Machine Learning Engineer, Programmatic Ads

What You'll Do

• Design and implement algorithms for real‑time bidding, ad scoring/ranking, inventory selection, and yield optimization across multiple exchanges.
• Own end‑to‑end ML systems: problem framing, metrics, data/feature design, model training, evaluation, and online experimentation.
• Introduce and product ionize new exchange and supply signals (e.g., quality, conversions, identity, fraud, content understanding) to unlock incremental advertiser value.
• Partner closely with Ads Ranking & Bidding, Measurement, and Programmatic Engineering to integrate new models and objectives into the ads stack.
• Use AI to accelerate analysis, experimentation, and iteration (e.g., exploring model variants, automating path from learnings to launch) while applying strong judgment and vision.

• Industry experience building and shipping large‑scale production ML systems in ads, search, recommendations, or related domains.
• Deep experience with control/optimization algorithms for bidding, pacing, allocation, or similar marketplace problems.
• Strength in probabilistic modeling and measurement (e.g., quality/fraud signals, deep‑learning engagement prediction) and making principled trade‑offs between coverage, accuracy, and impact.
• Proven Staff‑level technical leadership as an IC: driving technical direction and cross‑team alignment without formal people management.
• Demonstrated ability to use AI to improve speed and quality of your workflow, with a strong track record of validating and stress‑testing AI‑assisted outputs.
• Degree in Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• Experience with Cursor, Copilot, Codex, or similar AI coding assistants for development, debugging, testing, and refactoring.
• Familiarity with LLM‑powered productivity tools for documentation search, experiment analysis, SQL/data exploration, and engineering workflow acceleration.

This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our Pin Flex page to learn more about our working model.

The role will need to be in the office for in‑person collaboration three times per quarter and therefore needs to be in a commutable distance from one of the following offices:
San Francisco, Palo Alto, Seattle.

Base salary range: $222,716 – $389,753 USD. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition or genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws.

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.

By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.