Principal Data Scientist

AGODA COMPANY PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Agoda seeks a Lead/Principal LLM Data Scientist to shape how we measure, evaluate, and improve AI systems powering PTA in travel planning. You will define quality metrics and experiments, build data loops from user interactions and signals, and drive production ML initiatives.

You will collaborate with ML engineers and product teams to set technical direction, mentor the data-science community, and own solutions from experimentation to deployment at Agoda scale.

Qualifications

• Hands-on data science, machine learning, and statistics expertise.
• Proven experience delivering production ML models with measurable impact.
• Strong programming in Python and SQL, with experience handling large-scale data.

Responsibilities

• Define quality metrics, evaluation frameworks, and experiments for LLM/agent behavior.
• Build data/feedback loops from conversations, tool-use, and signals to inform product improvements.
• Investigate failures in quality, reliability, latency, cost, and safety and implement system changes.
• Partner with ML engineers and product teams to set technical direction for PTA.

Skills

Data science

Python

SQL

Production ML

Stakeholder communication

Education

Advanced degree in CS/Statistics/OR/Math

Tools

ML platforms

Job description

About Agoda

At Agoda, we bridge the world through travel. Our story began in 2005, when two lifelong friends and entrepreneurs, driven by their passion for travel, launched Agoda to make it easier for everyone to explore the world.

Today, we are part of Booking Holdings [NASDAQ: BKNG], with a diverse team of over 7,000 people from 90 countries, working together in offices around the globe. Every day, we connect people to destinations and experiences, with our great deals across our millions of hotels and holiday properties, flights, and experiences worldwide.

No two days are the same at Agoda. Data and technology are at the heart of our culture, fueling our curiosity and innovation. If you're ready to begin your best journey and help build travel for the world, join us.

The Opportunity

Join the team building PTA, Agoda's AI-powered travel planning assistant. PTA helps travelers turn broad trip ideas into personalized plans across flights, hotels, activities, and local recommendations.

As a Lead/Principal LLM Data Scientist, you will shape how we measure, evaluate, experiment with, and improve AI systems that operate in real travel journeys at Agoda scale.

What You'll Do

• Define quality metrics, evaluation frameworks, and offline/online experiments for LLM and agent behavior.

• Build the data and feedback loops that turn conversation, tool-use, and customer signals into product improvements.

• Investigate failures across quality, reliability, latency, cost, and safety—and turn findings into concrete system changes.

• Partner with ML engineers and product teams to set technical direction for PTA.

• Identify and solve high-leverage problems across Agoda.

• Translate ambiguous problems into measurable objectives and technical solutions.

• Lead the design and deployment of ML, AI, and analytical solutions.

• Own solutions from problem definition and experimentation through production deployment, measurement, and iteration.

• Partner with cross-functional leaders to shape strategy and roadmaps.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship across the data-science community.

What You'll Bring

• Extensive hands-on experience in data science, machine learning, and statistics.

• Experience delivering production models with measurable customer or business impact.

• Strong Python and SQL skills; experience with large-scale data and ML platforms.

• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and communicate clearly across technical and non-technical audiences.

It is Great if You Have

• Experience in online travel, e-commerce, search, ranking, recommendations, pricing, or personalization.

• Experience with production LLM or generative-AI systems.

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Operations Research, Mathematics, or a related field.

Discover more about working at Agoda

Agoda Careers https://careersatagoda.com

Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/agodacareers/

LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/agoda

YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/agodalife

Equal Opportunity Employer

At Agoda, we pride ourselves on being a company represented by people of all different backgrounds and orientations. We prioritize attracting diverse talent and cultivating an inclusive environment that encourages collaboration and innovation. Employment at Agoda is based solely on a person's merit and qualifications. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship, veteran or military status, and other legally protected characteristics.

We will keep your application on file so that we can consider you for future vacancies and you can always ask to have your details removed from the file. For more details please read our privacy policy.