Director of Engineering, Search Query Understanding and Guidance

Yahoo serves as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo Advertising offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results.

Yahoo Search is one of the most highly scaled applications on the planet. We hire world‑class engineers to support our ambitious product and platform goals in a highly collaborative environment with a strong emphasis on technical excellence and continuous innovation. As we reimagine the future of Search, we are reinventing how hundreds of millions of users find information and accomplish their goals by integrating next-generation AI architecture and expanding our global infrastructure.

The AI/ML Engineering and Science team powers the core guidance, query understanding, orchestration, optimization, and generative search engine for Yahoo. We are committed to solving complex technical challenges at massive scale, combining deep domain knowledge with an AI‑first engineering mindset to deliver intelligent, reliable, and high‑performance user experiences.

• Based on strategic product roadmaps developed collaboratively with product and design, guide the design and implementation of large‑scale, evolving ML‑based solutions and systems across multiple teams.
• Define overarching technical requirements, including comprehensive data strategies to ground knowledge, evaluation frameworks applicable to multiple teams, and scalable production serving strategies.
• Leverage exceptional communication skills to drive technical discussions and alignment across various engineering, product, and research teams, fostering collaborative product development with product and design leads.
• Maintain a strong understanding of industry trends and advancements in AI, including large language and vision models and generative AI, and guide teams in their adoption, informed by underlying data principles and aligned with product vision.
• Drive data analysis efforts across teams to identify key patterns, validate hypotheses, and inform strategic development directions in close partnership with product.
• Embrace and adopt Agentic AI development, leading the team to the best and most effective uses to the benefit of the product and the system.

• 8+ years of track record driving significant impact in the industry, with increasing levels of responsibility and strategic influence.
• Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, Applied Math or related field, or equivalent work experience with a proven record of strategic technical leadership.
• Expertise in AI, machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and a demonstrated ability to apply these technologies to solve strategic business problems.
• Expertise in Python and Java or C++, guiding teams in the development of scalable and robust systems.
• Experience in query understanding and query formulation guidance is desirable.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies ; exercising sound judgment ; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others ; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations ; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don't require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in‑person events or team sessions. You'll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for…