Staff ML Engineer - Ad Ranking & Deep Learning

The Briefed; San Mateo (CA); Híbrido; USD 190.000 - 280.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Roblox is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer for the Performance Advertising team in a hybrid role anchored at San Mateo HQ. You will develop deep learning models and scalable recommendation systems powering the ad ranking platform for a global audience.

The role requires 5+ years of production ML experience, expertise in transformers, PyTorch/TF, and strong leadership to drive architectural decisions across engineering teams.

Formación

• 5+ years of professional experience designing, building, and scaling ML solutions in production.
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or related field; Master’s/PhD is a plus.

Responsabilidades

• Drive end-to-end design and deployment of ML models for ad ranking, bid optimization, and retrieval.
• Architect and scale large-scale recommendation models with real-time inference.
• Author detailed specifications for ML platforms, offline feature pipelines, and real-time serving.
• Balance cutting-edge research with practical product execution to productionize models.
• Partner with product, platform engineering, and data teams as a technical ambassador.

Conocimientos

Transformer training

Inference optimization

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Distributed training

Vector search

Real-time serving pipelines

Leadership

Educación

Bachelor’s in CS or related technical discipline

Master’s or PhD a definite plus

Herramientas

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Descripción del empleo

Every day, tens of millions of people come to Roblox to explore, create, play, learn, and connect within 3D immersive digital experiences. Roblox's mission is to connect a billion people with optimism and civility across any device worldwide.

As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer on the Performance Advertising team, you will develop deep learning-based models and large-scale recommendation systems to power Roblox's rapidly growing ad ranking platform. Working on an ad engine in its foundational stages, you will design world-class ML architectures from the ground up—building ad ranking algorithms, CTR/CVR prediction models, and personalized advertising experiences that deliver value to global advertisers and community members alike.

Key Responsibilities

• Ad Ranking & Deep Learning: Drive the end-to-end design, implementation, and deployment of machine learning models for ad ranking algorithms, bid optimization, and ad retrieval.


• Large-Scale Recommendation Models: Architect and scale multi-stage recommendation models handling massive real-time inference workloads and sparse features.


• System Architecture & Specs: Author detailed technical specifications for new ML platform capabilities, offline feature pipelines, and real-time model serving infrastructure.


• Applied Research & Productionization: Balance cutting-edge ML research with practical, user-first product execution to integrate state-of-the-art model architectures into production.


• Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner across internal product, platform engineering, and data teams while serving as a technical ambassador for Roblox in the broader ML community.

Academic & Years of Experience

• 5+ years of professional experience designing, building, and scaling machine learning solutions for real-world production environments.


• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or a related technical discipline (Master’s degree or Ph.D. is a definite plus).

Technical Competencies & Skills

• Proven track record of shipping production-grade machine learning models for ad tech, search, recommendation systems, or personalized ranking.


• Strong technical leadership capabilities, with experience driving complex architectural decisions across multiple engineering organizations.


• User-centric engineering mindset with the ability to translate ambiguous product requirements into high-performing ML solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with transformer-based model training, inference optimization, and product integration in ad-ranking or recommendation contexts.


• Deep understanding of deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow), distributed training, vector search, and real-time serving pipelines.

Work Logistics & Visa Sponsorship Notice

• Workplace Model: Hybrid model requiring in-office attendance at San Mateo HQ on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (Mondays/Fridays optional).


• Visa Sponsorship Note: Roblox currently may not be able to support future H-1B sponsorship or candidates holding certain U.S. visa categories for this specific role.