TL;DR

Senior Applied Scientist (AI): Building and scaling ML-driven routing and allocation decision systems for Zillow's core For Sale marketplace with an accent on optimization frameworks in constraint-driven, multi-objective environments. Focus on owning models across the full lifecycle, improving performance, and increasing transparency and explainability in automated systems.

Location: Remote (U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions).

Salary: $160,900.00 - $257,100.00 annually

Company

Zillow is the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., helping customers navigate buying, selling, financing and renting.

What you will do

  • Iterate on optimization frameworks in constraint-driven, multi-objective environments to balance customer experience and long-term business value.
  • Build and productionize ML-driven routing systems for large-scale marketplace decision systems, owning models across the full lifecycle.
  • Work directly with partner teams (such as product, engineering, and operations) to clarify system behavior and align on decision policies.
  • Uphold high standards for production quality, including reliability, observability, and operational readiness for critical decision services.

Requirements

  • 5+ years of applied science experience (industry or equivalent), including work on optimization-driven or constraint-based decision systems.
  • 3+ years owning production machine learning systems end to end, across the full model lifecycle from feature design and training through validation, deployment, and monitoring.
  • Proficient in Python and SQL for building, evaluating, and deploying models in production environments.
  • Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in a quantitative field (for example, Economics, Operations Research, Data Analytics, Statistics, or a related discipline), or equivalent practical experience.
  • Strong mathematical and algorithmic reasoning skills, including comfort working with multi-objective tradeoffs, constraints, and uncertainty.
  • Strong software engineering fundamentals, including development best practices, testing, and operational rigor in production environments.
  • Experience building transparent, explainable systems and clearly communicating decision logic to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Must be based in the USA.

Nice to have

  • Experience building or optimizing large-scale marketplace decision systems (for example, rideshare, delivery, travel, e-commerce, or logistics platforms).
  • Experience applying mathematical optimization techniques (such as constraint-based optimization, linear or integer programming, or stochastic optimization) in production decision systems.
  • Experience designing and implementing observability for decision systems, including dashboards, diagnostics, automated monitoring, and alerting for model and business performance.

Culture & Benefits

  • Remote position with flexibility to work from a physical location of choice within the US.
  • Competitive base salary and eligibility for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance, and location.
  • Recognized among FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® and PEOPLE Companies That Care® for 2025.
  • Commitment to fostering an innovative, inclusive, and engaging culture.
  • Opportunity to drive innovation, support customers, and advance your career in the real estate industry.