
Staff Software ML Engineer, Search Discover Feed Recommendation
Mountain View, CAJob$207–300K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
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At a glance
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Job overview
Google’s Discover Feed Recommendation team develops AI-generated content for proactive surfaces such as Discover and Notifications. The Staff Machine Learning Engineer will build quality-control frameworks and agentic workflows, improve content understanding and evaluation, and optimize recommendation and serving systems. The role focuses on factuality, freshness, coherence, and tone, while driving technical innovation and influencing machine learning strategy across Google Search AI.
Skills & qualifications
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Qualifications
Full job description
Staff Software ML Engineer, Search Discover Feed Recommendation
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corporate_fare Google place Mountain View, CA, USA
Advanced
Experience owning outcomes and decision making, solving ambiguous problems and influencing stakeholders; deep expertise in domain.
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XIn most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.
Minimum qualifications:
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Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
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8 years of experience in software development.
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5 years of experience in machine learning, recommendation systems, natural language processing, or a related field.
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Experience building offline and online quality evaluation frameworks for Large Language Models (e.g., LLM-as-a-judge, RLHF, DPO).
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Experience integrating generative AI tools or LLM interfaces into workflows.
Preferred qualifications:
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Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
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8 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.
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3 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction.
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Experience optimizing machine learning inference, resolving system-level bottlenecks, and improving serving efficiency for low-latency global surfaces.
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Experience integrating large language model quality evaluation frameworks with downstream recommendation signals.
About the job
Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.
The Discover Feed Recommendation team leads by recommending AI-generated content (AIGC) to fulfill user interests. As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer focusing on Search AIGC Quality, you will be responsible for AIGC quality control, topic identification, context engineering, and content understanding. You will build the agentic loops and evaluation frameworks needed to ensure factuality, freshness, coherence, and tone for AI-generated content that empowers users across Google's proactive surfaces like Discover and Notifications.
Join Google Search AI and work at the intersection of industry leading
global scale. We apply breakthrough research, leveraging models like Gemini, to launch high-impact products that help billions ask any question and get things done. If you want to drive the future of AI in Search and work with world-class experts to deliver tangible, global impact and continuous innovation, this is the place.Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits
Learn more aboutbenefits at Google (https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/benefits/) .
Responsibilities
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Build advanced AI-generated content (AIGC) quality frameworks and agentic flows to generate content for proactive surfaces like Discover and Notifications.
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Develop AI-generated content through advanced context engineering and agentic feedback loops to identify and deliver engaging stories globally.
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Conduct advanced quality evaluations and leverage downstream dense recommendation signals and feedback to improve the performance of the AIGC stack.
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Resolve key system-level bottlenecks in recommending and serving AIGC content to optimize efficiency for low-latency surfaces.
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Navigate high ambiguity, drive technical innovation for AIGC quality, and influence the broader organizational machine learning strategy.
Information collected and processed as part of your Google Careers profile, and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Google'sApplicant and Candidate Privacy Policy (./privacy-policy) .
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See alsoGoogle's EEO Policy (https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/eeo/) ,Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal (https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/EEOC\_KnowYourRights\_10\_20.pdf) ,Belonging at Google (https://about.google/belonging/) , andHow we hire (https://careers.google.com/how-we-hire/) .
If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing ourAccommodations for Applicants form (https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2) .
Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.
To all recruitment agencies: Google does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Google employees, or any other organization location. Google is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also https://careers.google.com/eeo/ and https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/OFCCP_EEO_Post.pdf If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form: https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2.
How this job compares
Set against the 9,034 open Software Engineering jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 14, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$207–300K/yr
- California median$190–280K/yr1,420 salary ranges
- US median$146–251K/yr7,057 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $254K, is 9% above the California median midpoint ($233K) — in the middle half of Software Engineering salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 1,896 open Software Engineering jobs in California and 9,034 across the US. 9% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 8 years of experience; Software Engineering postings that state a minimum ask for 7 years at the median (6,893 postings).
- Education
- 2,084 of the 9,034 open Software Engineering jobs (23%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 14, 2026. Figures based on too few postings are left out.
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