About

From the beginning

Graduating with a large skillset in statistics and mathematical modelling, my goal was to apply these in business. I quickly found that businesses have significant data assets but getting access to quality data was often harder than the analysis itself.
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​I learned a lot about programming and information technology to be able to do analysis end to end. I also learned that there was a name for the skill set that I was developing: Data Science.

Keenan Viney,
Data Scientist

Where I am going

I am passionate about applying my data science and economics skill set to create value for business and to contribute to policy discussions. Currently, I am very interested in deep learning approaches to computer vision and their application to temporal spatial remote sensing problems. I also believe there are a lot of untapped areas for machine learning to better predict economic business cycles.

Education

Master of Arts in Economics – McMaster University, Hamilton, ON (2013)
Bachelor of Science in Economics (Honours) – University of Victoria, Victoria, BC (2012)

Work Experience

CRITICAL MASS

2018 to Present

Critical Mass is an experience design and marketing agency with global offices. It is a part of the Omnicom group which is one of the largest advertising conglomerates in the world.

Marketing Data Scientist
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Developed a retail science program to enhance the profitability of e-commerce clients and created a new avenue for marketing science to support digital clients at Critical Mass.

Managed a portfolio of clients and their web analytics needs, working with developers to deploy website tagging and building dashboards to visualize the user experience in data driven dashboards.

Programmed data science solutions to do NLP analysis on ad copy to increase click through rate effectiveness and created a proof of concept for using computer vision to optimize digital advertising

CALGARY CO-OP

2014 to 2018

Calgary Co-op is one of North America’s largest retail co-operatives with 400,000 members, 60 retail locations, and annual sales that top $1 billion.

Manager of Business Analytics & Insights 

Performed ad-hoc analytics for executives and board of directors to provide value-added insight into data drawn from across all divisions of the organization.

Led a project to analyze the uptake of sale items which involved a very detailed statistical analysis at the transaction level of customer behavior. Applied an algorithm that created association rules between items, and presented to operations team for strategic use in choosing cross merchandising items.

Helped maximize the total profit of the association by building a statistical model to explicitly predict sales cannibalization of new locations and the optimal number of locations needed to maximize profit which became a key input in the real estate strategy at Co-op.

Supported executive strategic decision-making process by assisting the CFO in building a financial model for the next 8 years of the 10-year strategy to allow for the evaluation of different financial scenarios. Completed post-audits on most major capital projects for the past five years. 

Kickstarted the creation of data strategy for Co-op, looking at the way IT controlled data assets can be harnessed to drive sales growth and cost control. 

Special Project: Loyalty Program

Chosen to manage analytics for the Co-op Loyalty program. Successfully automated certain elements of the loyalty program to deliver consistent reporting, establish KPI’s, and extract deep insights into customer behavior to help inform marketing, operations, and overall business decisions.

Performed a diverse array of duties spanning weekly analysis of email campaigns and ongoing trends, monthly reporting on key loyalty program metrics, analyzing marketing activity data, analyzing segment engagement with program, and identifying opportunities for targeting through data analysis.

Collaborated with a partner on modelling a member’s lifecycle and identifying trigger opportunities, and perform site projections and analysis for real estate projects including acquisitions and new business opportunities.

Performed competitive analysis and demographic reviews for Calgary Co-op’s long-term real estate strategy. 

Manager of Leasing and Analytics

Retained many duties from Real Estate Analyst position and absorbed additional responsibility for managing the commercial leasing portfolio, which involved overseeing the management of 300,000 square feet of real estate which contributes over 8 million dollars to the bottom line.

Demonstrated determination, dedication, and a relentless pursuit of improved performance to successfully lease numerous “difficult spaces” in the portfolio.

Collaborated on coordinating lease negotiations and renewals around several major redevelopments, which also involved challenging conversations with tenants about their future with Co-op.

Coordinated the start of construction for three new buildings for tenants, using previously vacant land, while ensuring the highest and best use of Co-op’s assets. Completed new leases, conducted feasibility studies, secured board approval, and managed the relationship with the new tenant.

Supported business leaders in making strategic decisions fundamental to the continued growth and development of the organization by utilizing a combination of data and GIS-based technology to formulate predictions impacting everything from store expansion to food marketing.

Produced invaluable business intelligence to facilitate consensus on critical decisions facing senior executives.  Using ArcGIS technology, routinely performed site selection analyses that assessed the viability of potential locations for Calgary Co-op food stores, gas bars, and liquor outlets.

Real Estate Analyst

Built a geo-spatial statistical model to predict the sales of new locations.  Prepared feasibility studies for capital spending projects, and created in-depth demographic analysis packages for each store and presented findings at all 24 food stores.​

COMPLETE LAND SERVICES LIMITED

2005, 2007, 2009, & 2013

Project Coordinator & Consultant

Secured multiple summer placements with a privately owned, geophysical exploration service company that provides specialized services to the petroleum industry

Assisted with a diverse array of clerical project duties before being trusted to undertake activities fo a more complex, and client-focused nature to mirror academic and personal evolution.

Trained in the use of ArcGIS software and partnered with clients to understand their mapping and geo-spatial analysis requirements before preparing and presenting layered maps with a detailed interpretation of terrain and potential development problems.

Liaised extensively with government agencies to secure approvals for clients, navigate potential restrictions, and seek leniency for clients in the event of an adverse environmental assessment.

MCMASTER UNIVERSITY

2012 & 2013

Teaching Assistant

Taught supplementary tutorial classes with up to 70 students which involved: lesson plan development and delivery, providing personalized tuition to students per their academic needs, and learning effective methods for explaining complex concepts in an accessible manner.

SEISBID

2011

Consultant

Recruited as a consultant to assist in the development and implementation of a sophisticated auction bidding system for an innovative entrepreneurial start-up venture

Conducted extensive competitor research and analysis, assessed market structures and specialized industry requirements, and developed a secure and effective auction system and a website design for review by the developers.