Senior Software Engineer, Discord
Machine Learning, Ads
$220-247k
+ Equity
Voice, video and text communication platform
Open for applications
Voice, video and text communication platform
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$220-247k
+ Equity
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help friends and communities come together to hang out and explore their interests.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of experience as a Machine Learning Engineer or Data Scientist
- 3+ years of experience specifically in Ads ML (ads ranking, personalization, optimization, privacy-compliant user modeling, targeting, or measurement)
- Strong proficiency in Python and familiarity with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow
- Experience with applied deep learning (e.g transformers, embedding models)
- Proven track record of designing, implementing, and scaling ML-driven ad systems in real-world applications
- Experience working with real-time ML inference, A/B testing, and optimization frameworks
- Experience translating ML evaluation results and performance metrics into actionable product roadmap items
- Ability to connect business objectives to ML solutions, with the flexibility to shift focus toward the highest-impact problems as priorities evolve
Desirable
- Strong understanding of performance advertising and how ML impacts revenue and advertiser retention
- Knowledge of ad tech industry standards and ads ecosystem including targeting, retrieval, ranking, pacing, frequency, auction, etc
- Experience with large-scale recommendation systems
- Experience with large-scale data infrastructure and distributed computing
What the job involves
- We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer specializing in Machine Learning to join our Revenue ML team at Discord. This team partners with our revenue product groups, focusing on both consumer revenue and our emerging Ads initiative
- This role will specifically contribute to our Ads ML efforts, helping to build and scale ML capabilities in areas such as ads measurement, targeting, and delivery ranking
- As part of this team, you will play a critical role in developing foundational ML models that enhance ad relevance, optimize performance, and drive revenue
- This is a unique opportunity to work on an early-stage Ads ML platform and have a direct impact on the business's success
- Design, develop, and deploy machine learning models for ads targeting and ranking
- Develop sophisticated ML solutions such as identity graph to enhance ad targeting
- Build and optimize ad ranking models to serve the most effective ads based on campaign objectives (e.g., app installs, link click)
- Improve ads targeting and ranking by leveraging both on-platform and off-platform signals
- Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and business teams to define and execute on the Ads ML roadmap
- Scale our ML infrastructure to support an increasing number of concurrent ad campaigns while ensuring low-latency decision-making
- Drive research and implementation of state-of-the-art ML techniques in the field of online advertising
Our take
Discord is an industry giant in the chat app space. The free platform has rapidly become one of the most popular services in the sector since being founded in 2015. It counts over 90M daily active users in 19M communities, successfully expanding beyond its original focus on video game players to become a broader social networking app and public forum.
Discord's userbase has grown rapidly as remote work has become the norm and a new generation of internet users has come online, attracted to its youthful presentation and plethora of gaming and social tools. It has since fended off takeover bids from Microsoft and interest from other giants such as Amazon and X, and has grown into a profitable company, funded by optional subscription fees and commissions from sales through the platform.
Discord's remarkable growth, however, isn't without obstacles. The company faces competition from deep-pocketed rivals such as Meta and ongoing scrutiny over moderation and user safety. Despite this, Discord has continued to strengthen its platform through investments in privacy and accessibility, including the rollout of end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls for all users and the launch of a native Windows on ARM app to improve performance on next-generation devices. Alongside acquisitions such as Sentropy and Gas, these developments show just how hard Discord is pushing beyond its gaming roots.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
28% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Sep 2021
$500m
SERIES H
Dec 2020
$100m
SERIES H
Total funding: $979.3m
Company benefits
- Discord HQ: At Discord, we believe great work can happen anywhere, whether in person or virtually. Our flexible work model empowers our people to choose where they work best: at home, in one of our offices like our San Francisco HQ, or a mix of both.
- Grow together: Look forward to developing both professionally and personally alongside your colleagues at Discord. All of our managers go through a leadership program, and we offer enriching trainings for everyone. No matter what your interests or skills are, there's a place on our platform for you to find and build belonging.
- Money matters: Discord strives to offer fair and competitive compensation packages, including equity. You'll have room to grow and be rewarded based on your contributions and impact at the company. Take advantage of our retirement offerings (including 401k matching in the US) to meet your financial goals.
- Health benefits; At Discord, we health-care about you! We offer medical, dental, vision, reproductive, gender-affirming, and mental healthcare to our employees.
- Family support: Spend some quality time with the next generation with 12+ weeks parental leave, as well as fertility, adoption, and surrogacy benefits.
- R&R: Stay refreshed with four weeks of PTO, 16 paid holidays each year including a week off for the winter holidays, and flexible sick time (which includes mental health days).
- Wellness on us: Take advantage of a $375 quarterly stipend for your gym membership or other activities to keep you feeling great.
- Giving back: Whatever social cause you're passionate about, take a day (or two) off to make an impact. While you're at it, take advantage of $1,000/year in donation matching to charitable organizations!
Company HQ
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Stanislav Vishnevskiy
(Co-Founder & CTO)Previously worked as a Software Engineer at Casamba and then Kabam. Also worked as a Lead Software Engineer at GREE International, and founded social network Guildwork.com in 2009.
Humam Sakhnini
(CEO)Humam joined the Discord team in 2025 as CEO. Prior to this, they were the Vice Chairman and Chief Strategy & Talent Officer at Activision Blizzard as well as the CFO/President at King. They also spent 8 years at McKinsey & Company as a Partner.
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