Senior Staff Data Scientist

Company Description
Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. We build, power, and evolve the tools and technologies that connect millions of entrepreneurs with millions of buyers around the world. As an Etsy Inc. employee, whether a team member of Etsy, Reverb, or Depop, you will tackle unique, meaningful, and large-scale problems alongside passionate coworkers, all the while making a rewarding impact and Keeping Commerce Human.

Salary Range:

What’s the role?

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Senior Staff Applied Scientist to drive innovation and development in our Recommendations Initiative. This role will focus on designing, building, and optimizing large-scale, buyer-facing machine learning (ML) systems that deliver highly personalized recommendations that can help buyers discover the best of Etsy, and  match them to items that they love. As a senior technical leader, you will shape the technical direction of our recommendation systems, mentor team members, and collaborate with cross-functional partners to deliver a transformative shopping experience for Etsy buyers. 

This is a full-time position reporting to the Engineering Director. In addition to salary, you will also be eligible for an equity package, an annual performance bonus, and our competitive benefits that support you and your family as part of your total rewards package at Etsy. 
 

For this role, we are considering candidates based in the United States. Candidates living within commutable distance of Etsy’s Brooklyn Office Hub or in the San Francisco Bay Area may be the first to be considered. For candidates within commutable distance, Etsy requires in-office attendance once or twice per week depending on your proximity to the office. Etsy offers different work modes to meet the variety of needs and preferences of our team. Learn more details about our  work modes and workplace safety policies here.

What’s this team like at Etsy?

The Recommendations organization aims to improve Etsy’s discovery experience through personalized recommendations. We are a diverse group of full-stack engineers and machine learning scientists.

What does the day-to-day look like?

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of a personalized discovery experience  that drives long-term customer engagement and business impact.

• Apply state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to improve recommendations retrieval, ranking, and personalization methods.

• Collaborate closely with product, design, ML, and software engineers to execute on recommendation strategies.

• Drive research initiatives and stay ahead of emerging trends in Applied ML, deep learning, and recommendation algorithms.

• Provide technical mentorship and leadership across teams, influencing best practices and strategic decisions.

• Of course, this is just a sample of the kinds of work this role will require! You should assume that your role will encompass other tasks, too, and that your job duties and responsibilities may change from time to time at Etsy's discretion, or otherwise applicable with local law.

Qualities that will help you thrive in this role are:

• Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.

• 8+ years of industry experience in Applied Machine Learning

• Proven experience designing and implementing personalized recommendation systems 

• Deep understanding of ML algorithms, deep learning, reinforcement learning, ranking systems, and retrieval models.

• Experience optimizing ranking models, reinforcement learning-based recommenders, or multi-objective optimization frameworks

• Strong software engineering skills, with proficiency in Python, Java, Scala, or similar languages.

• Experience with distributed computing frameworks (e.g., Spark, Hadoop) and cloud-based ML platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).

• Hands-on experience with ML tools and frameworks such as TensorFlow and PyTorch

• Strong leadership, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to work cross-functionally.

• Experience working with large-scale datasets, experimentation platforms (e.g., A/B testing), and real-time inference architectures.

• Track record of published research or contributions to the ML community.

Additional Information

What's Next
If you're interested in joining the team at Etsy, please share your resume with us and feel free to include a cover letter if you'd like. As we hope you've seen already, Etsy is a place that values individuality and variety. We don't want you to be like everyone else -- we want you to be like you! So tell us what you're all about.

Our Promise
At Etsy, we believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace furthers relevance, resilience, and longevity. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. Etsy is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during any part of the interview process, please let your recruiter know. While Etsy supports visa sponsorship, sponsorship opportunities may be limited to certain roles and skills.