Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Recommendation Systems - Quora

Data Co Lab X; United States; Remote; USD 220.000 - 321.000; Vollzeit

Benefits dieser Stelle

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Remote work reimbursement

Equity refreshers

Paid time off

Employee assistance program

Zusammenfassung

Quora seeks a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to define the technical future of its home feed recommendation ecosystem. You will own the end-to-end recommender stack, including candidate generation, retrieval, ranking, re-ranking, and multi-objective optimization, and lead ML experiments that improve engagement.

You will deploy generative models at scale, mentor peers, and collaborate with product, data science, and infrastructure teams in a remote-first environment.

Qualifikationen

• 6+ years of professional software development experience in machine learning.
• 4+ years building and optimizing Home Feed recommendation systems for social media and UGC platforms.
• Deep knowledge of the full recommender stack: candidate generation, retrieval, ranking, re-ranking, embeddings, optimization.
• Experience leading large-scale ML projects end-to-end with measurable outcomes.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.

Aufgaben

• Set the technical direction for Quora’s home feed recommendation systems.
• Lead high-impact projects across the recommender stack from generation to ranking and optimization.
• Drive measurable improvements in user engagement through online experiments.
• Own ML systems including data pipelines, feature engineering, training, and production integration.
• Mentor engineers and raise the bar for code quality and AI-assisted development.

