s decision-making process.
• Develop and maintain proprietary projections model for future performance.
• Monitor, identify and recommend new or emerging techniques, technologies, models and algorithms applicable to internal processes.
• Analyze internal baseball processes in order to develop functional requirements (specifications) for outside vendors and application developers, including requirements, system impact, data flow diagrams, special considerations, etc. 
• Identify technologies that offer potential value to the organization through meetings with vendors and providers.
• Oversee the departmental budget associated with R&D spending.
• Contribute to baseball decisions and proactively generate ideas for player acquisition and player usage. 
• Other projects as directed the Baseball Operations leadership team.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree or equivalent experience in statistics, mathematics, computer science, or a related quantitative field.
• Demonstrated project management, problem-solving, and teaching abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate difficult and complex concepts at an appropriate level to colleagues possessing a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.
• Demonstrated expert-level knowledge (of at least 5 years) with baseball-specific data, modern statistical techniques, and sabermetric analysis.
• Demonstrated expertise with R, STATA, SPSS, SAS, or similar software.
• Demonstrated expertise with SQL Server, Microsoft Access, My SQL, Oracle, database administration/structuring, data warehousing and data modeling.
• Knowledge and demonstrated ability in the areas of programming, software-coding, ETL, and/or machine learning techniques.

Apply online here: Director of Research & Development – Baseball Operations

Joe Hamrahi is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
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