Principal Machine Learning Scientist (AI)

TL;DR

Principal Machine Learning Scientist (AI): Developing and optimizing AI-driven search and recommendation models for a global travel platform with an accent on multi-modal retrieval, generative AI discovery, and ranking pipelines. Focus on architecting advanced deep learning solutions, mentoring research teams, and ensuring high-performance system scalability in a data-rich environment.

Location: Must be based in San Jose, California, United States

Salary: $242,000–$338,500

Company

A global leader in travel technology, powering recognizable brands to make travel more accessible and memorable through data-driven innovation.

What you will do

• Drive the research, design, and deployment of large-scale machine learning solutions for search and recommendation systems.
• Architect hybrid multi-modal retrieval frameworks combining text, image, and structured data.
• Develop and optimize multi-stage ranking pipelines using deep learning and generative retrieval algorithms.
• Advance personalization strategies through embeddings, user-item modeling, and context-aware algorithms.
• Design robust offline and online evaluation methodologies, including A/B testing and counterfactual estimation.
• Mentor and guide a team of scientists to drive best-in-class research and production deployment practices.

Requirements

• PhD or MS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Engineering, or equivalent professional experience.
• 10+ years of related industry experience required.
• Proven track record building production-grade search, recommendation, or personalization systems.
• Expertise in intent understanding, reinforcement learning, and causal inference.
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks like TensorFlow, JAX, or PyTorch.
• Experience with large-scale distributed systems and big data technologies such as Spark or Hadoop.

Nice to have

• Experience in the travel or e-commerce industry.
• Contributions to open-source ML projects or top-tier conference publications.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms including AWS, GCP, or Azure.

Culture & Benefits

• Full benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Flexible work model with modern office environments.
• Generous paid time off, parental leave, and career development resources.
• Travel perks including wellness & travel reimbursement and travel discounts.
• Inclusive, values-driven culture fostering open communication and diverse collaboration.