Senior Applied Scientist, Etsy
Growth
More information about location
eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods
Job no longer available
eCommerce platform for handcrafted goods
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To keep human connection at the heart of commerce.
Role
Who you are
- Does using the latest machine learning techniques to help people find the perfect item sound exciting to you? If so, we’d love to hear from you!
- Proven track record in ML: You have 5+ industry years of experience building and deploying impactful ML solutions. You’re familiar with modern ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar, distributed computing, and cloud environments
- Advanced degree in ML, Computer Science, or a related field is preferred but not required. We recognize that relevant industry experience can be just as valuable
- Strong coding skills: You write robust, production-quality code (Python, Scala, Java, PHP, or equivalent) and have experience with tools like Spark, Kubeflow, Airflow, or GCP
- Comfort with ambiguity: You excel in situations where the scope is not fully defined, proactively finding clarity and driving solutions forward
- You have the ability to translate the unique business challenges — including growth, buyer engagement, and personalization experiences — into actionable, data-driven solutions
- You enjoy coding and love to raise the bar on engineering standards by championing best practices, clean code, and robust testing
- You are passionate about experimentation and measurement, continuously iterating based on data to improve model and product performance
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills: You can articulate complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences and thrive in a highly collaborative environment
What the job involves
- Etsy is looking for a Senior Applied Scientist II to join our Growth team
- This team focuses on improving the buyer experience and increasing the number of visits that turn into purchases (aka driving conversion!)
- You'll help us build systems and tools that personalize the shopping journey, ensuring buyers find relevant information at the right time, ultimately helping them discover the perfect handmade or vintage item
- We’re building a new machine learning team to support our product engineering squads, where you’ll play a key role in shaping how we understand our buyers and tailor their experiences
- You'll work hands-on with a cross-disciplinary team to deliver robust, scalable production models and tools that will be A/B tested live on Etsy.com
- Staying at the forefront of ML research, you’ll bring its best ideas to life for millions of Etsy shoppers
- This is a full-time position reporting to the Engineering Manager, Growth
- Collaborate cross-functionally to plan, prioritize and execute projects that align with our product goals. You’ll partner closely with ML engineers, full-stack engineers, applied scientists, and product managers to develop and test large-scale experiments
- Take solutions from 0 to 1: You’ll work comfortably in ambiguous problem spaces, experimenting and driving projects from an initial idea to a fully operational ML product. You will be able to quickly prototype ideas and also establish long-term, scalable solutions
- Drive business growth through ML: Build and iterate on models by applying cutting-edge research and industry practices that will improve the buyer experience while simultaneously driving growth for Etsy
- Leverage experimentation and data: Use insights from previous experiments and research to ideate and implement efficient ML solutions
- Stay current with research: Regularly 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
- Optimize ML models to meet latency SLAs at Etsy’s scale and launch live A/B tests to validate hypotheses
- ETL and data analysis: Own critical data pipelines, perform exploratory analysis, and ensure data quality and reliability
- 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.
Salary benchmarks
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