Senior DS/ML Scientist II- Search Science

Shipt, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 115,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Shipt, Inc. is seeking a Senior Data Scientist to join the Search Science team. You'll be responsible for improving algorithms that influence what customers see, and work on LLM-native and value-aware search systems. Partner with ML Engineers and Senior Scientists to innovate search capabilities that drive business success.

Ideal candidates should have a Bachelor's in a STEM field, 3-5 years of machine learning experience, and strong fluency in Python and SQL. The position offers a hybrid work model with specified in-office days based on your location.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (Computer Science, Statistics, etc.) with a focus on machine learning.
• 3–5 years of experience applying machine learning to real-world problems.
• Strong coding fluency in Python and SQL.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement multi-task learning and multi-objective models that optimize for clicks.
• Identify opportunities, explore datasets, and report findings to senior leaders.
• Incorporate rich user signals to deliver personalized relevance.

Skills

Python

SQL

Machine Learning

Deep Learning (PyTorch/TensorFlow)

Learning-to-rank

Education

Bachelor's degree in a STEM field

Job description

Overview

As a Senior Data Scientist on the Search Science team at Shipt, you will be responsible for the algorithms that determine what customers see every day. You will work on re-architecting Shipt’s search stack to be LLM-native and value-aware, building a state-of-the-art retrieval and ranking system from the ground up. You will partner with Senior Scientists and ML Engineers to push the boundaries of what a search engine can do. Search is the front door of Shipt—improvements you make here are immediately visible to leadership and impactful to the bottom line.

Key Impact Areas

• Unified Ranking: design and implement multi-task learning and multi-objective models that optimize for clicks while balancing organic relevance, ad revenue, and operational efficiency.
• In Depth Search Analysis: identify opportunities, explore datasets, and report findings to senior leaders to influence the Search roadmap.
• Deep Personalization: incorporate rich user signals such as purchase history, dietary constraints, and real-time intent to deliver personalized relevance.
• LLM-Native Search: integrate large language models into the core search loop, working on generative retrieval, query expansion, and semantic understanding.
• Hybrid Retrieval Systems: develop and tune sparse (lexical) and dense (vector) retrieval layers to maximize recall across the catalog and surface relevant products for long-tail queries.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field (Computer Science, Statistics, etc.) with a focus on machine learning.
• 3–5 years of experience applying machine learning to real-world problems.
• Strong coding fluency in Python and SQL.
• Deep familiarity with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow and their application to information retrieval, ranking, and/or natural language processing.
• Solid grasp of learning‑to‑rank concepts, including rich feature engineering.
• Previous experience with search or recommender systems in e‑commerce settings.
• Experience with multi‑objective optimization and understanding of conflicts between relevance and revenue.

Compensation

Pay Range: $115,000 – $170,000 (salary range is a guideline; total compensation may vary based on qualifications, skill level, competencies and location).

Work Arrangement

Hybrid role. Expected in‑office days vary by location: Birmingham, AL – at least 2 days per week (Wednesday and Thursday); Minneapolis, MN – at least 1 day per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday); SanFrancisco, CA – at least 1 day per week (Monday–Thursday). Some roles may require full‑time in‑office presence.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Shipt is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at its company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, age, military or veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Please inform your recruiting contact upon initial connection if you need a reasonable accommodation. If you need assistance filling out a job application, please complete this form.