OLX - Principal Machine Learning Engineer (Search Platform)

• Shape the future of AI-powered search across all OLX verticals. You’ll drive the technical vision, guide a multidisciplinary team, and ensure our Search AI Platform becomes a foundation for scalable, intelligent discovery experiences for millions of users. • Lead the design and evolution of OLX’s Search AI Platform, developing LLM- and GenAI-based systems that power discovery and relevance across Motors, Real Estate, Jobs, and Goods. • Partner with the Principal Search Engineer to define and implement a unified technical strategy for search, ranking, and retrieval at scale. • Guide a cross-functional team of ML engineers, data scientists, and platform engineers, fostering technical excellence, experimentation, and rapid iteration. • Prototype, evaluate, and productionize new ML models, including embedding-based retrieval, personalization, and relevance optimization. • Collaborate with product and analytics teams to define success metrics, integrate with A/B testing pipelines, and measure real customer impact. • Mentor and inspire data scientists and ML engineers across OLX’s global hubs, sharing best practices and shaping the future of applied ML at scale. • Stay hands-on, driving implementation in Python and AWS while exploring state-of-the-art advances in LLMs, GenAI, and search infrastructure. • Promote a culture of learning and innovation, helping the team iterate fast, fail fast, and learn continuously. • What are we looking for: • Based in Portugal, with the ability to collaborate across global teams. • Strategic and hands-on technical leader who thrives at the intersection of machine learning, large-scale systems, and product impact. • Deep expertise in search and relevance, including ranking models, retrieval systems, and modern representation learning (e.g., embeddings, transformers). • Proven experience designing and productionizing ML solutions at scale in real-world environments. • Strong background in Generative AI and LLMs, with an understanding of their application to search and content understanding. • Ability to inspire and lead cross-functional initiatives, aligning multiple teams toward shared technical outcomes. • Proficient in Python and familiar with at least one other programming language (e.g., Kotlin, Java); experienced with ML frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch. • Solid understanding of data pipelines, experimentation frameworks, and distributed systems in cloud environments (preferably AWS). • Exceptional analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills, capable of translating complex ideas into actionable solutions. • Passion for building systems that connect millions of users to what matters most, through better search, relevance, and personalization.