Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Research

Job Summary:

Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.

Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.

Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

Ad Platforms organization within Disney Entertainment and ESPN Technology is fully responsible for building, enhancing and maintaining the high-performance, distributed, microservice-based Advertising Platform across all of Disney online properties, including Hulu and ESPN+. We build and maintain proprietary technology, ranging from ad serving and ad delivery, campaign management, reporting as well as all the integrations internal and external that come with evolving and maintaining a best-in-class video advertising business.

Our mission is to advance AI and machine learning capabilities across Ad Platform by delivering scalable, high impact AI/ML and data science solutions that enhance Ad decisioning, forecasting, experimentation and Ad experience. We are seeking a Lead Machine Learning Engineer to join this innovative team. This role offers a unique leadership opportunity for an experienced ML engineer who thrives at the intersection of technical excellence, strategic impact, and cross-functional collaboration.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Drive innovation and apply state of the art AI and machine learning across advertising domains, including inventory forecasting, ad experience, ad pacing, pricing, targeting, and efficient ad delivery.

Invent and iterate on novel solutions to complex advertising challenges with rapid prototyping and deployment cycles.

Design, build, and scale robust ML systems that power core ad platform capabilities

Champion engineering excellence through best practices in code quality, system design, and operational reliability.

Mentor and support junior engineers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical growth.

WHAT TO BRING

Bachelor's in computer science or equivalent experience

Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience developing and deploying large-scale machine learning systems.

Strong knowledge of AI/ML technologies, mathematics and statistics.

Excellent communication, collaboration skills, and a strong teamwork ethic with both technical and non-technical audiences

Strong foundations in algorithms, data structures, and numerical optimization with experience in programming languages such as Python (primary), Java and SQL

Familiarity with tools and frameworks such as TensorFlow, Pytorch, Hugging libraries etc

Proven proficiency in deep learning methodologies, including recurrent and sequence-based models.

Hands-on experience with transformer architectures (., BERT, GPT, ViT) for natural language and vision tasks.

Strong understanding of multimodal embedding techniques for integrating text, image, audio, and structured data.

Experience with LLM models such as GPT models, Claude, Gemini, Llama, etc.

Strong grasp of LLM evaluation methodologies, experience with RAG architectures.

A proven track record of thriving in a fast-paced, data-driven, and collaborative work environment is required. 

NICE-TO-HAVES

Experience in digital video advertising or digital marketing domain. 

Experience with forecasting models

MS or PhD(preferred) in computer science or equivalent experience.

Location: Seattle / Santa Monica

#DISNEYTECH

The hiring range for this position in Los Angeles, CA area is $141,900 to $190,300 per year and in Seattle, WA is $148,700 - $199,400 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.