Kenntnisse

Recommendation systems

Machine learning

Feed ranking

Information retrieval

Learning to rank

Feature engineering

Online experimentation

Python

C++

Generative AI

Ausbildung

BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science

Jobbeschreibung

Quora# Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Recommendation Systems – QuoraReview the role, location requirements, compensation details, and application process before deciding whether this opportunity fits your next career move.Apply for this job View companyRemote from: USA, Canada, IrelandSalary: USD 219,989–320,613 / yrDepartment: Data Science & AnalyticsEmployment: Full TimeExperience: SeniorPublished: 27 Oct 2026Apply before: 26 Nov 2026Listing views: 468Application actions: 19Application toolkit## Make your next move.Prepare your resume, explore your fit, and draft a cover letter for this opportunity.AI Summary## The role, at a glance.Quora seeks a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to set technical direction for its home-feed recommendation ecosystem. The role owns the full recommender lifecycle, including candidate generation, retrieval, ranking, re-ranking, feature engineering, model training, and production integration. This hands-on individual contributor will lead high-impact experiments, improve engagement and content quality, and extend recommendations to notifications and digest emails. The engineer will also deploy generative models at scale, mentor peers, and partner closely with product, data science, and infrastructure teams in a remote-first environment.## Role DNAA quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.### Job Complexity5/5EasyHard### Pace & Pressure5/5RelaxedFast-paced### Autonomy Level5/5GuidedFull ownership### Communication Load4/5IndependentCollaborative**AI insight**This is a staff-level, organization-wide technical leadership role requiring deep expertise in large-scale social-feed recommenders and production ML systems. Success depends on independently delivering measurable product impact while guiding architecture, experiments, and engineering standards.## Salary analysisEstimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles.Estimated job median (per year)Market rate**$270,301**US market range (per year)**$220k–$340k**0$374.00k**AI insight**The yearly pay period is inferred from the job context; it was not explicitly stated by the employer. The disclosed US salary range is $219,989–$320,613 USD per year, with a midpoint of $270,301. The annual cadence is inferred from the senior full-time US engineering role and the magnitude of the disclosed salary range; the posting does not explicitly state a pay period. Estimated US market compensation for a staff-level recommendation-systems ML engineer is $220,000–$340,000 annually, excluding equity and benefits.## Core skillsSkills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity.Recommendation systemsMachine learningFeed rankingCandidate generationInformation retrievalLearning to rankFeature engineeringMulti-objective optimizationOnline experimentationPythonC++Generative AILLM deploymentData pipelinesProduction ML systems**Sample interview questions**Opportunity details## About this role.*[****Quora is a privately held, “remote-first” company******.** This position can be performed remotely from multiple countries around the world. Please visit* *careers.quora.com/eligible-countries* *for details regarding employment eligibility by country.]*### **About Quora:**Quora’s mission is to grow the world’s collective intelligence. To do so, we have two platforms:* Quora: a global knowledge sharing platform with millions of monthly unique visitors, bringing people together to share insights on various topics and providing a unique platform to learn and connect with others.* Poe: a cloud workspace where millions of users run multiple AI agents on shared context and tools. One subscription, every frontier model, and the collaboration layer that makes them work together.Behind these products are passionate, collaborative, and high-performing global teams. We have a culture rooted in transparency, idea-sharing, and experimentation that allows us to celebrate success and grow together through meaningful work. Join us on this journey to create a positive impact and make a significant change in the world.**This role will be working on our Quora product.**### **About the Team and Role:**At Quora, machine learning drives nearly every aspect of our product, and our lean, high-velocity engineering team tackles complex, high-impact challenges daily. We thrive in a remote-first culture built on absolute autonomy, continuous learning, and bold experimentation.We are looking for a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to define the technical future of Quora’s recommendation ecosystem. In this role, you will own the technical direction for feed ranking and retrieval, lead our highest-impact modeling bets, and pioneer the integration of LLMs and generative models to redefine how we understand and rank content. Beyond the home feed, you will also scale recommendation surfaces like notifications and digest emails, while architecting the underlying tools and abstractions that empower our entire engineering organization.This is a high-leverage, hands-on IC role with organization-wide scope. You will write production code, mentor rising talent, and actively shape how our team leverages AI-assisted development to accelerate our shipping velocity.### **Responsibilities:*** Set the technical direction for Quora’s home feed recommendation systems* Lead the highest-impact projects across the recommender stack, from candidate generation and retrieval to ranking, re-ranking, and multi-objective optimization* Drive measurable improvements in user engagement and content quality through well-designed online experiments* Take end-to-end ownership of ML systems, including data pipelines, candidate extraction, feature engineering, model training, and production integration* Identify new opportunities to apply machine learning to different parts of the Quora product* Partner with product, data science, and infrastructure teams to align on priorities and tradeoffs* Mentor engineers and lead by example, raising the bar for code quality, modeling rigor and AI assisted dev velocity### **Minimum Requirements:*** **Availability for meetings and impromptu communication during Quora’s “****coordination hours****” (Mon-Fri: 9am-3pm Pacific Time)*** 6+ years of professional software development experience in machine learning* 4+ years of professional experience building and optimizing Home Feed recommendation systems for social media and user-generated content platforms.* Deep knowledge of the full recommender stack: candidate generation, retrieval, ranking, re-ranking, embeddings, and multi-objective optimization.* Deep understanding of mathematical foundations of machine learning algorithms* Experience leading large-scale ML projects end-to-end with measurable outcome* Strong communication and interpersonal skills* BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science### **Preferred Requirements:*** 6+ years of experience writing Python or C++ code* Hands-on experience deploying and running generative models at scale* Background in notifications, email/digest recommendations, or growth and lifecycle modeling* Flexible and positive team player* Publications at venues like RecSys, KDD, NeurIPS, or ICML.* Passion for Quora’s mission and goals**At Quora, we value diversity and inclusivity and welcome individuals from all backgrounds, including marginalized or underrepresented groups in tech, to apply for our job openings. We encourage all candidates who share a passion for growing the world’s knowledge, even those who may not strictly meet all the preferred requirements, to apply, as we know that a diverse range of perspectives can have a significant impact on our products and our culture.**### **Additional Information:**We are accepting applications on an ongoing basis. This role is a backfill for an existing vacancy.Quora offers a wide range of benefits including medical/dental/vision coverage, equity refreshers, remote work reimbursement, paid time off, employee assistance programs, and more. Benefits are country-specific and may vary.There are many factors that will determine the starting compensation, including but not limited to experience, location, education, and business needs.* US candidates only: For US based applicants, the salary range is $219,989 – $320,613 USD + equity + benefits.* Canada candidates only: For Toronto and Vancouver based applicants, the salary range is $282,469 – $329,337 CAD + equity + benefits. For all other locations in Canada, the salary range is $263,638 – $307,381 CAD + equity + benefits.* In equity-eligible countries, we currently also offer a flexible equity program where a portion of equity compensation may be taken as cash.We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.AI technology may assist in sorting applications and recording interview notes, but all decisions are made by a member of our team.**To ensure a secure hiring process, all final candidates will undergo identity verification and a comprehensive background check prior to onboarding.**Job Applicant Privacy Notice: https://careers.quora.com/quora-global-job-applicant-privacy-notice#LI-SS2