Machine Learning Engineer, Next-Generation Recommendation Systems (New Grad / PhD)

Unity; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 113,000 - 169,000; Full time

Job summary

Unity’s Vector AI team builds machine learning systems that decide which ads reach players across billions of monthly users on Unity’s game engine. You will design and evaluate ranking models, develop conversion prediction and behavioral modeling, and apply RL and optimization to ad delivery, partnering with engineering to productionize ideas.

The role emphasizes rigorous experiments, causal inference, and cross-functional communication to deliver impactful improvements at scale.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, ML, Statistics, or related field.
• Strong foundations in recommendation systems, RL, LLM post-training/alignment, or optimization.
• Experience with large-scale data and ML systems (research or industry).
• Fluency in Python; familiarity with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• A track record of rigorous research — publications at top venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, KDD, RecSys, ACL, WWW).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evaluate next-generation ranking and recommendation models incorporating LLMs, RLHF, and preference learning to improve ad relevance and user experience.
• Develop user understanding systems — conversion prediction, behavioral modeling, and value estimation — across billions of impressions.
• Apply reinforcement learning and optimization techniques to bidding strategy, auction dynamics, and real-time ad delivery.
• Design and run rigorous experiments using causal inference, A/B testing, and offline evaluation frameworks to measure model quality.
• Partner with engineering to bring research ideas into production across the training data to deployed model.
• Communicate findings clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders across engineering, product, and business teams.

Skills

Python

Reinforcement Learning

Ranking models

LLMs

A/B testing

Education

PhD in CS/ML/Statistics

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

The opportunity

Unity's Vector AI team builds the machine learning systems that decide which ads reach which players — across billions of monthly users on the world's leading game engine. Recommendation and ranking systems are the core of this work: predicting user value, optimizing bids, and delivering outcomes for advertisers at massive scale.

What you'll be doing

• Design, build, and evaluate next-generation ranking and recommendation models that incorporate LLMs, RLHF, and preference learning to improve ad relevance and user experience.
• Develop user understanding systems — conversion prediction, behavioral modeling, and value estimation — that operate across billions of impressions.
• Apply reinforcement learning and optimization techniques to bidding strategy, auction dynamics, and real-time ad delivery.
• Design and run rigorous experiments using causal inference, A/B testing, and offline evaluation frameworks to measure and improve model quality.
• Partner with engineering to bring research ideas into production, working across the full pipeline from training data to deployed model.
• Communicate findings clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders across engineering, product, and business teams.

What we're looking for

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related field (graduating 2026 or recent graduate).
• Strong research foundations in one or more of: recommendation systems, reinforcement learning, LLM post-training or alignment, human-AI collaboration, probabilistic modeling, or optimization.
• Experience working with large-scale data and ML systems, whether through research or industry internships.
• Fluency in Python; familiarity with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• A track record of rigorous, high-quality research — publications at top venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, KDD, RecSys, ACL, WWW, or similar) are a strong signal.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills — able to make complex ideas accessible across technical and non-technical audiences.

You might also have

• Industry experience in ads, recommendation, or user understanding systems (internship experience counts).
• Hands-on experience with production ML pipelines — training at scale, feature engineering, or experimentation infrastructure.
• Experience applying LLMs or generative models to ranking, retrieval, or structured prediction problems.
• Familiarity with agentic AI approaches — multi-step reasoning, tool use, or human-AI collaboration frameworks.
• Exposure to causal inference, uplift modeling, or A/B testing at scale.
• Genuine curiosity about applied research and the drive to see ideas through to impact.

Additional information

• Relocation support is not available for this position

Benefits

At Unity, we want our team members to thrive. We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support well-being and work-life balance.

Please note: Benefits eligibility, specific offerings, and coverage vary based on the country and employment status.

While specific benefits vary, here are some of the ways we strive to take care of our eligible team members globally:

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

Life at Unity

Unity [NYSE: U] is the world’s leading game engine, powering play for more than 3 billion consumers each month. The top mobile games in the world, the most played PC indie titles, the most innovative console games, and virtually all of the top XR and Web Games are developed, deployed, and grown in Unity. Unity also enables teams across industries like automotive, manufacturing, and healthcare to design, simulate, and collaborate in 3D — closing the gap between ideas and reality. For more information, please visit www.unity.com.

Unity is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment and celebrate our employees across age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law. Our differences are strengths that enable us to support the growing and evolving needs of our customers, partners, and collaborators. If you have a disability that means there are preparations or accommodations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please fill out this form to let us know.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

*Note: This range reflects the anticipated base salary for this position. Beyond base salary, this role may be eligible for equity awards and participation in our company incentive plans (such as annual discretionary bonuses or sales commissions). The final offer amount will depend on several factors, including geographic location and the candidate’s relevant experience, professional background, and skill set.

Gross pay salary $112,700—$169,100 USD