Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Recommender Systems

Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of.

Who We Are…

When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next…

From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.

About You

We are looking for a passionate Machine Learning Engineer to build and scale the DTC personalization systems and services for our new global streaming app, Max, as well as any future DTC streaming apps. You will be in the unique role of acting as a leader who can work seamlessly with modeling and engineering teams and can build and contribute to architecting a system that serves millions of users worldwide. As an engineering leader, you are excited about working in an environment that fosters innovation via prototyping, development, experimentation and productionalization. You will bring the right balance between rapid feature iteration and building a common set of platforms and tools to move quickly in the future.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build and scale a recommendation system that powers a state of the art search & personalization experience to users across Max, HBO, Discovery+ and other WBD offerings
• Collaborate with other ML/Ops engineers to develop and improve core components, infrastructure and architecture to train, deploy and serve models at scale
• Collaborate with data scientists, engineers, product teams and other key stakeholders and drive ML projects from conception to completion
• Use and build upon open-source cloud computing technologies
• Participate and support engineering leaders in strategic planning and demonstrate good judgment in setting and delivering against strategic goals for the team
• Mentor, influence engineers across organizations and lead by example with high quality examples of your work at the organization level
• Motivate, inspire and create a culture of experimentation and data-driven innovation while constantly striving to be an advocate for doing what is right for our customers

Requirements

• 8+ years of industry experience, with 4+ years as tech lead experience (preferred)
• Deep practical knowledge of large scale recommender systems, or large scale ML ranking/retrieval/targeting systems
• Knowledge of large-scale distributed application architecture, design, implementation and performance tuning
• Good practical knowledge in modern machine learning lifecycle.
• 5+ years of programming experience using Python/Java with ability to rapidly prototype ideas, and refine towards production.
• Ability to drive roadmap and directions of scalable production quality systems end-to-end.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills, be comfortable presenting to large audiences
• Advanced degree (M.S., or Ph.D.), or equivalent industry experience in software engineering, computer science, machine learning or related fields
• Experience with one of the cloud platforms AWS/GCP/Azure
• Experience with CI/CD tools like GitHub Actions, Jenkins etc.

How We Get Things Done…

This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society and the world around us. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.

If you’re a qualified candidate and you require adjustments or accommodations to search for a job opening or apply for a position, please contact us at

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, skill set, experience, and/or performance. Base pay is just one component of Warner Bros. Discovery’s total compensation package for employees. Pay Range: $145,600.00 - $270,400.00 salary per year. Other rewards may include annual bonuses, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition, Warner Bros. Discovery provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, an employee wellness program, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays and sick time and vacation.