There have been several re-orgs in the Data Science & Analytics teams - the most recent one splits us into Decision Science and Machine Learning groups. Re-orgs are probably common for a growing company our small size, but it takes some adjustment, e.g. how our career paths here change with them.
Though he will still work with us, the VP of Data Science is leaving data science to lead product and strategy here. This is a big win for the company, but a loss for our team. He has been a big force in mentoring and inspiration, working closely with us from whiteboarding ideas and formulas to providing feedback on even our detailed work.
Some departments are more title inflated and heirarchical, and information can be lost in communication across layers or across teams, causing people working on the ground to hear about them late and feel like they have little say.
We are in the early stages of using big data processing technology in data science, and still figuring this out.