Staff Applied Scientist, Etsy
Search Ranking
$242-283k
+ Equity + Annual Bonus
More information about location
eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods
Open for applications
eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$242-283k
+ Equity + Annual Bonus
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To keep human connection at the heart of commerce.
Role
Who you are
- Deep ML Expertise: Significant industry experience in Applied Science or Machine Learning, with a proven track record of delivering impactful solutions in eCommerce or in related areas such as search, recommendation, or advertising
- Search & Ranking Specialization: Proven success designing, implementing, and optimizing large-scale systems using techniques such as learning-to-rank (LTR), representation learning, and relevance optimization modeling
- Production-ready ML Engineering: Strong hands-on experience deploying ML models at scale, including model serving, monitoring, end-to-end feature development and experimentation pipelines
- Collaboration & Technical Leadership: Track record of driving cross-functional projects, mentoring junior team members, and aligning technical work with strategic product goals
What the job involves
- As a Staff Applied Scientist II on Etsy’s Search Ranking Team, you will play a pivotal role in developing and optimizing algorithms that determine the relevance and ranking of listings in our search engine
- You will leverage advanced machine learning techniques to analyze user behavior, item attributes, and contextual data to ensure that buyers find the most relevant products and have delightful shopping experience
- This role involves collaborating closely with fellow applied scientists, machine learning engineers, product managers, and analytics partners to drive data-driven decisions and implement scalable solutions that enhance the search experience
- This is a full-time position reporting to the Engineering Manager
- Search Ranking Team is a dynamic and collaborative group of passionate individuals dedicated to improving how buyers discover unique items on Etsy. We own the systems that power Etsy Search Ranking—responsible for how listings are ranked, evaluated, and optimized across the marketplace
- Designing, building and maintaining the ranking systems that power Etsy Search operating at massive scale across diverse buyer intents
- Evolving ranking stacks using state-of-the-art ML models, including neural architectures, learn to rank models, representation learning, natural language understanding, and multimodal modeling, to drive more personalized and relevant search results
- Applying multi-objective optimization to balance key business and user outcomes such as relevance, engagement, seller diversity, and long-term marketplace health
- Monitoring marketplace signals to ensure search innovations align with Etsy’s mission and support sustainable growth
- You will conduct applied ML research to leverage the latest advancements to innovate and improve Etsy’s search system
- You will prototype, optimize, and productionize scalable ML models in the production framework
- You will design and execute both offline evaluations and online A/B experiments to ensure model effectiveness and impact
- You will work with cross-functional teams and partner with product and stakeholders to prioritize and lead projects that align technical solutions with company goals and product objectives
- You will mentor and support junior team members to help them produce high-quality machine learning solutions
- 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
Our take
Created as an alternative to more corporate eCommerce sites, Etsy is a peer-to-peer (P2P) website where users buy and sell handmade crafts, vintage items, art, and photography. The online marketplace works similarly to Amazon and eBay, only with an emphasis on unique items rather than mass-produced merchandise.
Since its IPO in 2015, it has managed to hold its own in an increasingly competitive eCommerce industry, including from Amazon's handmade section that launched in 2015. Further, by providing sellers with ownership over pricing and branding, the site is attractive for those wanting to set up a business on an established platform.
However, the seller-side of Etsy is not without problems. The recent hike in transaction fees and the introduction of mandatory marketing fees for artists with high turnovers has created significant discontent amongst sellers. Etsy must reconcile these issues to ensure artists continue to operate on the same scale within the platform. It plans to attract shoppers with its message of extraordinary, handmade and affordable products.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
8% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
May 2012
$40m
LATE VC
Aug 2010
$20m
SERIES E
Total funding: $91.7m
Company benefits
- Equity (offers vary by country)
- Performance bonuses
- Paid gender neutral parental leave
- Adoption and family planning
- Back-up care
- Volunteer time off
- Donation matching
- Employee resource groups
- Global virtual events
- Employer paid health benefits
- Fitness benefits
- Wellness programming
- Mental health benefits
- 401K matching/Pension contributions
Company HQ
Downtown Brooklyn, NY
Leadership
Josh Silverman
(CEO)Previously senior executive at eBay, CEO of Shopping.com, CEO of Skype and President of Consumer Products & Services at American Express.
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