Lead Machine Learning Engineer - Personalization

The Walt Disney Company; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 183,000 - 247,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Lead Machine Learning Engineer to develop innovative personalization algorithms for its digital platforms. This role involves collaboration across teams to enhance user experiences through advanced machine learning techniques, impacting millions globally.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in developing highly scalable machine learning products.
• Experience with building and deploying full stack ML pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Develop and prototype state-of-the-art Deep Neural Net algorithms.
• Deliver production-level implementation for global user services.
• Drive business decisions using a data-driven approach.

Skills

Deep Learning

Data Mining

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

MS or PhD in statistics, math, computer science

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

AWS

Job description

Lead Machine Learning Engineer - Personalization

Lead Machine Learning Engineer - Personalization

Apply Now Apply Later Job ID 10121018 Location San Francisco, California, United States / New York, New York, United States / Seattle, Washington, United States Business Disney Entertainment Date postedMay 15, 2025

Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology

Technology is at the heart of Disney’s past, present, and future. Disney Entertainment and ESPN Product & Technology is a global organization of engineers, product developers, designers, technologists, data scientists, and more – all working to build and advance the technological backbone for Disney’s media business globally.

The team marries technology with creativity to build world-class products, enhance storytelling, and drive velocity, innovation, and scalability for our businesses. We are Storytellers and Innovators. Creators and Builders. Entertainers and Engineers. We work with every part of The Walt Disney Company’s media portfolio to advance the technological foundation and consumer media touch points serving millions of people around the world.

Here are a few reasons why we think you’d love working here:

1. Building the future of Disney’s media: Our Technologists are designing and building the products and platforms that will power our media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.

2. Reach, Scale & Impact: More than ever, Disney’s technology and products serve as a signature doorway for fans' connections with the company’s brands and stories. Disney+. Hulu. ESPN. ABC. ABC News…and many more. These products and brands – and the unmatched stories, storytellers, and events they carry – matter to millions of people globally.

3. Innovation: We develop and implement groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and solve complex and distinctive technical problems.

Job Summary:

Product Engineering is a unified team responsible for the engineering of Disney Entertainment & ESPN digital and streaming products and platforms. This includes product engineering, media engineering, quality assurance, engineering behind personalization, commerce, lifecycle, and identity.

Our team develops and maintains state-of-the-art recommendation and personalization algorithms that serve hundreds of millions of users across Disney+, Hulu, ABC, and ESPN. As a key member of this team, you will collaborate closely with Engineering, Product, and Data teams to apply advanced machine learning techniques in support of strategic personalization initiatives. This is an Individual Contributor role focused on content recommendations. You will lead the research, development, deployment, and optimization of recommendation and personalization algorithms across product surfaces. You will also play a critical role in aligning technical solutions with stakeholder requirements and expectations, partnering with Product, Engineering, and Editorial teams. Beyond execution, you will help define the roadmap for algorithmic innovation—shaping approaches to feature development and contributing to broader company goals in the personalization and recommendation space.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Developing and prototyping state-of-the-art Deep Neural Net algorithms for recommendation systems
• Deliver a conceptual solution into production-level implementation & operation at scale, for global user services
• Quickly learn our complex streaming recommendation systems and deep dive into individual components & systems as well as understand overall framework/architecture
• Identify impactful opportunities to improve our business operations and develop practical solutions and plans to lift our business KPI’s.
• Drive business decisions by data driven and pragmatic approach
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Leadership to technically guide a team of engineers and work collaboratively with peers to achieve goals with deadline.

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

Basic Qualifications:

• Strong proficiency in at least one of the following deep learning frameworks, tensorflow, pytorch
• Experiences building and deploying full stack ML pipelines: data extraction, data mining, model training, feature development, testing, and deployment
• Track record from design to full production of effective recommendation systems.
• Experience with cloud services in a production environment (particularly AWS)
• Understanding of statistical concepts (e.g., hypothesis testing, regression analysis)
• Ability to articulate the usage and behavior of models and algorithms to both technical and non-technical audiences

Preferred qualification:

• MS or PhD in statistics, math, computer science, or related quantitative field
• Production experience with developing content recommendation algorithms at scale and familiar with metadata management, data lineage, and principles of data governance
• Deep understanding in personalization challenges in homepage experience and proven records of developing effective solutions

Experience with:

• 7+ years of experience in developing highly scalable machine learning products
• 7+ years writing production-level, scalable Python codes

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software, Electrical or Electronics Engineering, or comparable field of study, and/or equivalent work experience

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in New York, NY & Seattle, WA is $172,300-$231,100 per year, in San Francisco, CA is $183,700.00-$246,400.00 per year and in Los Angeles, CA is $164,500.00 to $220,600.00 per year. 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:

At Disney Corporate you can see how the businesses behind the Company’s powerful brands come together to create the most innovative, far-reaching and admired entertainment company in the world. As a member of a corporate team, you’ll work with world-class leaders driving the strategies that keep The Walt Disney Company at the leading edge of entertainment. See and be seen by other innovative thinkers as you enable the greatest storytellers in the world to create memories for millions of families around the globe.

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 .

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.

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Disability Accommodation For Employment Applications

The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, email [e-mail] with your request. This email address is not for general employment inquiries or correspondence. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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