Senior Machine Learning Engineer; Recommendations

Overview

Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Recommendations) – apply for the role at Scribd, Inc.

At Scribd (pronounced “scribbed”), our mission is to spark human curiosity. Join our team as we create a world of stories and knowledge, democratize the exchange of ideas and information, and empower collective expertise through our three products:
Everand, Scribd, and Slideshare.

We support a culture where our employees can be real and be bold; where we debate and commit as we embrace plot twists; and where every employee is empowered to take action as we prioritize the customer. When it comes to workplace structure, we balance individual flexibility with community connections. Scribd Flex allows employees, in partnership with their manager, to choose the daily work style that best fits their needs, while occasional in-person attendance may be required.

We hire for “GRIT” – the intersection of passion and perseverance toward long-term goals. The acronym defines our standards:
Goals, Results, Innovation, and Team through collaboration and attitude.

The Recommendations team powers personalized discovery across Scribd’s products, delivering relevant and engaging suggestions to millions of users. We operate at the intersection of large-scale data, cutting-edge machine learning, and product innovation — collaborating across brands and platforms to enhance user experiences in reading, listening, and learning. Our team is a blend of frontend, backend, and ML engineers who partner closely with product managers, data scientists, and analysts.

• Data Pipelines – Collaborate with engineering and analytics teams to build large-scale ingestion, transformation, and validation pipelines on Databricks.
• Model Development & Deployment – Train, evaluate, and deploy ML models (including generative models) to production using Scribd’s internal platform and industry-standard frameworks.
• Experimentation – Design and run A/B and N-way experiments to measure the impact of model and feature changes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Partner with product managers, data scientists, and analysts to identify opportunities, define requirements, and deliver solutions that solve real user problems.

Must Have

• 4+ years of experience as a professional ML or software engineer, with a proven track record of delivering production ML systems at scale.
• Proficiency in at least one key programming language (preferably Python or Golang; Scala or Ruby also considered).
• Expertise in designing and architecting large-scale ML pipelines and distributed systems.
• Deep experience with distributed data processing frameworks (Spark, Databricks, or similar).
• Strong cloud expertise (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and experience with deployment platforms (ECS, EKS, Lambda).
• Proven ability to optimize system performance and make informed trade-offs in ML model and system design.
• Experience leading technical projects and mentoring engineers.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent professional experience.

Nice to Have

• Experience with embedding-based retrieval, large language models, advanced recommendation or ranking systems.
• Expertise in experimentation design, causal inference, or ML evaluation methodologies.

• Benefits/perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Scribd and the geographical location where you work.
• Healthcare Insurance Coverage (Medical/Dental/Vision): 100% paid for employees
• 12 weeks paid parental leave
• Short-term/long-term disability plans
• 401k/RSP matching
• Onboarding stipend for home office peripherals + accessories
• Learning & Development allowance
• Learning & Development programs
• Quarterly stipend for Wellness, WiFi, etc.
• Mental Health support & resources
• Free subscription to the Scribd Inc. suite of products
• Referral Bonuses
• Book Benefit
• Sabbaticals
• Company-wide events
• Team engagement budgets
• Vacation & Personal Days
• Paid Holidays (+ winter break)
• Flexible Sick Time
• Volunteer Day
• Company-wide Employee Resource Groups and programs that foster an inclusive and diverse workplace.
• Access to AI Tools:
  Free access to best-in-class AI tools to boost productivity and accelerate innovation.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, and believe that a diversity of perspectives and experiences create the best ideas. Scribd is an equal opportunity employer.

Seniority level:
Mid-Senior level

Employment type:

Full-time

Job function:
Engineering and Information Technology

Industries:
Software Development