Abstract: 

Despite the increasing number of data scientists who are asked to take on leadership roles, there are still few resources on how to manage data scientists. There is also scant practical advice on how to serve as head of a data science practice: how to set a vision and craft a strategy for an organization to use data science. In this talk, I will describe my experience as a data science leader at a political party and at a fintech startup, share lessons learned from these experiences, and offer a framework for how new data science leaders can better transition to both managing data scientists and heading a data science practice.

Bio: 

Juan Manuel Contreras, Ph.D. is a data science manager at Uber, where he leads the team that partners with Uber Legal to develop analyses and arguments for the company's most important legal issues. Previously, he led data science teams at Even and the Democratic National Committee. Juan Manuel is formally trained as an experimental psychologist and has a deep interest in the science and practice of management.