Staff Applied Scientist, Ads Personalization

Unity Technologies; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 172,000 - 284,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Stock ownership / Employee stock

Commute subsidy

Retirement / pension plans

Generous vacation and personal days

Parental leave

Snacks / office food

Mental Health and Wellbeing programs

Employee Resource Groups

Volunteer and donation matching

Job summary

Unity Technologies in Mountain View, CA is seeking a Staff Applied Scientist to build and maintain advanced systems for understanding user behavior, improving ad ranking, conversion predictions, and recommendations to enhance engagement and ROI. You will collaborate cross-functionally to push the boundaries of ad technology and user modeling.

The role requires an advanced degree and 5+ years of hands-on experience in ads delivery and ML, with proficiency in Python/Go/Scala/C++.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience building and operating large-scale Ads delivery and optimization systems.
• 3+ years of experience in content understanding, behavior modeling, user profiling, and cohort analysis.
• Proficiency in Python, Go, Scala, or C++ and strong software engineering skills.
• Knowledge of metric design, experimentation methodologies, and large-scale data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain user understanding models.
• Monitor model quality, calibrate predictions, address data drift.
• Participate with leads to set long-term direction and oversee designs and execution.
• Communicate complex technical concepts to non-engineering stakeholders.

Skills

Python

Go

Scala

C++

Experimentation

Education

MS or PhD in Computer Science / ML / Statistics or related field

Job description

The opportunity

At Unity, we’re committed to building a culture that fosters collaboration and innovation. Within our fast-paced environment, we’re tackling complex challenges that drive meaningful impact for creators and users across our ecosystem.

Our Gamer AI team plays a central role in this effort by developing state-of-the-art conversion rate (CVR) prediction and market price models that power our ad ranking and recommendation systems. By leveraging large-scale data and contextual signals, we continuously enhance prediction relevance and accuracy. This drives outcomes such as higher user engagement, stronger conversion performance, and better return on ad spend, helping advertisers achieve their goals while delivering a more engaging experience for users.

We are seeking a highly skilled Staff Applied Scientist to build and maintain advanced systems for understanding user behavior across applications. You will be responsible for improving ad ranking, conversion predictions, and recommendation systems, enabling richer behavioral models, smarter bidding strategies, and more effective ad performance.

What you’ll be doing

• Design, implement, and maintain user understanding models.
• Ensure model quality and reliability by continuously monitoring performance, calibrating predictions, and addressing data drift or delayed feedback.
• Actively participate and work with other leads to set the long-term direction for the team, plan and oversee engineering designs and project execution.
• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts to non-engineering stakeholders.

What we’re looking for

• Advanced degree (MS or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience building and operating large-scale Ads delivery and optimization systems.
• 3+ years of experience in content understanding, behavior modeling, user profiling, and cohort analysis.
• Significant experience in one or more general-purpose programming languages like Python, Go, Scala, C++ or similar.
• Knowledge of metric design, experimentation methodologies, and large-scale data analysis.

You might also have

• Experience designing and productionizing optimization algorithms in an ad serving platform and/or other marketplaces.
• Experience with state-of-the-art control systems, reinforcement learning algorithms.

Additional Information

Gross pay annually: $172,200 - $283,900 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.

• 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.