Machine Learning Scientist

The Tripadvisor Group connects people to experiences worth sharing, and aims to be the world’s most trusted source for travel and experiences. We leverage our brands, technology, and capabilities to connect our global audience with partners through rich content, travel guidance, and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants, and other travel categories. The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP), include a portfolio of travel brands and businesses, including Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork.

About The Role

As a Principal Machine Learning Scientist, you will serve as the technical anchor for our core discovery engine within the Trips vertical. You will lead the development and execution of machine learning strategies that power how millions of users search for, discover, and organize their complex travel itineraries. This high-impact role bridges the gap between cutting-edge AI research and production-grade engineering, directly influencing key business outcomes such as user engagement and booking conversion rates.

You will tackle complex, ambiguous problems at the intersection of deep multi-task ranking, sequential user modeling, and graph-based travel recommendations. If you are passionate about building state-of-the-art AI systems and mentoring a high-performing team of scientists, this role offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on our travel platform.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a highly quantitative field
• 8+ years of industry experience developing and deploying large-scale machine learning models in a production environment
• Proven track record of shipping ML systems at the scale of millions of active users
• Deep theoretical and practical knowledge in retrieval and ranking algorithms, multi-task learning architectures, and advanced representation learning
• Hands-on experience building sequential recommendation systems that capture real-time user session dynamics and long-term preferences
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch
• Experience with distributed computing platforms like Spark or Ray, and cloud infrastructure such as AWS or GCP
• Strong understanding of graph neural networks, knowledge graphs, or graph embeddings (desired)
• Familiarity with agentic AI, generative AI, or LLM-driven reasoning frameworks (desired)
• Experience working in e-commerce, travel tech, or two-sided marketplaces handling non-linear user journeys and constrained inventories (desired)
• Track record of contributions to top-tier AI/IR conferences or open-source ML projects (desired)

• Drive the technical roadmap for search, retrieval, ranking, and recommendation systems within the Trips vertical
• Translate high-level business goals into scalable ML architectures and production systems
• Design, prototype, and scale advanced recommendation and ranking models, utilizing techniques such as sequential recommenders and multi-objective frameworks
• Oversee deployment of low-latency, high-throughput retrieval pipelines capable of processing billions of travel data points in real-time
• Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and Data Science teams to optimize multiple business objectives simultaneously
• Act as the primary technical authority for ML initiatives within the Trips vertical
• Mentor and coach senior and mid-level ML scientists, fostering a culture of technical excellence and best practices in MLOps, data privacy, and code quality

• Competitive compensation packages, including base salary and annual bonuses
• Flexible work arrangements, with the option for remote work and on-site collaboration
• Work-life balance supported by flexible scheduling and trust-based culture
• Charitable donation matching programs
• Annual tuition assistance for professional development
• Annual lifestyle benefits to spend on travel, wellness, or personal interests
• Travel discounts and perks to support employee development and exploration
• Comprehensive health benefits with competitive premiums
• Employee assistance programs providing resources for personal and professional challenges
• Referral bonuses for successful candidate recommendations

Tripadvisor is committed to creating an inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. We strive to ensure that our hiring practices are accessible and equitable. If you require a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process.