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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Senior Staff Machine Learning Architect, Personalization - **Company:** THREDUP INC. - **Location:** Oakland, CA, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Distributed Systems, Machine Learning, Recommender Systems, Software Engineering, Software Requirements Analysis, Information Technology, Data Analytics - **Published:** August 10, 2026 - **Apply:** https://us.experteer.com/career/view-jobs/senior-staff-machine-learning-architect-personalization-oakland-ca-usa-58910516 ## About the Role NDCG) high-throughput retrieval, real-time feature freshness for millions of items * Collaborate with product and business stakeholders to translate goals into ML system requirements * Mentor across teams to raise the technical bar * Engage hands-on: study current research, prototype, review designs, and address production issues Tasks * 10+ years in Data Science, ML Engineering, or Software Engineering, with 5+ years in recommender systems * MS or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related quantitative field; or equivalent experience * Proven ability to architect end-to-end recommender pipelines spanning multiple services * Deep expertise in ML models for retrieval, ranking, and reranking * Track record of setting technical direction across teams or product lines * Experience balancing ML metrics (recall, precision, NDCG) with business metrics (conversion, AOV) * Knowledge of distributed systems at scale: low-latency serving, feature stores, vector databases, streaming pipelines * Excellent written and verbal communication; able to align technical and non-technical stakeholders Key requirements * 4-day work week * Hybrid work environment * Employee stock purchase plan * Discretionary RSU awards * Flexible PTO + 13 holidays * Paid Sabbatical after 3 years ## Description Experteer Overview As Architect for the recommender system, you will define the long-term technical strategy and set architectural direction across retrieval, ranking, reranking, and real-time serving. You will partner with engineering, data science, and product teams to ensure scalable personalization that balances relevance with business outcomes. You will influence cross-team investments and mentor others while remaining hands-on with research, prototyping, and production issues. This role offers a senior IC path with broad impact on ThredUp's shopping experience. You will help shape a data-driven, scalable platform at a mission-driven company focused on sustainable fashion. Compensation / Benefits * Define and own the end-to-end architecture for recommendation systems across retrieval, ranking, reranking, and real-time serving * Coordinate across teams to influence investment decisions by authoring architecture RFCs and leading technical reviews * Design for scale: low-latency serving, high-throughput retrieval, real-time feature freshness for millions of items * Collaborate with product and business stakeholders to translate goals into ML system requirements * Mentor across teams to raise the technical bar * Engage hands-on: study current research, prototype, review designs, and address production issues Tasks * 10+ years in Data Science, ML Engineering, or Software Engineering, with 5+ years in recommender systems * MS or PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related quantitative field; or equivalent experience * Proven ability to architect end-to-end recommender pipelines spanning multiple services * Deep expertise in ML models for retrieval, ranking, and reranking * Track record of setting technical direction across teams or product lines * Experience balancing ML metrics (recall, precision, NDCG) with business metrics (conversion, AOV) * Knowledge of distributed systems at scale: low-latency serving, feature stores, vector databases, streaming pipelines * Excellent written and verbal communication; able to align technical and non-technical stakeholders Key requirements * 4-day work week * Hybrid work environment * Employee stock purchase plan * Discretionary RSU awards * Flexible PTO + 13 holidays * Paid Sabbatical after 3 years ## Related Videos - [Introduction to Azure Machine Learning](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/368-introduction-to-azure-machine-learning) - [How We Built a Machine Learning-Based Recommendation System (And Survived to Tell the Tale)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/752-how-we-built-a-machine-learning-based-recommendation-system-and-survived-to-tell-the-tale) - [PySpark - Combining Machine Learning & Big Data](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/44-pyspark-combining-machine-learning-big-data) - [Best Practices for AI-Assisted Development of Distributed Systems](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100200-best-practices-for-ai-assisted-development-of-distributed-systems) - [Empowering Retail Through Applied Machine Learning](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/976-empowering-retail-through-applied-machine-learning) - [Data Science in Retail](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/586-data-science-in-retail) ## Related Articles - [Dev Digest 120 - Apple and peers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/455-dev-digest-120-apple-and-peers) - [Coffee with Developers - Maria Apazoglou - Making AI understandable for all in production](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/475-coffee-with-developers-maria-apazoglou-making-ai-understandable-for-all-in-production) - [Dev Digest 121 - AI goes offline](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/456-dev-digest-121-ai-goes-offline) - [Résumé-Driven Development: How IT trends affect the job market for software developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/59-resume-driven-development-how-it-trends-affect-the-job-market-for-software-developers) - [Dev Digest 132 - Binging WADFlix?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/473-dev-digest-132-binging-wadflix) - [The Biggest German Tech Companies](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/424-the-biggest-german-tech-companies)