Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Search

Warner Media, LLC.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 192,570 - 357,630; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Employee wellness program

Retirement savings plan

Job summary

Warner Media, LLC. is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to lead the design and evolution of search and personalization algorithms for HBO Max. You will oversee the entire innovation process of search algorithms to enhance user content discovery globally.

Seeking candidates with extensive experience in ML systems and strong leadership skills. Responsibilities include driving technical strategy, mentoring teams, and influencing product development.

The role is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and offers competitive compensation and benefits.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of industry experience, with 4+ years as tech lead experience preferred.
• Deep expertise in search and/or ranking algorithms.
• Strong experience building large‑scale ML systems in production.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and development of large‑scale model driven search algorithms.
• Define and evolve the technical strategy for search.
• Drive end‑to‑end ML systems including data pipelines and model serving.
• Mentor engineers and data scientists.
• Partner closely with product, data, and infrastructure teams.

Skills

Technical leadership

Search algorithms expertise

Python programming

Distributed systems

Communication skills

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Job description

Staff Machine Learning Engineer – Search & Personalization, Content Discovery

Location: Seattle, San Francisco Bay Area, New York

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 both deep expertise in search/relevance systems and strong technical leadership.

You’ll help 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 be an advocate for doing 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.

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.

If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our Accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.

Compensation and Benefits

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.