Sr. Machine Learning Engineer (Recommendation Systems)

At Philo, we’re a group of technology and product people who set out to build the future of television, marrying the best in modern technology with the most compelling medium ever invented — in short, we’re building the TV experience that we’ve always wanted for ourselves. In practice this means leveraging cloud delivery, modern tech stacks, machine learning, and hand-crafted native app experiences on all of our platforms. We aim to deliver a rock solid experience on the streaming basics, while cooking up next generation multi-screen and multi-user playback experiences.

Philo’s recommendation system improves user engagement and customer satisfaction by tailoring content discovery to individual preferences and viewing habits. We want users to be confident that Philo will have something they want to watch every time they open the app.

We are seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to lead our content personalization efforts, shaping experiences that impact millions of users. In this role, you will research, design, and build advanced algorithms and large-scale systems that power Philo’s recommendation engine.

As a senior member of a growing team, you will tackle complex machine learning challenges and collaborate with data science, product, infrastructure, and backend engineering teams to deliver innovative, data-driven personalization solutions. Your work will directly impact content discovery, deepen user engagement, and drive long-term retention.

• Lead development of recommendation systems: Design, build, and optimize advanced algorithms for SVOD, Live TV, and FAST personalization.
• Drive ML innovation at scale: Conduct deep dives into models and system components, ensuring performance, scalability, and robustness across regions and product areas.
• Own the ML pipeline: Build and maintain reliable pipelines for data extraction, feature engineering, model training, testing, and deployment.
• Collaborate with Product, Data Science & Engineering: Translate product requirements into ML solutions, set clear expectations, and deliver measurable improvements in user engagement.
• Advance deep learning in recommendations: Apply frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar to develop state-of-the-art recommendation models.
• Experimentation: Conduct rigorous A/B testing and ML experiments to understand model performance and iterate rapidly based on feedback.
• ML Vision and Roadmap: Contribute to the strategic planning of the recommendations roadmap, aligning engineering efforts with business objectives and user needs.
• Explore advanced architectures: Experience with frameworks like Two-Tower models and Deep Cross Networks (DCN) is a strong plus.

Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience in backend engineering and/or data science, including 4+ years focused on machine learning. Experience with recommendation systems is a big plus.
• Strong coding skills in Python, as well as proficiency in using ML frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex technical challenges into business solutions.
• Proven track record of leading projects and delivering impactful machine learning solutions.
• Strong communication and documentation skills; capable of explaining complex, technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and to diligently document your work to help the team as a whole learn and move quickly.
• Experience with Amazon SageMaker or similar MLOps platforms

Status: Full-time
Location: San Francisco, CA
Compensation: Includes annual salary between $200K - $237K depending on experience and location, company stock options and health benefits.

We value a diverse and inclusive workplace and we welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and perspectives. Philo is an equal opportunity employer. We believe that everyone does their best work when they are supported by each other and the company, and we offer a generous set of benefits to make sure the Philo team is happy and healthy. Here is a sampling of the benefits we offer our team:

• Full health, dental and vision coverage for you and your family
• 401(k) plan with employer contributions (we match 100% of deferrals up to 3% of pay and 50% of the next 2% of pay)
• Flexible working hours
• Up to 20 weeks of fully paid parental leave
• Unlimited paid time off for vacation and sick leave
• $2,000 annual vacation bonus (we pay you to take a two week vacation)
• $5,250 annually for professional development and educational assistance
• $1,250 annual home office + TV stipend during first year of employment ($250 annually thereafter)
• $500/month ($6,000/year) bonus for employees who commit to working at least 3 days per week in our offices, plus generous commuter benefits ($315/month towards transit, rideshare, bike rental, or parking at our HQ office in San Francisco)
• Free Gympass subscription — an all-in-one corporate benefit that gives employees the largest selection of gyms, studios, classes, training and wellness apps
• Dog-friendly office
• And much more!

For California Residents: Philo’s CCPA Notice at Collection – Employees, Applicants, Owners, Directors, Officers and Contractors

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.