Principal Machine Learning Scientist - Agentic Experiences

Expedia; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 242,000 - 339,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Travel reimbursement

Job summary

Expedia Group is seeking an experienced ML Engineer to lead the design and deployment of agentic AI systems in a fast-paced, AI-first environment. You will collaborate with product, engineering, and research teams to build autonomous agents and tooling that power travel planning and automation.

You will research cutting-edge agentic architectures, implement prompting strategies, and ensure robust evaluation, safety, and production-readiness across global services.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or related field; 10+ years in ML/AI.
• Proven experience designing and deploying agentic or multi-step AI systems in production or research.
• Strong Python and ML framework skills; experience with LLM APIs and orchestration libraries.
• Experience integrating LLMs with external tools and data sources; prompt engineering expertise.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evaluate multi-step agentic AI systems including autonomous agents.
• Research and implement state-of-the-art agentic architectures and prompting techniques.
• Develop and maintain agent orchestration frameworks for task decomposition and recovery.
• Integrate LLMs with tools, APIs, databases, and code execution environments.
• Define evaluation frameworks and measure reliability, latency, cost, and safety.
• Lead collaboration with product, eng, and research to translate requirements into designs.
• Mitigate risks such as prompt injection, hallucination, and unsafe tool use.
• Mentor senior ML engineers and scientists on agentic design patterns.

Education

BS in Computer Science / related field

10+ years experience in ML/AI

Python

LLM APIs

LangChain / LlamaIndex

Production ML systems

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

LangChain

LlamaIndex

Job description

At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business.

Here, you'll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.

Introduction to the Team:

Our Technology Team partners with teams across Expedia Group to create innovative products, services, and tools to deliver high-quality experiences for travelers, partners, and our employees. A singular technology platform powered by data and machine learning provides secure, differentiated, and personalized experiences that drive loyalty and traveler satisfaction.

The Traveler Discovery & Planning team at Expedia is at the forefront of innovation in AI-driven agentic systems. We're dedicated to enhancing customer experiences, increasing engagement, and strengthening traveler relationships through cutting-edge machine learning solutions. Our work directly impacts millions of travelers worldwide, shaping their journey from dreaming to booking and beyond.

Join a team that's focused on Agentic Experiences revolutionizing traveler experiences through autonomous, intelligent agent systems. From building cutting-edge conversational AI that anticipates traveler needs to developing proactive solutions for personalized trip planning, your work will shape the future of travel assistance and directly impact millions of users worldwide. This is a rare opportunity to build foundational systems in a high-impact domain, backed by Expedia’s AI-first vision.

In this role, you will:

• Design, build, and evaluate multi-step agentic AI systems, including autonomous agents capable of planning, tool use, memory management, and multi-agent collaboration
• Research and implement state-of-the-art techniques in agentic architectures, such as ReAct, reflection loops, chain-of-thought prompting, and tool-augmented reasoning
• Develop and maintain agent orchestration frameworks, defining how agents decompose tasks, delegate to sub-agents, and handle failure and recovery
• Integrate large language models (LLMs) with external tools, APIs, databases, and code execution environments to enable real-world task completion
• Define and own evaluation frameworks for agentic systems, measuring task success, reliability, latency, cost, and safety across diverse benchmarks and production scenarios
• Lead collaboration with product, engineering, and research teams to translate business requirements into agentic system designs and deliver production-grade solutions
• Identify and mitigate risks specific to agentic systems, including prompt injection, unintended actions, hallucination in long-horizon tasks, and unsafe tool use
• Stay current with the rapidly evolving agentic AI landscape, synthesizing academic research and industry developments to inform the team's technical direction
• Mentor senior ML engineers and scientists, providing technical guidance on agentic design patterns, LLM best practices, and experimentation methodology

Minimum Qualifications:

• BS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Engineering, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience
• 10+ years of related industry experience
• Demonstrated experience designing and deploying agentic or multi-step AI systems (e.g., ReAct, tool-calling agents, multi-agent pipelines) in production or research settings
• Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX); experience with LLM APIs and orchestration libraries (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex, or similar)
• Experience integrating LLMs with external tools, APIs, and structured data sources for real-world task completion
• Solid understanding of prompt engineering techniques including chain-of-thought, few-shot prompting, and structured output generation
• Experience defining and running evaluation frameworks for ML systems, including offline benchmarking and production monitoring
• Experience taking models from prototype to production in collaboration with Machine Learning Engineering teams

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (PhD or MS) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Engineering
• Experience in the travel or e-commerce industry
• Publications in top-tier ML conferences or journals
• Patented Inventions, pending and issued
• Contributions to open-source ML projects

The total cash range for this position in Seattle is $224,000.00 to $313,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $358,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.

The total cash range for this position in San Jose is $242,000.00 to $338,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $387,000.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.

Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual’s knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.

Benefits and perks

• medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership.

Learn more about life at Expedia Group at https://careers.expediagroup.com/life.

Accommodation requests

Expedia Group is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruiting experience. If you need an accommodation or adjustment due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request at https://expedia.service-now.com/askeg?id=job_accommodation.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.

Equal Opportunity

Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This employer participates in E-Verify. The employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's I-9 to confirm work authorization.