Machine Learning Scientist III - Search and Personalization

At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business.

Here, you'll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.

Introduction to the team

Our Technology Team partners with teams across Expedia Group to create innovative products, services, and tools to deliver high-quality experiences for travelers, partners, and our employees. A singular technology platform powered by data and machine learning provides secure, differentiated, and personalized experiences that drive loyalty and traveler satisfaction. 

The Whole Trip AI team at Expedia Group enables unforgettable travel experiences. The team’s responsibilities cover search ranking & recommendations for Brand Expedia across core lines of business including Flights, Cars, Packages, and Activities. Additionally, we’re responsible for optimizing our interactions with travelers across this domain, including cache optimization, price forecasting, and next-best action modeling. Our approaches include both traditional ML as well as GenAI-based solutions. We work closely with other teams in the Data & AI organization to continually improve our tools, processes, and platforms for building and deploying industry leading AI solutions. 

The Machine Learning Scientist II will own complex projects within our team’s scope. You will utilize a variety of techniques to solve challenging business problems and act as a full-stack contributor to delivering AI solutions. You will work with a dynamic group of product managers, engineers, and scientists to achieve Expedia’s business goals.   

In this role, you will: 

• Design and implement end-to-end model pipelines to production across multiple product domains, including ranking, recommendations, search, and personalization 

• Develop and maintain scalable data pipelines, data quality checks, and model monitoring to ensure reliability, performance, and responsible behavior of ML systems in production 

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners (product, analytics, engineering) to translate ambiguous business needs into well-scoped ML projects, communicate findings, and influence decision making with data-driven insights 

• Use A/B tests and offline/online evaluation frameworks to measure model impact and guide iterative improvement 

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field; or Equivalent related professional experience 

• 5+ years of relevant professional experience 

• Professional industry experience applying machine learning or statistical modeling to real business problems, including end-to-end model development from data exploration through evaluation and deployment 

• Proficiency in Python and with ML frameworks and libraries for model development, training, and evaluation 

• Demonstrated ability to translate problem statements into well-defined ML tasks, design appropriate model and data structures (including APIs and data models), and own solutions within a defined product, service, or feature area, including familiarity with AI-driven systems, tools, or workflows and applying AI/ML concepts to real world products with attention to safety and reliability 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Graduate degree in a quantitative field (such as Computer Science, Statistics, Machine Learning, Operations Research, or similar) with focused coursework or research in ML, optimization, or statistical modeling 

• Experience with modern ranking & recommendation modeling approaches in an applied, production setting 

• Track record of optimizing ML systems in production, including monitoring, alerting, retraining, and model governance to ensure performance, robustness, and fairness 

• Experience designing and improving ML architectures at scale, including model selection, feature store design, and API/data model choices that support low-latency, high-availability production systems 

• Familiarity with natural language search techniques and agentic workflows 

The total cash range for this position in Seattle is $137,500.00 to $192,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $220,000.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.
The total cash range for this position in Austin is $137,500.00 to $192,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $220,000.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role. The total cash range for this position in San Jose is $149,000.00 to $208,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $238,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.

Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual’s knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.

Benefits and perks

Expedia Group offers benefits and perks designed to support employees and their families, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership. Learn more about life at Expedia Group at https://careers.expediagroup.com/life.

Accommodation requests

Expedia Group is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruiting experience. If you need an accommodation or adjustment due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request at https://expedia.service-now.com/askeg?id=job_accommodation.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.

Important notice

Employment opportunities and job offers at Expedia Group will always come from Expedia Group's Talent Acquisition and hiring teams. Never share sensitive personal information unless you are confident of the recipient. Expedia Group does not extend job offers via email or messaging tools to individuals with whom we have not made prior contact. Our email domain is @expediagroup.com. The official place to find and apply for roles is https://careers.expediagroup.com/jobs/.

Equal Opportunity

Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This employer participates in E-Verify. The employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's I-9 to confirm work authorization.