Senior Applied Researcher

eBay; United States; Remote; USD 152,000 - 248,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company that is redefining ecommerce through cutting-edge technology and innovation. As part of the Recommendations team, you will leverage advanced machine learning and AI techniques to enhance user experience and drive engagement on a global scale. This role offers the opportunity to work with vast datasets and develop state-of-the-art recommendation systems, shaping how millions of users discover products tailored to their interests. If you're passionate about pushing boundaries and making a significant impact in the ecommerce landscape, this is the role for you.

Benefits

401(k) eligibility

Paid time off benefits

Parental leave

Medical benefits

Financial benefits

Restricted stock units

Qualifications

• 10+ years experience in Machine Learning, AI, NLP, LLM.
• Hands-on skills to build and deploy ML models in production.

Responsibilities

• Define research directions for personalized discovery of eBay's inventory.
• Develop and deploy innovative AI models to production.

Skills

Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence

Natural Language Processing

Deep Learning

Personalization Technology

Video Understanding

Education

PhD in Computer Science

Tools

Cloud Services

Job description

At eBay, we're more than a global ecommerce leader — we’re changing the way the world shops and sells. Our platform empowers millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We’re committed to pushing boundaries and leaving our mark as we reinvent the future of ecommerce for enthusiasts.

Our customers are our compass, authenticity thrives, bold ideas are welcome, and everyone can bring their unique selves to work — every day. We're in this together, sustaining the future of our customers, our company, and our planet.

Join a team of passionate thinkers, innovators, and dreamers — and help us connect people and build communities to create economic opportunity for all.

About the team and the role:

Our Recommendations team works on delivering recommendations at scale and in near real time to our buyers on our eBay e-commerce marketplace website and native app platforms. Recommendations are a core part of how our buyers navigate eBay’s vast and varied inventory. Our team develops state-of-the-art recommendations systems, including deep learning based retrieval systems for personalized recommendations, machine learned ranking models, GenAI/LLM powered recommendations, as well as sophisticated MLOps in a high volume traffic industrial setting.

We are building recommender systems powered by the latest ML, NLP, LLM/GenAI/RAG and AI technologies! We are looking for a top-tier applied researcher who can lead and drive forward our research in personalization, with the business goal of enabling personalized discovery of eBay unique inventory through dynamic feeds, both for eBay enthusiasts as well as first time visitors.

The scope of research includes but is not limited to sophisticated ML models for personalized recall and ranking that uses very large-scale attention models, graph neural networks, few-shot learning, and other techniques to better model factors relevant to people’s interests, cohort memberships, and trends. Also in scope are deep user understanding, sophisticated user embeddings, interpretable user models, and interest graphs - both global and personal. Furthermore, we are looking to expand into video recommendations as well as live commerce, so this is an exciting new area for us to explore.

What you will accomplish:

• Define research directions that will Influence how people discover eBay's inventory relevant to their interests and passions

• Work with unique and large data sets of unstructured multimodal data representing eBay's vast and varied inventory, including billions of items and millions of users

• Develop and deploy innovative AI models to production which have direct measurable impact on eBay buyers, working with a distributed team of applied researchers and ML engineers

• Drive marketplace GMB as well as advertising revenue via organic and sponsored recommendations

• Publish research work in Tier 1 conferences as well as write IP and tech blogs

What you will bring:

• PhD in Computer Science or related area with 10+ years of relevant work experience in Machine Learning / AI / NLP / LLM

• Experience with building personalized recommender systems or other forms of personalization technology

• Proven track record of applied research supported by publications, blog articles or other demonstrations of knowledge of the field

• Experience with video understanding or video technology is a plus

• Hands on engineering skills to build and deploy ML models in production on prem or using cloud services

• Experience acting as research lead, articulating research strategy

Links to some of our previous work:

• Tech Blog 2025

• RecSys 2024 Workshop paper

• Google Cloud Blog 2024

• eBay Tech Blog 2023

• eBay Tech Blog 2022

• RecSys 2021 paper

The base pay range for this position is expected in the range below:

$152,400 - $247,800

Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including location, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a target bonus and restricted stock units (as applicable) in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as PTO and parental leave). Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

If hired, employees will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

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eBay is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, and disability, or other legally protected status.If you have a need that requires accommodation, please contact us [e-mail]. We will make every effort to respond to your request for accommodation as soon as possible. View our accessibility statement to learn more about eBay's commitment to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

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