Director, Machine Learning Science

Expedia Group brands power global travel for everyone, everywhere. We design cutting-edge tech to make travel smoother and more memorable, and we create groundbreaking solutions for our partners. Our diverse, vibrant, and welcoming community is essential in driving our success.

Why Join Us?

To shape the future of travel, people must come first. Guided by our Values and Leadership Agreements, we foster an open culture where everyone belongs, differences are celebrated and know that when one of us wins, we all win.

We provide a full benefits package, including exciting travel perks, generous time-off, parental leave, a flexible work model (with some pretty cool offices), and career development resources, all to fuel our employees' passion for travel and ensure a rewarding career journey. We’re building a more open world. Join us.

Director, Machine Learning Science, AI Agent Servicing

This role sits within Expedia’s Traveler & Partner Service Platform (TPSP) Product & Technology organization, which builds the core capabilities and experiences that power customer service across the Expedia ecosystem. TPSP enables both travelers and partners to receive high-quality, efficient service through a combination of human support and AI-powered experiences.

We are looking for a highly influential science leader to own the strategy and roadmap for LLM-powered AI Agent servicing for Expedia travelers and partners, and build a strong science organization bringing in traditional ML based personalization skills along with Agentic AI skillsets within the servicing domain. This role will define and lead the transformation towards scalable, voice and chat based self-service experiences powered by AI agents—reducing customer effort while improving resolution speed, consistency, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.

As a Director of Machine Learning Science, you will architect the long-term science vision for customer AI servicing, drive complex cross-functional execution, and represent this program with senior leadership. You will operate as an indispensable leader, shaping how agentic AI is designed, governed, measured, and scaled across TPSP.

In this role, you will:

• Lead the development and execution of machine learning strategies and solutions to address complex business challenges at organizational scale.
• Build a science organization that will operate across TPSP product groups driving traditional ML and Agentic AI innovation and best practices
• Guide and mentor teams in the design, implementation, and optimization of advanced machine learning models, algorithms, and data pipelines.
• Partner with product, engineering, and business leaders to define priorities and deliver ML-driven features that enhance customer and business outcomes.
• Oversee the safe integration and operation of AI/ML-enabled systems, ensuring robust performance, scalability, and compliance with best practices.
• Drive data-driven experimentation, leveraging statistical analysis and machine learning to inform strategic decisions and product evolution.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement by championing the adoption of AI/ML concepts, tools, and workflows across multiple domains.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field; or Equivalent related professional experience.
• 12+ years of relevant professional experience.
• Proven experience leading machine learning initiatives across service, multi-service, or organizational domains.
• Expertise in machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and AI system integration at scale.
• Strong technical aptitude with a track record of delivering production-grade AI/ML solutions.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to architect and operationalize large-scale machine learning systems in a complex, distributed environment.
• Experience driving adoption of AI/ML best practices, including safe integration and ongoing optimization of AI-powered features.
• Track record of hiring, mentoring teams and fostering technical excellence in machine learning science.
• Advanced proficiency in data-driven experimentation, model performance monitoring, and AI/ML infrastructure design.
• Familiarity with AI-driven systems, tools, or workflows and applying AI/ML concepts to real world products.

The total cash range for this position in Seattle is $224,000.00 to $313,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $358,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.

Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual’s knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.

Expedia Group is proud to offer a wide range of benefits to support employees and their families, including medical/dental/vision, paid time off, and an Employee Assistance Program. To fuel each employee’s passion for travel, we offer a wellness & travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and an International Airlines Travel Agent (IATAN) membership. View our full list of benefits.

Accommodation requests

If you need assistance with any part of the application or recruiting process due to a disability, or other physical or mental health conditions, please reach out to our Recruiting Accommodations Team through the Accommodation Request.

We are proud to be named as a Best Place to Work on Glassdoor in 2024 and be recognized for award-winning culture by organizations like Forbes, TIME, Disability:IN, and others.

Expedia Group's family of brands includes: Brand Expedia®, Hotels.com®, Expedia® Partner Solutions, Vrbo®, trivago®, Orbitz®, Travelocity®, Hotwire®, Wotif®, ebookers®, CheapTickets®, Expedia Group™ Media Solutions, Expedia Local Expert®, CarRentals.com™, and Expedia Cruises™. © 2024 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. CST: 2029030-50

Employment opportunities and job offers at Expedia Group will always come from Expedia Group’s Talent Acquisition and hiring teams. Never provide sensitive, personal information to someone unless you’re confident who the recipient is. Expedia Group does not extend job offers via email or any other messaging tools to individuals with whom we have not made prior contact. Our email domain is @expediagroup.com. The official website to find and apply for job openings at Expedia Group is careers.expediagroup.com/jobs.

Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. This employer participates in E-Verify. The employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's I-9 to confirm work authorization.