Machine Learning Engineer II

At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core and innovation is everywhere. But our company is more than datasets, lines of code or A/B tests. We’re the thrill of the first night in a new place. The excitement of the next morning. The friends you make. The journeys you take. The sights you see. And the food you sample. Through our products, partners and people, we can empower everyone to experience the world.

About the team:

This opening is for the Content Intelligence team in the Central Tech department.

The team builds the Content Platform by consuming millions of images and textual inputs every day, and then enriching it with ML capabilities. Eventually, these will serve downstream applications and personalize our customers' experience (think of a way to choose and surface the right images and reviews when customers book their next vacation).

Moreover the team is taking a key role in the new GenAI project - The AI Trip Planner.

You’ll work with top notch engineers and data scientists from the team on bringing it to the next level and enabling optimal user experience. The work will focus on building, training and deploying content models (Computer vision, NLP and Generative AI) using the most advanced technologies and models.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Deploying machine learning models: Design, develop and deploy in collaboration with scientists, scalable machine learning models and algorithms that provide content related insights and generative AI applications, ensuring scalability, efficiency, and accuracy.
• Evaluating possible architecture solutions by taking into account cost, business requirements, emerging technologies, and technology requirements, like latency, throughput, and scale.
• Generative AI Development: Contribute to the development of generative models such as GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) variants or similar architectures for creative content generation, Q&A, translation or other innovative applications.
• Deployment and integration: Work closely with software engineers to integrate ML models into production systems. Ensure flawless deployment and efficient model inference in real-time environments. Collaborate with DevOps to implement effective monitoring and maintenance strategies.
• Leading a service end to end by actively monitoring application health and performance, setting and monitoring relevant metrics and acting accordingly when violated.
• Maintain clean, scalable code, ensuring reproducibility and easy integration of models into production environments, including CI/CD.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams: Collaborate with product managers, data scientists, and analysts to understand business requirements and translate them into machine learning solutions.
  
  

Role Qualifications and Requirements:

We are looking for driven MLE’s who enjoy solving problems, who initiate solutions and discussions and who believe that any challenge can be scaled with the right mindset and tools.

We have found that people who match the following requirements are the ones who fit us best:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Statistics, or a related field.
• Minimum of 4 years of experience as a Machine Learning Engineer or a similar role, with a consistent record of successfully delivering ML solutions.
• Strong programming skills in languages such as Python and Java.
• Experience with cloud frameworks like AWS sagemaker for training, evaluation and serving models using TensorFlow, PyTorch, or scikit-learn.
• Experience with big data processing frameworks such, Pyspark, Apache Flink, Snowflake or similar frameworks.
• Experience with data at scale using MySQL, Pyspark, Snowflake and similar frameworks.
• Proven experience with MySQL, Cassandra, DynamoDB or similar relational/NoSQL database systems.
• Deep understanding of machine learning algorithms, statistical models, and data structures.
• Experience in deploying large-scale language models like GPT, BERT, or similar architectures - an advantage.
• Proficiency in data manipulation, analysis, and visualization using tools like NumPy, pandas, and matplotlib - an advantage.
• Experience with experimental design, A/B testing, and evaluation metrics for ML models - an advantage.
• Experience of working on products that impact a large customer base - an advantage.
• Excellent communication in English; written and spoken.
  
  

Benefits & Perks: Global Impact, Personal Relevance

Booking.com’s Total Rewards Philosophy is not only about compensation but also about benefits. Our Total Rewards strive to make it easier for you to experience all that life has to offer on your terms so that you can focus on what really matters. We offer competitive compensation as well as thoughtful, valuable, and even fun benefits which include:

• Headquarters located in one of the most dynamic and cosmopolitan cities in Europe: Amsterdam.
• Contribute to a high scale, sophisticated, world-class product and see the real time impact of your work on millions of travelers worldwide.
• Be part of a truly international fast paced environment and performance driven culture.
• Performance-based company that offers career advancement, and lucrative compensation, including bonuses and stock potential.
• Discount on Booking.com accommodations with the “Booking Deal” including other perks and benefits.
• Company-sponsored family and social activities to help our employees become integrated with each other and the company's culture.
• Diverse and creative colleagues from every corner of the world.
• Health, life, and disability insurance*
• Annual paid time off and generous paid leave scheme including: parent, grandparent, bereavement, and care leave.
• Hybrid working including flexible working arrangements, and up to 20 days per year working from abroad (home country).
• Industry leading product discounts for yourself, friends, and family, including automatic Genius Level 3 status and quarterly Booking.com wallet credit.
• Free access to online learning platforms, development and mentorship programs, and a complimentary Headspace membership
• On-site meals, coffee, and snacks, including healthy and vegan options, daily*
  
  

#ThinkInclusion: Wellbeing & Inclusion at Booking.com:

Inclusion, Diversity, Belonging, Wellbeing and Volunteering (IDBWV) have been a core part of our company culture since day one. This ongoing journey starts with our very own employees, who represent over 140 nationalities and a wide range of ethnic and social backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations.

Take it from our Chief People Officer, Paulo Pisano: “At Booking.com, the diversity of our people don’t just create a unique workplace, it also creates a better and more inclusive travel experience for everyone. Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. It’s a place where you can make your mark and have a real impact in travel and tech.”

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable adjustment to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

Pre-Employment Screening

If your application is successful, your personal data may be used for a pre-employment screening check by a third party as permitted by applicable law. Depending on the vacancy and applicable law, a pre-employment screening may include employment history, education and other information (such as media information) that may be necessary for determining your qualifications and suitability for the position.