Staff Machine Learning Engineer – Search

Warner Bros. Discovery

Staff Machine Learning Engineer leading the design and evolution of ML-driven Search algorithms for HBO Max. Focusing on retrieval and ranking to improve content discovery for millions of users globally.

Posted 6/18/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California, New York, Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $192,570 - $357,630 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudDistributed SystemsGoGoogle Cloud PlatformJavaPythonSQL

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

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

Requirements

What you’ll need

8+ years of industry experience
4+ years as tech lead experience (preferred)
Deep expertise in search and/or ranking algorithms (e.g., retrieval, LTR, semantic search)
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

Benefits

Comp & perks

health insurance coverage
employee wellness program
life and disability insurance
retirement savings plan
paid holidays and sick time and vacation

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

search algorithmsranking algorithmsretrievalLTRsemantic searchmachine learning systemsdata pipelinesfeature engineeringmodel trainingSQL

Soft Skills

leadershipmentoringcommunicationcross-functional collaborationinfluencemotivationinspirationculture of experimentationdata-driven innovation