Lead AI Scientist — Real-Time DSP Optimization

Yahoo Holdings Inc. in; Nashville (TN); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work options

Job summary

Yahoo DSP Research is seeking a Principal Research Scientist to lead the next-generation budget control, pacing, and bidding algorithms. You will shape the high-scale optimization stack, integrating agentic AI practices and automated pipelines to accelerate research-to-production cycles.

You will mentor senior scientists, partner with engineering and product management, and drive technically strategic decisions while ensuring safety, accuracy, and measurable improvements in real-time marketplace

Qualifications

• PhD in quantitative field (e.g., Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Operations Research, Statistics, Mathematics)
• 8+ years of hands-on experience designing and deploying large-scale optimization, control systems, or machine learning models in production environments
• Deep mathematical foundations in probability, convex/stochastic optimization, and control theory
• Expertise in production programming languages (Python, Java, C++, SQL, or Spark) with experience in low-latency or distributed data architectures
• Hands-on experience with AI pair-programming and developer automation tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, agentic orchestration frameworks)
• Ability to evaluate, refine, and validate AI-generated research artifacts and code with strong safety and performance standards
• Strong communication skills with experience translating complex math into executive strategy

Responsibilities

• Lead research, architectural design, and production deployment of large-scale algorithms for budget pacing, bid optimization, and marketplace balance
• Architect and spearhead agentic AI workflows and automated experiment orchestration to accelerate research-to-production iteration
• Provide technical strategy and long-term vision for the DSP optimization ecosystem
• Apply control theory and advanced optimization to real-time marketplace dynamics
• Direct AI-assisted code refactoring and automated testing suite generation with modern tools
• Own multi-quarter research initiatives from formulation to production rollout with rigorous metrics
• Collaborate with engineering and product management to ensure scalable algorithmic designs
• Mentor senior scientists and engineers and foster an AI-forward research culture
• Communicate technical strategy and results to executives and cross-functional partners

Job description

Yahoo DSP Research is seeking a Principal Research Scientist to lead the next-generation budget control, pacing, and bidding algorithms. You will shape the high-scale optimization stack, integrating agentic AI practices and automated pipelines to accelerate research-to-production cycles.

You will mentor senior scientists, partner with engineering and product management, and drive technically strategic decisions while ensuring safety, accuracy, and measurable improvements in real-time marketplace