Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Search

Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Search

Location: Austin, TX

Category: Technology

Job ID: 2448

Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com has been at the forefront of online real estate for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights and expert guidance to find their perfect home. Through its robust suite of tools, Realtor.com not only makes a significant impact on the real estate industry at large, but for consumers, navigating the biggest purchase they will make in their life, by providing a user experience that is easy to use, easy to understand, and most of all, easy to make decisions.

Join us on our mission to empower more people to find their way home by breaking barriers to entry, making the right connections, and building confidence through expert guidance.

At Realtor.com, were on a mission to revolutionize the way people find and secure their dream homes. Every day, we process terabytes of data to power intelligent search and personalized recommendations that serve millions of home buyers, renters, and real estate professionals. Our core search engine sits at the heart of this experiencehelping users discover the right home faster, with greater confidence.

Were looking for a Principal Machine Learning Engineer to lead and innovate in redefining how search works in real estate. Youll play a crucial role in shaping the intelligence behind our search ranking and relevance models, leveraging state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to transform how users interact with our platform. If youre passionate about applied AI, big data, and building cutting-edge ML solutions that have real-world impact, wed love to hear from you!

Three Reasons to Apply:

• Lead and architect advanced ML solutions for real estate search and recommendations at scale
• Drive technical strategy and innovation in search and personalization
• Mentor and develop talent while shaping the future of the industry

What Youll Do:

• Lead Search Transformation with ML Architect, design, and oversee the development of advanced machine learning models that power our core search ranking and relevance systems, ensuring users find the most relevant listings effortlessly.
• Drive Personalization Strategy Spearhead the development of sophisticated recommendation algorithms to tailor search results based on user behavior, preferences, and intent.
• Architect Scalable Data Pipelines Design and optimize high-performance ETL pipelines to process massive datasets, enabling real-time search intelligence at scale.
• Pioneer AI Innovation Lead the application of cutting-edge techniques in NLP, deep learning, and reinforcement learning to enhance search relevance, query understanding, and ranking.
• Guide Experimentation & Iteration Oversee the design, implementation, and analysis of A/B tests and multivariate experiments to continuously refine our models and improve key engagement metrics.
• Lead Production Deployment & Optimization Architect and guide the deployment of ML models from experimentation to production using AWS, Docker, and scalable distributed systems.
• Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with engineering, product, and data science teams to define new search-driven experiences and ensure seamless deployment of ML solutions.
• Mentor and Develop Talent Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior team members, fostering a culture of innovation and continuous learning.

How We Work:

We balance creativity and innovation on a foundation of in-person collaboration. For most roles, our employees work three or more days in our offices, where they have the opportunity to collaborate in-person, adding richness to our culture and knitting us closer together.

What Youll Bring:

• Advanced Expertise in ML & Search Masters/PhD in computer science, statistics, mathematics, operations research or related fields and 8+ years of relevant experience in data science, machine learning or applied statistics, with a strong background in information retrieval, search ranking, recommendation systems, or related ML applications.
• Extensive Technical Leadership Proven track record of leading large-scale ML projects and driving technical strategy in search or related domains.
• Comprehensive Technical Skills Advanced knowledge of Python, TensorFlow/PyTorch, and SQL. Extensive experience working with large-scale distributed systems and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS). Hands-on experience with search engines, such as Elasticsearch, and experience with vector search and embedding models (e.g., dense retrieval, BERT-based architectures).
• Production ML Mastery Significant experience designing and deploying ML models at scale using cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Kubernetes). Experience deploying ML models in low-latency, production environments.
• Innovative Problem-Solving Skills Demonstrated ability to tackle complex search and ranking challenges, improve user experience, and drive measurable impact through ML solutions.
• Excellent Communication & Leadership Ability to articulate complex ML concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, and to lead and inspire cross-functional teams.
• Industry Recognition Publications, patents, or notable contributions to the field of machine learning, information retrieval, or search technologies.

How We Reward You:

Realtor.com is committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

• Inclusive and competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage.
• Family-forming benefits.
• 13 Paid Holidays.
• Flexible Time Off.
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time Off.
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match.
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs.
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions.
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program.
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location.

This is your opportunity to make a significant impact on how millions of people discover and purchase homes. If youre excited about leading world-class search experiences powered by AI and shaping the future of real estate search, join us and help drive innovation at the forefront of the industry!

Do the best work of your life at Realtor.com

Here, youll partner with a diverse team of experts as you use leading-edge tech to empower everyone to meet a crucial goal: finding their way home. And youll find your way home too. People are our foundationthe core that drives us passionately forward. At Realtor.com, youll bring your full self to work as you innovate with speed, serve our consumers, and champion your teammates. In return, well provide you with a warm, welcoming, and inclusive culture; intellectual challenges; and the development opportunities you need to grow.

Diversity is important to us, therefore, Realtor.com is an Equal Opportunity Employer regardless of age, color, national origin, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital status, status as a disabled veteran and/or veteran of the Vietnam Era or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Realtor.com will provide reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified disabled individuals.