Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Optimization & Ads Marketplace Quality

Reddit is a community of communities. It’s built on shared interests, passion, and trust, and is home to the most open and authentic conversations on the internet. Every day, Reddit users submit, vote, and comment on the topics they care most about. With 100,000+ active communities and approximately 126 million daily active unique visitors, Reddit is one of the internet’s largest sources of information. For more information, visit

www.redditinc.com

.

Team Description

This Role Sits In The

Ads Optimization

and

Ads Marketplace Quality (AMQ)

organizations, which are responsible for the health and performance of Reddit’s ads marketplace. We focus on:

Designing the

auction and bidding mechanisms

that decide which ads show to which users and at what price.

Building

optimization systems

that help advertisers achieve their goals (e.g., conversions, ROAS) under budget and delivery constraints.

Ensuring

marketplace quality

by improving user experience with ads, fighting ad blindness, and increasing valuable ad opportunities on the platform.

You’ll join a set of tight-knit engineers working on high-impact, internet-scale problems at the core of Reddit’s revenue engine, collaborating closely with Product, Data Science, and Infra partners across Reddit Ads.

Role Description

We are hiring

Machine Learning Engineers (IC3 and IC4)

to build and evolve the

auction, bidding and budgeting

systems that power Reddit Ads.

In this role, you will:

Design and implement

optimization algorithms

for auctions, bidding strategies, and pacing that balance advertiser performance, user experience, and marketplace efficiency.

Own systems end-to-end: from problem formulation and algorithm design to experimentation, production deployment, and ongoing iteration.

Work across

Ads Optimization

(bid strategies, budget optimization, pacing) or

Ads Marketplace Quality

(ad matching, ad load, quality controls) to deliver measurable wins for advertisers and Redditors.

We are hiring at both

IC3

and

IC4

Levels

IC3

MLEs are strong individual contributors who can independently own scoped projects, ship models and services, and contribute to experimentation and measurement.

IC4

MLEs lead more complex or multi-quarter initiatives, set technical direction for key parts of the bidding/auction/pacing stack, and mentor other engineers while remaining hands-on.

Responsibilities

Auction, Bidding, and Pacing Systems

Design And Implement Models And Policies That

Compute bids for different optimization objectives (e.g., CPC, CPA, ROAS-based strategies).

Pace budgets smoothly over time across accounts, campaigns, and ad groups while preventing overspend or underspend.

Allocate spend and auction participation intelligently across segments, surfaces, and time zones.

Translate product and marketplace goals into concrete optimization problems and constraints (e.g., ROI, revenue, delivery smoothness, fairness, and user experience).

Marketplace Quality and Optimization

Partner with

Ads Marketplace Quality

To

Improve ad matching and ranking by incorporating new quality and relevance signals into bidding and auction decisions.

Inform policies around ad load and eligibility that protect user experience while increasing high-quality ad opportunities.

Collaborate closely with

Ads Optimization

to integrate new bid strategies and pacing mechanisms into the broader ads ecosystem and measurement stack.

Required Qualifications

(Level will be determined during the interview process; IC4 expectations assume deeper experience and broader scope.)

3–5+ years

of experience building, deploying, and operating machine learning systems in production (for IC4, typically 5+ years).

Strong programming skills in

Python

,

Java

,

Go

, or similar languages, with solid software engineering fundamentals.

Experience Designing Scalable Data Processing Systems (e.g., Spark, Kafka, Airflow, Bigquery, Redis).

Demonstrated ability to translate ambiguous product or business problems into solutions and to improve measurable metrics.

Additional Expectations For Strong Bidding/auction Candidates (especially Ic4)

Evidence of stronger

math and optimization skills

than a generic MLE, such as:

Degree or equivalent background in a quantitative field (math, physics, quantitative finance, economics, operations research, or similar).

Work experience in optimization-heavy domains (e.g., bidding/auctions, pacing, pricing, logistics optimization, quantitative finance).

Comfort reasoning about and implementing custom optimization logic (e.g., gradient-based methods, constraint handling), not just applying black-box tooling.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience With

advertising/auction systems

, online marketplaces, or search/ranking systems at scale, particularly in:

Bidding, pacing, or budget optimization

Auction design, mechanism design, or marketplace quality

Campaign performance optimization (e.g., CTR/CVR, CPA, ROAS)

Familiarity with large-scale,

real-time decision systems

and low-latency production environments.

Background in feature engineering, model optimization, and production monitoring for ML systems.

Experience collaborating with cross-functional partners (Product, DS, Eng) in Ads or marketplace contexts and leading projects from design through rollout.

Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Operations Research, Applied Math, or a related quantitative field.

Potential Teams

Ads Optimization

(bid strategies, conversion/ROAS optimization, pacing and budget allocation)

Ads Marketplace Quality

(ad matching, load, and quality controls)

Benefits

Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits and Income Replacement Programs

401k with Employer Match

Global Benefit programs that fit your lifestyle, from workspace to professional development to caregiving support

Family Planning Support

Gender-Affirming Care

Mental Health & Coaching Benefits

Flexible Vacation & Paid Volunteer Time Off

Generous Paid Parental Leave

Pay Transparency

This job posting may span more than one career level.

In addition to base salary, this job is eligible to receive equity in the form of restricted stock units, and depending on the position offered, it may also be eligible to receive a commission. Additionally, Reddit offers a wide range of benefits to U.S.-based employees, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) program with employer match, generous time off for vacation, and parental leave. To learn more, please visit

https://www.redditinc.com/careers/

.

To provide greater transparency to candidates, we share base salary ranges for all US-based job postings regardless of state. We set standard base pay ranges for all roles based on function, level, and country location, benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including, skills, depth of work experience and relevant licenses/credentials, and may vary from the amounts listed below.

The Base Salary Range For This Position Is

$185,800

—

$303,400 USD

In select roles and locations, the interviews will be recorded, transcribed and summarized by artificial intelligence (AI). You will have the opportunity to opt out of recording, transcription and summarization prior to any scheduled interviews.

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Candidate Privacy Policy for Potential Employees and Contractors

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Reddit is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and is committed to building a workforce representative of the diverse communities we serve.  Reddit is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during the interview process, please let your recruiter know.