Staff Applied Scientist

Responsibilities

Technical

• Own the research, design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance of machine learning systems and services at Rokt.
• Optimise auction and decisioning logic, applying model predictions to maximise value across Rokt’s multi-sided marketplace.
• Conduct applied ML research, prototype new modeling approaches, and rigorously test innovations.
• Evaluate and improve model performance, ensuring robustness, scalability, and interpretability.
• Translate complex business needs into practical ML solutions, collaborating with product and engineering teams.
• Stay ahead of emerging ML trends, contributing to knowledge sharing through tech talks, brown bags, and best practice evangelism.

Leadership

• Act as technical and project leader of a small team of specialists.
• Provide leadership on complex technical issues.
• Set standards for technical excellence - from coding to architectural best practices.
• Work cross-functionally with engineering and product leadership to plan and manage delivery expectations of roadmap items.
• Actively monitor progress and intervene where required to mitigate risks and bottlenecks, managing expectations within and outside the team.

Requirements

• PhD or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or related field with specialization in ML, AI, or Information Retrieval, and experience leading PhD level scientists/engineers on projects.
• 10+ years of industry experience building production-grade ML systems.
• Deep expertise in at least two of the following:
  • ML for Ads, E-commerce, or Two-Sided Marketplaces
  • Deep Learning Architectures e.g MMoE, PLE, DCN, Transformers, Graph Neural Networks
  • Bayesian Modelling & Probabilistic Methods
  • Reinforcement Learning (Contextual Bandits, Policy Optimization)
  • Price & Revenue Optimisation
  • Representation Learning & Embeddings
  • Model Optimisation (quantisation, distributed training, GPU optimisation, JIT compilation, mixed precision, inference optimisation)
  • Knowledge Distillation

Nice-to-Haves

• Pathways to Principal Applied Scientist (IC Track) and Applied Science Manager/Director (People Leader track) per your preferences and abilities.

Compensation

• Target total compensation ranges from $470k - $615k, comprised of a fixed annual salary of $290k - $360k, plus employee equity plan grant.
• Equity in a profitable, fast-growing company approaching $1 Billion in revenue.
• Dollar-for-dollar 401K matching plan (up to 4% of fixed annual remuneration).
• Fully funded health insurance (Dental, Optical, and Medical).
• Generous allowances for wellness, technology, mobile, and transit.
• Daily catered lunch, stocked pantry & fridges.
• Extra leave (bonus annual leave, sabbatical leave etc.).