Senior Machine Learning Applied Scientist, Etsy

Machine Learning Team for Growth

$205-237k

+ Equity + Annual performance bonus

GCP
Python
Scala
Java
Airflow
Excel
Tensorflow
Spark
Mid and Senior level
Remote in US
New York

More information about location

Etsy

eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods

Open for applications

Etsy

eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods

1001+ employees

B2CLifestyleMarketplaceeCommerceSales

Open for applications

$205-237k

+ Equity + Annual performance bonus

GCP
Python
Scala
Java
Airflow
Excel
Tensorflow
Spark
Mid and Senior level
Remote in US
New York

More information about location

1001+ employees

B2CLifestyleMarketplaceeCommerceSales

Company mission

To keep human connection at the heart of commerce.

Role

Who you are

  • Proven track record in ML: You have 3+ years of experience building and deploying ML solutions. You’re familiar with modern ML frameworks (such as TensorFlow or Torch), distributed computing, and cloud environments
  • Strong coding skills: You write robust, production-quality code (Python, Scala, Java, or equivalent). You’re experienced with tools like Spark, GCP, and Airflow
  • Hands-on experience across the pipeline: From data extraction and preprocessing to training, evaluating, and deploying models in production environments
  • Comfort in ambiguity: You excel in situations where the scope is not fully defined, proactively finding clarity and driving forward
  • Experience in search or recommender systems: Preferred but not required. This could include ranking algorithms, personalized recommendations, or large-scale search optimization
  • Advanced degree in ML or related field: Preferred but not required. We recognize relevant industry experience can be just as valuable
  • Collaboration and communication: You can articulate complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences and enjoy working on cross-functional teams
  • If you’re excited about using machine learning to propel growth, enjoy taking on new and ambiguous challenges, and want to drive real impact, we’d love to hear from you!
  • You earnestly enjoy coding and love to raise the bar on engineering standards by championing best practices, clean code, and robust testing

What the job involves

  • We’re looking for a Senior Applied Scientist II to join our Machine Learning Team for Growth
  • In this role, you’ll lead initiatives focused on leveraging machine learning to drive business growth across multiple channels—think email, push notifications, and paid advertising
  • You’ll be pioneering new solutions from the ground up, staying abreast of the latest research, and owning the end-to-end ML lifecycle—from data extraction to production deployment
  • This is a full-time position reporting to the Engineering Manager, Ranking Recommendations
  • We’re scrappy and product-minded: we collaborate with teams who aren’t steeped in ML, and bring a clear ML vision that drives real business outcomes
  • We’re not a research team, but we stay current with the latest papers so we can apply proven techniques quickly and effectively
  • We focus on taking projects from 0 to 1 in areas and product spaces where ML is just getting started—think email campaigns, push notifications, and paid ads
  • With 100+ million users and billions of messages and ads sent each month, our work directly impacts Etsy’s growth at a massive scale
  • We strive for strong engineering etiquette—unit tests, design reviews, code reviews, and thorough documentation are all part of our daily workflow
  • Take solutions from 0 to 1: You’ll be comfortable working in ambiguous problem spaces, experimenting, and driving projects from an initial idea to a fully operational ML product. You are comfortable proving out ideas quickly as well as establishing long term solutions
  • Drive business growth through ML: Build and iterate on models that will inform campaigns and strategies for email marketing, push notifications, and paid media efforts
  • Stay current with research: Read cutting-edge ML and AI papers and bring innovative, impactful techniques to solve real-world problems
  • Productionize ML solutions: Develop robust systems for training, deploying, and monitoring ML models at scale
  • Collaborate cross-functionally: Work closely with Applied Scientists, Data Engineers, Product Managers, and other stakeholders to align projects with broader product goals
  • ETL and data analysis: Own critical data pipelines, perform exploratory analysis, and ensure data quality and reliability
  • Experimentation and measurement: Design and execute A/B tests to measure the effectiveness of ML-driven features, iterating quickly based on findings
  • 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

Application process

  • 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

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Insights

Top investors

8% employee growth in 12 months

Company

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

Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)

May 2012

$40m

LATE VC

Aug 2010

$20m

SERIES E

Total funding: $91.7m

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.

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Freddie

Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle