Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Vector Bidding Science

Unity; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 188,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity awards

Annual bonus potential

Stock ownership plan

Generous vacation

Job summary

Unity is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to join its Vector Bidding Science team in Mountain View. You will define the technical vision and architect scalable real‑time bidding systems powered by AI and advanced optimization frameworks to maximize advertiser returns.

You’ll drive offline evaluations and online experiments, collaborating across product, infrastructure, and engineering to deliver measurable business impact in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with state‑of‑the‑art machine learning, reinforcement learning, and control theory for complex bidding/pricing problems.
• Strong software engineering skills in Python with deep learning frameworks (preferably PyTorch).
• Solid understanding of metric design, online experimentation (A/B testing), and large-scale data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and optimize core bidding algorithms and auction mechanisms.
• Architect and scale bid landscape forecasting capabilities.
• Analyze large-scale marketplace dynamics to uncover insights and deliver algorithmic improvements.
• Drive offline evaluations and online A/B experiments to validate model performance and business impact.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with product, infra, and engineering teams.

Skills

ML/RL theory

Python

PyTorch

A/B testing

Data analysis

Tools

Spark

Ray

BigQuery

Flink

Job description

The opportunity

We are looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to join our Vector Bidding Science team. In this role, you will define the technical vision and architect the next generation of scalable real‑time bidding systems powered by cutting‑edge AI, marketplace intelligence, and advanced optimization frameworks.

We are looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to join our Vector Bidding Science team. In this role, you will define the technical vision and architect the next generation of scalable real‑time bidding systems powered by cutting‑edge AI, marketplace intelligence, and advanced optimization frameworks. As a key member of the Vector AI org, you will play a pivotal role in advancing Unity’s high‑scale ads engine. By harnessing massive datasets and rich signals, you will develop state‑of‑the‑art bidding and pacing algorithms that automatically maximize advertisers’ returns.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Design, implement, and optimize core bidding algorithms and auction mechanisms
• Architect and scale bid landscape forecasting capabilities
• Analyze large-scale marketplace dynamics to uncover deep insights and deliver algorithmic improvements
• Drive offline evaluations and online A/B experiments to validate model performance and deliver measurable business impact
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with product, infrastructure, and engineering teams

What We’re Looking For

• Hands‑on experience in state‑of‑the‑art machine learning, reinforcement learning, and control theory to complex, real‑world bidding or pricing problems
• Strong software engineering skills in Python and experience with deep learning frameworks, preferably PyTorch
• Solid understanding of metric design, online experimentation frameworks (A/B testing), and large‑scale data analysis
• Proven ability to lead projects end-to-end and deliver measurable business impact in an ambiguous technical landscape

You might also have

• Experience working with large datasets and distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Ray, BigQuery, Flink)
• Experience building real‑time ad systems, specifically in DSP (Demand‑Side Platform) bidding logic, survival analysis for market price estimation, or game‑theoretic modeling
• Experience leveraging AI tools (such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor) to accelerate development

Additional Information

Zone A: $188,200 - $244,600 USD

Zone B: $167,200 - $217,300 USD

Zone C: $148,700 - $193,300 USD

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.

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.

This posting is intended to fill an existing vacancy, and we are committed to providing applicants with updates throughout the hiring process in accordance with applicable law.