Job Description

WHAT'S THE ROLE?

Etsy is hiring a Machine Learning Engineer in the Retrieval Sciences team. We develop efficient, state-of-the-art, large-scale search models that sift through a universe of nearly a hundred million special, extraordinary items to help Etsy buyers find something they will love.

As a Machine Learning Engineer, you will work closely with fellow engineers and applied scientists to improve the search experience of our buyers. Working hands-on with your collaborators, you will deliver robust production models that will be A/B tested live on Etsy.com! Does helping people find the perfect handmade or vintage good from using efficient, scalable techniques from the latest ML research sound exciting to you? If so, we could be the perfect match.

This is a full-time position reporting to the Senior Engineering Manager for Retrieval Sciences and the base salary range will be 142,000 - 184,000 USD per year. In addition to salary, you will also be eligible for an equity package, an annual performance bonus, and our competitive benefits that support you and your family as part of your total rewards package at Etsy. For this role, we are considering candidates based in the United States who are either remote, flex, or office-based. Etsy offers different work modes to meet the variety of needs and preferences of our team. Learn more about our flexible work options and vaccination policy here.

WHAT’S THIS TEAM LIKE AT ETSY?

At Retrieval Sciences, we build retrieval engines that power multiple applications in Etsy, including search at etsy.com. We apply the latest techniques from ML, NLP, and IR research at Etsy’s scale, including:

• Distributed, highly efficient inverted indexes written in Rust, incorporating the latest optimization research in lexical sparse retrieval.
• Graph models that learn from billions of previous interactions between our buyers and sellers.
• Deep neural dense retrieval models powered by Transformers and fast approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search.

WHAT DOES THE DAY-TO-DAY LOOK LIKE?

Our team of applied scientists, ML engineers, data analysts, and product managers work as a multi-functional team in a primarily remote setting. In our team, you will:

• Build data ETL pipelines for new ML features.
• Iterate quickly to design, implement, optimize, and test new modeling improvements in both offline and production A/B experiment settings.
• Optimize training time, latency, reliability, and scalability of production ML models.
• Contribute high quality code and help maintain high engineering standards in the team.
• Of course, this is just a sample of the kinds of work this role will require! You should assume that your role will encompass other tasks, too, and that your job duties and responsibilities may change from time to time at Etsy's discretion, or otherwise applicable with local law.

Qualifications

QUALITIES THAT WILL HELP YOU THRIVE IN THIS ROLE ARE:

You are a caring teammate who enjoys helping others. Your growth mindset means you find joy in continuous learning and self-improvement. You care about how ML impacts real people. It also helps if you have:

• A strong interest and expertise in one of the following fields: information retrieval, recommendation systems, knowledge graphs, natural language processing.
• 1+ years experience writing high quality production code, demonstrating strong software engineering and coding skills.
• Experience with large-scale data ETL frameworks and ML workflow frameworks such as Apache Spark, Beam, Airflow, Kubeflow Pipelines etc.
• Experience with modern ML frameworks such as Tensorflow, PyTorch, JAX, Keras.
• Proficiency in Python, Scala, and/or other equivalent languages. If you know Rust, that's a cherry on top (our graph engine is written in Rust!)
• A product focus and passion for using machine learning to tackle real-world problems.
• Effective written communication and comfort working in a remote team with a strong Slack and Google Docs culture.

Additional Information

WHAT'S NEXT

If you're interested in joining the team at Etsy, please share your resume with us and feel free to include a cover letter if you'd like. As we hope you've seen already, Etsy is a place that values individuality and variety. We don't want you to be like everyone else -- we want you to be like you! So tell us what you're all about.

OUR PROMISE

At Etsy, we believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace furthers relevance, resilience, and longevity. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. Etsy is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during any part of the interview process, please let your recruiter know. While Etsy supports visa sponsorship, sponsorship opportunities may be limited to certain roles and skills.

FOR U.S. ROLES ONLY:

Many Etsy roles are open to remote candidates, and you'll be able to identify which ones within the location header of each job description. We're open to remote hires from all U.S. states except Hawaii and Alaska.