Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Search

Warner Bros. Discovery; Bellevue (WA); Hybrid; USD 192,570 - 357,630; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance coverage

Employee wellness program

Retirement savings plan

Job summary

Warner Bros. Discovery is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to lead the development of ML-driven search algorithms for HBO Max. The role involves end-to-end innovation impacting content discovery for millions of users globally. The ideal candidate will bring technical leadership in search systems and mentor other engineers.

This role offers a competitive salary range of $192,570 - $357,630 per year alongside benefits including health insurance, wellness programs, and retirement plans.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of industry experience, with 4+ years in a tech lead role preferred.
• Deep expertise in search and/or ranking algorithms.
• Strong programming skills in Python (Java/Go a plus).

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of large-scale model driven search algorithms.
• Define and evolve the technical strategy for search.
• Mentor engineers and data scientists.

Skills

Search/relevance systems

Large-scale ML systems

Python

Online experimentation

Communication skills

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

Staff MLE, Search & Personalization, Content Discovery

Location: Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, New York

About You

We’re looking for a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to lead the design and evolution of ML and AI driven Search algorithms for our global streaming app, HBO Max. This role will own the end-to-end search algorithm innovation from retrieval and ranking to personalization and experimentation, impacting how millions of users discover content globally. You will operate at the intersection of ML, systems, and product, bringing deep expertise in search/relevance systems and strong technical leadership, helping to define the roadmap, drive architecture decisions, and elevate the team’s ability to build and iterate on high‑quality search experiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of large‑scale model driven search algorithms including retrieval, ranking, and query understanding.
• Define and evolve the technical strategy for search, balancing relevance, latency, and scalability.
• Drive end‑to‑end ML systems: data pipelines, feature engineering, model training, experimentation, and serving.
• Partner closely with product, data, and infrastructure teams to shape and execute on the search roadmap and user experience.
• Mentor engineers and data scientists and raise the bar on algorithm development, system design, ML, and engineering practices.
• Identify and drive high‑impact opportunities across search and personalization.
• Motivate, inspire and create a culture of experimentation and data‑driven innovation while constantly striving to advocate for what is right for our customers.

Requirements

• 8+ years of industry experience, with 4+ years as tech lead experience (preferred).
• Deep expertise in search and/or ranking algorithms (e.g., retrieval, LTR, semantic search, query understanding, entity recognition).
• Strong experience building large‑scale ML systems in production.
• Proven ability to lead technical direction and influence across teams.
• Experience with online experimentation and metrics‑driven development.
• Strong programming skills in Python (Java/Go a plus).
• Experience with distributed systems and cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Solid understanding of data fundamentals (SQL, pipelines, feature stores).
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work cross‑functionally.

Nice to Have

• Experience with recommender systems or personalization.
• Experience with NLP techniques.
• Familiarity with vector search / ANN (Faiss, ScaNN, etc.).
• Experience in streaming, marketplace, or content discovery platforms.

How We Get Things Done

Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, skill set, experience, and/or performance. Base pay is just one component of Warner Bros. Discovery’s total compensation package for employees. Pay Range: $192,570.00 - $357,630.00 salary per year. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, short‑ and long‑term incentives, and program‑specific awards. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, an employee wellness program, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays and sick time and vacation.
If you’re a qualified candidate with an arrest or conviction record, please know that your application will be considered in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.