About the team

Are you interested in innovating new deep learning, and generative ai technologies to power novel search & conversational experiences that transform how millions of people search and find their next home?

Search & Conversational AI team mission is to build next generation AI algorithms and ML platforms to deliver best-in-class real estate search & conversational experiences that help improve customer experience and drive business impact. The team is responsible for building data, ML models and systems that powers Zillow search & conversational experiences and help our users find their dream home by empowering them with AI powered search tools and showing relevant and personalized results.

The team uses cutting edge technologies in the domain of Search & Personalization, Large Language Models, Generative AI, Ranking & Retrieval, content and query understanding, natural language search, deep learning, chatbots, dialog systems, NLP/NLU/NLG, Computer Vision etc, to build and power great products to better serve Zillow customers and partners.

Zillow science team including Search AI regularly publishes their work externally. You can follow our work here: https://github.com/zillow/as-research

About the role

Zillow is looking for a creative, passionate and experienced applied scientist with a strong background in machine learning to join our team to help build Search & Conversational AI systems that will power industry leading search experiences for our customers.

This position will primarily focus on areas around Search and Conversational AI Systems including Search Ranking & Personalization, Large Language Models, Generative AI, Natural Language Processing, Natural Language Understanding, Natural Language Generation, Dialog Management, Multi Turn Dialogues, Chatbots, Question Answering, Content & Query Understanding, etc.

This is a unique opportunity to join the team as it uses the latest developments in Large Language Models and Generative AI to build the next generation of Search & Conversational AI Systems and enable novel conversational experiences across Zillow.

As a Principal Applied Scientist, you will:

• Lead the design, architecture, and implementation of new ML models and systems
• Work as a part of a team of scientists and engineers to define the long term science and technology vision.
• Collaborate closely with team members on developing new systems from prototyping to production.
• Work on challenging new problems in the domain of Search Ranking, Retrieval, Personalization, Conversational Systems, Generative AI and build novel solutions that bring value to the business
• Build next-generation machine learning/deep learning models and systems for Search and conversational/dialog systems.
• Iterate quickly and deploy machine learning models into production frequently
• Translate business requirements into quick prototypes or proof of concept.
• Drive the gathering, building and annotation of domain specific datasets to train ML models at scale.
• Keep up to date with the state-of-the-art in Search & Conversational AI systems and related technologies and apply them to create new applications for ZG users.
• Be hands-on in technical feature development, design and code-reviews, prototyping and deployment to production
• Collaborate with various teams on new product features and improvements of existing products.
• Research and pioneer the adoption and use of new technologies within Zillow.

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice which must be identified to the Company. Employees may live in any of the 50 US States, with limited exceptions. In certain cases, an employee in a remote-designated job may need to live in a specific region or time zone to support customers or clients as part of their role.In California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, New York City and Washington the standard base pay range for this role is $179,400.00 - $286,600.00 Annually. This base pay range is specific to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, New York City and Washington and may not be applicable to other locations.In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location.

Who you are

• Masters or higher degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent proven experience

• 5+ years proven experience of building end-to-end machine learning applications

• Solid Machine Learning background and hands-on experience with deep learning methods.

• Hands-on experience with Search Ranking & Personalization, Conversational & Generative AI Technologies like Natural Language Understanding, Natural Language Generation, Dialog systems (including system integration, state tracking and action prediction), Information retrieval and Question and Answering, Summarization Etc.

• Proven track record of successfully applying ML-based solutions to complex problems in business, science, or engineering.

• Proficiency in, at least, one modern programming/scripting language such as Java and Python.

• Curious about new technologies and possess a growth mentality.

• Solid software development experience with fundamentals in object oriented design, data structures, algorithm design, problem solving and complexity analysis.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills at all levels of the organization

• Experience with large scale distributed systems such as Hadoop, Spark etc.

• Experience with large scale machine learning systems such as profiling and debugging and understanding of system performance and scalability

• Ability to take a project from scoping requirements through actual launch of the project

• Experience training, fine-tuning and/or deploying Large Language Models is a plus

• Knowledge with conversational AI platforms like RASA, Dialog Flow, etc. is a plus

Get to know us

Zillow is reimagining real estate to make home a reality for more and more people.

As the most-visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates help movers find and win their home through digital solutions, first class partners, and easier buying, selling, financing and renting experiences. Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help make it easier to move. The work we do helps people get home and no matter what job you're in, you will play a critical role in making home a reality for more and more people.

Our efforts to streamline the real estate transaction are supported by a deep-rooted culture of innovation, our passion to redefine the employee experience, a fundamental commitment to Equity and Belonging, and world-class benefits. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverages as well as parental leave, family benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. We’re also setting the standard for work experiences of the future, where our employees are supported in doing their best work and living a flexible, well-balanced life. But don’t just take our word for it. Read recent reviews on Glassdoor and recent recognition from multiple organizations, including: the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equity Index, and TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact us at RecruitingAccessibility@zillowgroup.com.

Applicants who receive job offers from Zillow Group will be asked to sign a Proprietary Rights Agreement which includes confidentiality, intellectual property assignment, customer and employee non-solicitation, and non-competition provisions. If you are contacted for a role at Zillow Group and wish to review a copy of the Proprietary Rights Agreement prior to receiving an offer, you may request a copy from your Recruiter.