Principal AI/ML Engineer

Job Title:

Principal AI/ML Engineer

Requisition ID:

R023976

Job Description:

Your Mission

We are looking for engineers and scientists with expertise in machine learning (ML) to join Activision Publishing’s (AP) Central Technology (CT) organization. Activision’s CT organization provides global leadership, engineering support, analysis, and recommendations across various specialized disciplines for AP’s studios and projects. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with designing, training, and deploying machine learning and deep learning (DL) models in use cases such as recommender systems.

This role will be instrumental in developing a new generation of tools enabling the Activision content creators to build the large worlds powering the next evolution of Call of Duty and Warzone. The focus will be on developing systems and workflows to suggest and assist with model placement, level layout, scene annotation and other creative and technical choices needed to bring large and complex environments to life.

What you bring to the table

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:    

• Analyze the substantial amounts of existing data in previously built worlds and games.
• Suggest areas suited for machine learning applications and help implement the solutions.
• Expose solutions to the content creation teams in an accessible and user-friendly way
• Stay up to date with current developments in the field and help integrate academic solutions into a production environment.
• Build a small team of talent to grow and support the applications of machine learning to assist in content creation.

Year One Success

• Significant transformation of day-to-day workflow for content creators by building systems that allow more flexible and efficient approaches to authoring content.
• A framework to allow for easier development and deployment of solutions to new problem areas.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• Computer science or adjacent technical background, preferably in the game space or academia.
• Experience with libraries such as PyTorch, TensorFlow or equivalent.

Knowledge & Skills

• A university-level degree in computer science or related field is typical but not required if there is a demonstrated history of competence and success in machine learning and similar systems.
• Able to work in a large, constantly evolving code base.

Key Attributes

• The ability to build trust in a large organization with many independent operating functional units.

Your Platform

Activision Central Tech works to support our development studios and their titles. Comprised of seven main teams, we have many specialties including big data, privacy and security, motion capture and animation pipeline technologies, graphics, build and infrastructure for studio development and data centers, optimization, systems programming and online services including matchmaking and networking. Central Tech is distributed globally with offices across the U.S., and in Canada, England, Ireland and Japan.

Most of our teams are comprised of both engineering and research talent, allowing us to always have an eye on the future. Our dedicated engineers help with title development and provide valuable knowledge to studios while our researchers make things happen and keep a strong connection with the needs of the game studios.

Central Tech is part of Activision. To learn more about us and our research, please visit us at https://research.activision.com/.

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization. 

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up. 

Ready to Activate Your Future? 

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

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, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $154,100.00 - $285,084.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.