Nick Norton
Data Scientist

MBA, DSA passionate about building bridges between data experts and stakeholders.

Resumé

Nick Norton MBA, DSA

Strategic Lead Data Scientist with over seven years of experience architecting enterprise-scale machine learning ecosystems within the Distribution, Banking, and Education sectors. I specialize in the end-to-end orchestration of cloud-native AI—leveraging the Google Cloud Platform, BigQuery ML, and Vertex AI to transform legacy manual processes into high-performance automated pipelines.

Most recently, I led a massive digital transformation that achieved a 99.52% runtime reduction while managing a production environment of 100+ models and 200k+ unique SKUs. Beyond enterprise forecasting, I am an innovator in the Generative AI space, developing multimodal pipelines utilizing Whisper, Gemini, and ElevenLabs to solve complex narrative and data synthesis challenges.

Skills

4+ Years in the Data Science with an emphasis in supply chain.

4+ Years Experience: SQL, Python, BQ, BQML, VertexAI, DataForm, Snowflake, and Domo 

2 Masters Degrees and Multiple Google Analytics Certifications.

Impact by the Numbers

Process Runtime Reduction
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  • The Challenge: A legacy data process in Excel required 21 hours of manual execution time.
  • The Solution: Migrated the infrastructure to a cloud-native Python environment leveraging BigQuery and Vertex AI.
  • The Result: Reduced total runtime to 5 minutes, enabling near real-time decision-making for warehouse and hub operations.
SKU Scale & Optimization
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  • Inventory Scope: Orchestrated machine learning assortments for hundreds of store and hub locations carrying over 200k unique SKUs.
  • Financial Impact: Optimized product availability and inventory depth, directly influencing millions in potential sales and inventory savings.
  • Advanced Architecture: Built automated GCP Pipelines to manage transaction propensity for high-volume retail environments.
Production Models
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  • Scalable MLOps: Engineered and managed a suite of 100+ distinct propensity and demand models tailored for store-level and distribution center assortment optimization.

  • Champion-Challenger Framework: Implemented a rigorous validation gate within Vertex AI pipelines to compare fresh model outputs against existing “Champion” benchmarks.

  • Automated Quality Gates: Developed a “Pass/Fail” promotion logic using MAPE  thresholds; only models demonstrating superior predictive accuracy on new data samples are promoted to production.

Google Cloud Platform Experience

Data Form & Snowflake

Enterprise Dataform Orchestration: Implemented Dataform (SQLX) to manage complex dependency trees and data transformations, ensuring high-integrity model outputs.

Cross-Platform Integration: Streamlined the delivery of curated ML outputs from GCP into Snowflake, providing a centralized “Source of Truth” for organizational consumption.

Executive Visibility: Automated the data flow from 100s of sources into Domo, delivering real-time actionable insights to C-suite executives.

Big Query

In-Warehouse Machine Learning: Leveraged BQML to develop and deploy XGBoost propensity models and ARIMA demand forecasting directly within the data warehouse.

High-Volume Forecasting: Engineered scalable modeling frameworks to predict transaction likelihood and inventory depth for 200k+ SKUs across hundreds of locations.

Process Efficiency: Achieved a 99.52% runtime reduction by migrating legacy Excel-based calculations into highly optimized BigQuery SQL and BQML environments.

Agent Platform

Automated Performance Validation: Engineered individual Vertex AI pipelines for four distinct propensity models, incorporating automated evaluation against predefined success criteria.

Model Orchestration: Architected multi-stage GCP Pipelines to manage the end-to-end lifecycle of BQML models, from automated retraining to final output curation.

Hybrid Intelligence: Combined traditional ML (ARIMA/XGBoost) with cutting-edge Generative AI (Gemini 1.5 Pro) to solve complex business logic and narrative synthesis challenges.

Recent Projects

Warehouse Assortment Pipeline

Architected a sophisticated decision engine within the pipeline that automatically detects if a valid model exists for the current feature set.

Implemented a continuous evaluation loop for both new and existing models; pipelines utilize automated “Pass/Fail” logic to either promote a model to production or trigger an immediate error-log for manual intervention.

Developed a dual-path processing stream that combines propensity modeling with ABC/XYZ categorization, ensuring high-granularity demand forecasting across diverse SKU types.

Engineered automated selection logic that bifurcates SKUs into “Fast-Moving” (Automatic Pick) and “Slow-Moving” (Propensity-Driven) channels to optimize warehouse slotting and fulfillment efficiency.

Managed a multi-stage delivery system where finalized assortments are landed in Snowflake and visualized via Domo, facilitating warehouse-level implementation and real-time performance monitoring.

Tech Stack

Production Models
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Ultrahub Assortment Pipeline

Developed a multi-layered ingestion engine that performs location and item clustering to transform store features, demand signals, and SKU universes into high-dimensional feature sets.

Engineered a dynamic decision engine that routes SKUs through specialized logic paths based on volume:

  • Fast-Moving: Automated selection paired with ARIMA forecasting for precision demand planning.

  • Slow-Moving: Selection driven by high-performance XGBoost propensity modeling.

  • Business Logic: Manual overrides for strategic SKU placement and specialized constraints.

Built automated logic to calculate inventory depth adjustments post-selection, ensuring that the final assortment is optimized for both variety and availability.

Architected an end-to-end feedback loop where model outputs land in Snowflake for Domo dashboarding, allowing for stakeholder evaluation and store implementation before re-initiating the pipeline based on new stakeholder requests.

Tech Stack

Process Runtime Reduction
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D&D Recap | Multimodal Narrative Intelligence Pipeline

Engineered a custom pipeline to process multi-channel Discord audio using OpenAI Whisper, implementing speaker identification and diarization to convert raw audio into structured scripts.

Leveraged Gemini 1.5 Pro’s long-context window to ingest extensive session scripts, utilizing advanced prompt engineering to generate consistent narrative recaps and stylized “narrator-perspective” scripts.

Integrated ElevenLabs API with a custom-trained voice clone to automate the production of high-fidelity audio recaps, delivering a professional-grade narrative experience.

Built the end-to-end workflow to handle the transition from unstructured audio data to polished, multi-format (text and audio) creative assets.

Tech Stack

Contact

Please reach out to me via Linkedin with any questions or job opportunities!