Sr Machine Learning Engineer - Ad Platforms

Job ID: 10113669

Location: San Francisco, California, United States / Santa Monica, California, United States / Seattle, Washington, United States

Business: Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

Date posted: Feb. 24, 2025

Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

The Ad Platforms organization within Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology is fully responsible for building, enhancing and maintaining the high-performance, distributed, microservice-based Advertising Platform across all of Disney online properties, including Hulu and ESPN+. We build and maintain proprietary technology, ranging from ad serving, ad targeting, ad delivery, campaign management, reporting as well as all the integrations internal and external that come with evolving and maintaining a best-in-class video advertising business.

The Ad Platform research team is under Ad Platforms and its mission is to transform advertising and Disney's Ad platform with AI and data science. We build solutions to measure and optimize every aspect of the advertising life cycle. Our tenant is a strong cross-domain team to deliver E2E solutions for machine learning and data science. Our team is seeking a principal machine learning engineer who will be an outstanding addition and leading development for prediction or optimization engines for addressable ad platforms. The right person for this role should be experienced in crafting implementation for either machine learning technologies or data-driven algorithms. If you are someone who is proactive, inquisitive, and innovative in these domains, this is a phenomenal role for you!

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Drive ground-breaking innovation and apply state of the art AI and machine learning in a variety of areas to enhance every aspect of advertising, including inventory forecasting, ad experience, ad pacing, pricing, targeting, and efficient ad delivery.
• Invent and iterate novel solutions for complex ad challenges with fast turnaround.
• Lead the ad algorithm architecture design and iteration of the advertising system.
• Develop scalable and efficient approaches for large scale data analysis and model development.
• Build and experiment new algorithms and models end-to-end, from production rollout to continuous optimization.
• Collaborate with engineering teams, product managers, and program managers in an open and creative environment.
• Mentor junior team members and support their technical growth.

WHAT TO BRING

• Bachelor's in computer science or equivalent experience
• At least 5 years of working experience on large scale machine learning at leading internet companies. Experience in the advertising domain is preferred. Experience with forecasting algorithm is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of AI/ML technologies, mathematics and statistics.
• Proficient in Java, Python, Scala, large scale ML/DL platforms and processing tech stack.
• Passionate about understanding the ad business, applying advanced research to relevant business scenarios, and seeking innovation opportunities to enhance business effectiveness.
• A proven track record of thriving in a fast-paced, data-driven, and collaborative work environment is required.

NICE-TO-HAVES

• MS or PhD(preferred) in computer science or equivalent experience
• Experience in digital video advertising or digital marketing domain
• Experience with CTR/CVR model, generative AI, forecasting model.
• Experience with feature store, audience segmentation and MLOps
• Experience with Tensorflow, Kubeflow or Sagemaker

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA is $138,900 - $186,200 per year, in Seattle, WA is $145,400 - $195,000 per year, and in San Francisco, CA is $152,100 - $203,900. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

About Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology:

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology (DE&E Technology) provides the technological backbone and product development for Disney’s two media business units, while helping to keep the company at the vanguard of innovation – enabling the Company to continuously leverage technology to enhance storytelling and creativity, while delivering scalability, flexibility, and efficiency for its businesses.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with Disney Streaming Technology LLC, which is part of a business we call Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology.

Disney Streaming Technology LLC is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military or veteran status, medical condition, genetic information or disability, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state or local law. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.