Director of Machine Learning (User Value)

Unity; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 380,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Employee stock ownership

Generous vacation and personal days

Commute subsidy

Job summary

Unity seeks a visionary Director of Machine Learning to lead the User Value team, bridging complex ML paradigms with product strategy in Mountain View, CA. You will scale a team of scientists and ML engineers to translate models into high-value user acquisition for advertisers.

You will define a 1–3 year ML roadmap, mentor talent, and partner with Product, Design, and Data Science to uncover opportunities where ML drives tangible business value, while balancing innovation with robust evaluation.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in machine learning and software engineering.
• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical executives and cross-functional partners.
• Track record of shipping ML systems at scale in personalization, recommendation, information retrieval, or behavioral modeling.

Responsibilities

• Define 1-3 year technical roadmap for user value modeling that aligns with product and business goals.
• Lead, mentor, recruit, and retain a high-performing team of scientists and ML engineers.
• Partner with Product, Design and Data Science to identify ML opportunities that drive customer value and retention.
• Oversee scalable ML systems deployment and maintenance, including personalization, recommendations, multi-task learning, reinforcement learning, and LLM integration.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

ML systems

Product mindset

Cross-functional

Education

MS/PhD in CS/ML

Tools

ML frameworks

LLM integration

Job description

• Unity Vector represents the next generation of our AI-powered advertising ecosystem—a forward-looking evolution of our machine learning infrastructure and models. We are seeking a visionary Director of Machine Learning to lead our User Value team, a group at the heart of Unity’s ambitious machine learning modeling initiatives
• As a leader, you will bridge the gap between complex machine learning paradigms and core product strategy. You will manage and scale a high-performing organization of scientists and ML engineers, ensuring our models translate into high-value user acquisition for advertisers
• Shape the ML Vision: Define 1-3 year technical roadmap for user value modeling, aligning algorithmic capabilities with product and business growth goals
• Lead and Scale Teams: Mentor, recruit, and retain a team of applied scientists and machine learning engineers. Foster a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and rapid experimentation
• Drive Product Impact: Partner closely with leadership in Product, Design, and Data Science to identify new opportunities where ML can solve customer pain points and unlock tangible value
• Advance the Technical Stack: Oversee the development, deployment, and maintenance of scalable ML systems—spanning personalization, content recommendation, multi-task learning, reinforcement learning, and large language model (LLM) integration—ensuring high availability and low latency
• Balance Innovation and Execution: Establish rigorous frameworks for A/B testing, model evaluation, and guardrails to ensure algorithmic changes measurably improve customer trust and retention without introducing regression

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, life and disability insurance
• Employee stock ownership
• Generous vacation and personal days
• Office food and free snacks, lots of health options!
• Employee Resource Groups
• Training and development programs
• Commute subsidy
• Competitive retirement/pension plans
• Paid leave for new parents
• Mental Health and Wellbeing programs and support
• Global Employee Assistance Program
• Volunteering and donation matching program

Proven Leadership: 8+ years of experience in machine learning and software engineering, with 4+ years of experience managing teamsTechnical Foundations: An advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experienceStrategic Communication: Ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly to non-technical executives and cross-functional partnersProduct-Minded Engineering: A deep understanding of how technical ML metrics (e.g., accuracy, NDCG, precision-recall) connect to macro user and business metrics (e.g., retention, lifetime value)Domain Expertise: A strong track record of shipping ML systems at scale, specifically in areas like personalization, recommendation system, information retrieval, or behavioral modeling