Distinguished Engineer, Machine Learning - Discovery

San Mateo, CA · San Mateo · USD 419,390-457,970 / year · 10+ years experience · Full-time · Onsite · Posted Sep 25, 2026

At a glance

The Distinguished Engineer, Machine Learning - Discovery will lead the technical vision and execution for machine learning initiatives across search and recommendation teams.
This role focuses on connecting users with content through large-scale personalization to drive engagement and retention.
The position involves balancing research with practical implementation of ML solutions, including traditional models and Generative AI.

Own the technical direction and implementation for machine learning solutions powering search and recommendation systems.
Author specifications for new features and improvements.
Set AI strategy and drive outcomes across candidate generation, ranking, objective functions, and value delivery.
Build and evolve infrastructure for training, serving, and evaluating traditional ML and Generative AI models.
Co-design models and systems at the intersection of model architecture and infrastructure.
Lead other engineers through technical direction and individual contribution.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure products align with community and company goals.
Balance research of new technologies with practical application in Roblox products.
Collaborate with industry communities and act as an ambassador for Roblox.

10+ years of experience delivering and improving large-scale search and recommendation systems.
Experience crafting and building large-scale machine learning models with billions of parameters and launching them into production.
Capability to break down long-term product requirements into iterative deliverable stages.
Experience initiating and facilitating technical decisions across multiple teams and organizations.
Deep technical expertise with a user-centric approach.
Generalist approach with mastery of several languages and technologies.
Ability to perform hands-on data and machine learning problem-solving.
BS in Computer Science or a related discipline.