Distinguished Engineer, Machine Learning - Discovery

Role

Roblox is seeking a Distinguished Engineer/Technical Director for its Discovery organization within Growth. This individual contributor will own the technical vision and execution of machine learning initiatives across search and discovery, connecting users with relevant content and connections at scale to improve engagement and retention.

Responsibilities

• Own technical direction and implementation of machine learning solutions powering search, recommendations, and content distribution.
• Author specifications for new features and improvements, set AI strategy, and advance recommendation technology across candidate generation, ranking, objective functions, and value delivery for users and developers.
• Build and evolve infrastructure for training, serving, and evaluating traditional machine learning and generative AI models, including embedding-based retrieval, transformers, and LLM-based workflows.
• Co-design models and systems with modelers, data and AI infrastructure engineers, and product teams to advance large-scale training and serving.
• Lead engineers through technical direction and example while fostering engineering excellence as an individual contributor.
• Develop deep expertise in the technology stack and guide sound implementation practices.
• Collaborate across Roblox with a community- and company-first approach.
• Balance research into new technologies with practical delivery in Roblox products.
• Collaborate with industry and external communities and represent Roblox where applicable.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years of experience and a consistent record of delivering and improving large-scale search and recommendation systems.
• Experience designing and building machine learning models with billions of parameters and launching them into production.
• Ability to break long-term product requirements into iterative deliverable stages.
• Experience initiating and facilitating difficult technical decisions across teams and organizations, with empathy and an ability to find common understanding.
• Deep technical expertise and a user-centered approach serving both Roblox users and internal engineers.
• A generalist background with mastery of several languages and technologies and adaptability to new situations.
• Willingness and ability to tackle data and machine learning problems directly.
• Creative, strategic problem-solving skills and the ability to simplify complex problems and bring fresh ideas.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related discipline. A master's degree or PhD is a definite plus.

Compensation and Work Arrangement

• Annual base salary range: $419,390–$457,970 USD. Actual compensation depends on job-related factors and may fall outside this range; the range is subject to change.
• Full-time employees are eligible for equity compensation and benefits.
• San Mateo office roles are onsite Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with optional office presence Monday and Friday unless otherwise noted.

Recruiting and Work Authorization

• Reasonable accommodations are available during recruiting for candidates with qualifying disabilities or religious beliefs.
• For US-based roles, Roblox may be unable to employ candidates with work authorization tied to certain US visa categories or support future H-1B sponsorship at this time.