Zillow

Reimagining real estate to make it easier than ever to move from one home to the next.

Applied Scientist – New Construction

Research ScientistResearch ScientistFull TimeRemoteTeam 5,001-10,000Since 2006H1B SponsorCompany SiteLinkedIn

Location

California + 15 moreAll locations: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington

Posted

28 days ago

Salary

$136.3K - $217.7K / year

Postgraduate Degree3 yrs expExperience acceptedEnglishAirflowPythonPy TorchScikit LearnSparkTensorflow

Job Description

• Research, design, and prototype new machine learning models for Zillow’s consumer products, including search, ranking, recommendations, and notifications. • Lead the full model lifecycle: from ideation and offline experimentation on large datasets to online deployment, A/B testing, and ongoing performance monitoring. • Develop and test novel modeling approaches, such as deep learning architectures and large language models (LLMs), to improve the home-shopping experience. • Apply cutting-edge AI techniques, including LLM-based retrieval and RAG-style systems, to create more natural and conversational property search experiences. • Optimize how and when homes are displayed to users, ensuring relevance and context in every interaction. • Collaborate with engineers, product managers, and designers to define, execute, and iterate on impactful projects. • Partner with data engineering and infrastructure teams to leverage large-scale distributed data systems for feature engineering and model training.

Job Requirements

  • Experienced in designing, training, and analyzing machine learning models to solve real-world business problems, not just academic benchmarks.
  • Proficient in Python and familiar with common ML libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, CatBoost, scikit-learn, Hugging Face) and distributed data systems (e.g., Spark, Hive, Databricks, Airflow).
  • Skilled in the scientific lifecycle: hypothesis formation, experiment design, result analysis, and clear communication to technical and non-technical partners.
  • Demonstrated experience in at least one of the following: search/information retrieval, personalized ranking/recommender systems, or generative AI/LLM-based systems.
  • Holds a PhD or Master’s degree in a relevant field (Computer Science, AI, Data Science, or related), or equivalent industry experience (typically 3-4+ years with a Master’s, or 1+ year with a PhD).
  • Comfortable working near production systems and collaborating closely with engineers and cross-functional partners.
  • Brings curiosity and excitement for applying generative AI and LLMs to transform the home-shopping experience.
  • Approaches challenges with ownership, scientific rigor, and a growth mindset.

Benefits

  • In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location.
  • Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

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