Machine Learning Scientist - Trust & Safety

Join Booking.com as a Machine Learning Scientist in Trust & Safety

About Us: At Booking.com, data drives our decisions. Technology is at our core. And innovation is everywhere. Through our products, partners and people, we make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

About the team: The Trust & Safety Machine Learning team is dedicated to safeguarding Booking.com's platform by building and deploying end-to-end Machine Learning solutions. We focus on developing robust models for detection, prevention, and proactive intervention against various trust and safety threats, leveraging data and advanced NLP techniques to create a secure environment for our users. Our work directly contributes to maintaining user trust and platform integrity.

Role Description: As a machine learning scientist, your work will focus on building, training and deploying machine learning models (Deep Learning, Classification, Natural Language Processing, Optimization, Active Learning) using the most advanced technologies and models. You will be responsible for identifying and using the most appropriate data sources and modeling techniques to solve complex problems and drive measurable business value. You will also help in building new products and solutions by driving a research agenda and development plan from ideation to prototyping to full productionisation.

Key Job Responsibilities and Duties:

• Translate business needs into ML/AI challenges, creating targeted research plans and innovative models for both immediate impact and long-term value.
• Develop and deploy state-of-the-art ML/AI solutions, including NLP and active learning, to optimize Trust & Safety and drive business value.
• Drive the end-to-end execution of the ML/AI development process on specific products, from understanding product requirements, data discovery, model development and evaluation, to implementation of a full production pipeline.
• Conduct data analysis with detailed metrics to improve data quality, do feature exploration, evaluate model’s performance, etc.
• Build readable and reusable code, using the right technologies and coding methodologies applying knowledge of business area tools and product needs.
• Maintain a highly cross-disciplinary perspective, solving issues by applying approaches and methods from across a variety of ML/AI disciplines and related fields.
• Support others through evidence and clear communication, explaining advanced technical concepts in simpler terms.
• Continuously evolve your craft by keeping up to date with the latest developments in ML/AI and related technologies and upskilling on these, as needed.

Role Qualifications and Requirements:

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

• Advanced knowledge and experience in Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing techniques, Active Learning, Optimization or similar.
• Ability to define a machine intelligence strategy on a specific product by identifying short-term development steps that create immediate business value and build upon each other to create longer-term differentiation.
• Ability to execute end-to-end research and development plans and generate impact through large-scale machine learning model development.
• Relevant work or academic experience (MSc + 3 years of working experience, or PhD), involved in the development and application of Machine Learning.
• Strong working knowledge of big data technologies.
• Strong working knowledge of Python, AWS, SQL, Spark or similar technologies.
• Excellent English communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Successfully driving technical, business and people related initiatives that improve productivity, performance and quality while communicating with stakeholders at all levels.

Benefits & Perks - Global Impact, Personal Relevance:

• 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 - up to 1400 per year - for yourself, including automatic Genius Level 3 status and Booking.com wallet credit.
• Living and working in Amsterdam, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe.
• Contributing to a high scale, complex, world renowned product and seeing real-time impact of your work on millions of travelers worldwide.
• Working in a fast-paced and performance driven culture.
• Opportunity to utilize technical expertise, leadership capabilities and entrepreneurial spirit.
• Promote and drive impactful and innovative engineering solutions.
• Technical, behavioral and interpersonal competence advancement via on-the-job opportunities, experimental projects, hackathons, conferences and active community participation.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package and some great added perks of working in the home city of Booking.com.

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.