Principal Research Scientist, AI-Driven Ad Optimization

Yahoo Holdings Inc.; Champaign (IL); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid work options

Job summary

Yahoo is seeking a Principal Research Scientist to drive the next‑generation budget control, pacing, and bidding algorithms on the DSP Optimization team. You will lead the evolution of our high‑scale optimization stack and integrate agentic AI practices into automated development loops.

You will mentor senior scientists, define long‑term technical strategy, and collaborate closely with engineering and product leadership to execute at scale. A Ph.D.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, OR Statistics or related quantitative field.
• 8+ years designing and deploying large-scale optimization, control systems, or ML in production.
• Strong math: probability, convex/stochastic optimization, control theory.
• Experience with low-latency or distributed data architectures.

Responsibilities

• Lead research, design, and production deployment of large-scale optimization and budgeting algorithms.
• Architect AI workflows using agentic approaches to accelerate research-to-production cycles.
• Set technical strategy for the DSP optimization ecosystem with leadership alignment.
• Apply control theory and ML to real-time marketplace dynamics under uncertainty.
• Direct AI-assisted refactoring, automated tests, and LLM-driven synthesis to raise standards.
• Own multi-quarter research initiatives from math to production rollout with metrics.
• Collaborate with engineering/product to scale algorithms across systems.
• Mentor senior scientists and engineers, fostering an AI-forward culture.
• Communicate strategy and results clearly to executives and cross-functional partners.

Skills

Python

Java

C++

SQL

Spark

AI pair-programming

agentic orchestration frameworks

communication

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science or quantitative field

Tools

GitHub Copilot

Cursor

Claude Code

Codex

Job description

Yahoo is seeking a Principal Research Scientist to drive the next‑generation budget control, pacing, and bidding algorithms on the DSP Optimization team. You will lead the evolution of our high‑scale optimization stack and integrate agentic AI practices into automated development loops.

You will mentor senior scientists, define long‑term technical strategy, and collaborate closely with engineering and product leadership to execute at scale. A Ph.D.