Machine Learning Research Engineer - RICOCHET - Central Technology

Job Title

Machine Learning Research Engineer - RICOCHET - Central Technology

R027933

Call of Duty is one of the most iconic and successful video game franchises in the world, delivering unforgettable experiences to millions of players every day. At the heart of that experience is fair play
, and that is where the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team comes in.

Our mission is to protect the integrity of the online experience, ensuring every player enjoys a level playing field. As a Machine Learning Research Engineer on RICOCHET, you will develop and improve machine learning detections, run experiments and analysis to validate model impact, and partner cross-functionally to help detect, prevent, and respond to cheating across Call of Duty live titles, including Modern Warfare, Black Ops, Warzone, and future franchise releases.

The Machine Learning Research Engineer will detect, prevent, and respond to cheating in Activision games using data, ETL, statistics, and machine learning.

As a Machine Learning Research Engineer in RICOCHET, you’ll fit into cross functional team that focuses on securing the Call of Duty Franchise from cheating. In your role you’ll develop new detections from the data, improve existing detections, and support the rest of RICOCHET through consultation, data analysis, data engineering, and experimentation.

• Collaborate on machine learning projects that enhance detection, prevention, and response to cheating.
• Execute experiments and analysis to validate models and measure their impact on our players.
• Communicate clearly results, impediments, and the impact of your work to the team and stakeholders.
• Work with game designers, engineers, and producers to identify new opportunities for anti-cheat initiatives.
• Stay up to date on the latest advances in the fields of machine learning, anti-cheat technology, and statistical analysis.
• Learn from experts and take mentorship opportunities across the team.

• Master’s degree or equivalent work experience in Data Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience in using data science and machine learning to solve real problems with measurable impact on users and the business.
• Experience managing large data volumes for production purposes.
• Experience developing, evaluating, and improving machine learning models in production
• Competent user of Python and the associated ecosystem of libraries (PySpark, Pandas, XGBoost, PyTorch, etc).
• Strong understanding of data analysis and experimentation, including strong SQL skills.
• Experience with supervised, unsupervised, and deep learning techniques to solve real world problems.
• Strong communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• The ability to learn from senior team members and to contribute to the growth and success of other team members.

• Experience in threat intelligence, open-source intelligence, online research, fraud or anti-cheat investigations, or similar.
• Experience working with adversarial machine learning, anomaly detection, graph analytics, or behavioral modeling.
• Experience with machine learning in game security, game development, and anti-cheat software.
• Video game enthusiasm and understanding of the gameplay mechanics in Warzone.

Activision Central Tech works to support our development studios and their titles. Comprised of seven main teams, we have many specialties including big data, privacy and security, motion capture and animation pipeline technologies, graphics, build and infrastructure for studio development and data centers, optimization, systems programming and online services including matchmaking and networking. Central Tech is distributed globally with offices across the U.S., and in Canada, England, and Ireland.

Most of our teams are comprised of both engineering and research talent, allowing us to always have an eye on the future. Our dedicated engineers help with title development and provide valuable knowledge sharing between studios while our researchers are action-oriented and keep a strong connection…