Machine Learning Manager - Ads Targeting Modeling
Job Summary
This role involves defining and executing the engineering strategy for Reddit's Ads Targeting products, focusing on developing machine learning-powered features to enhance ad relevance and effectiveness. The candidate will lead a team of engineers, data scientists, and product managers to build scalable targeting solutions, optimize existing products, and shape long-term technical vision. Responsibilities include managing team growth, mentoring, and collaborating across teams to deliver high-quality, data-driven advertising solutions. The role emphasizes technical leadership, product development, stakeholder management, and fostering an inclusive, growth-oriented team environment.
Required Skills
Benefits
Job Description
In this role, you will define and drive the engineering strategy for Reddit’s Ads Targeting products—solutions critical to scaling our business and serving tens of thousands of advertisers. You will develop machine learning–powered features that identify and target highly qualified users and content, thereby maximizing outcomes for a diverse group of advertisers. Ads Targeting products rely on rich user, content, and advertiser models that accurately match users with campaigns. We are looking for an industry leader in machine learning recommendations, optimization, and marketplace dynamics, with a strong technical background, solid business acumen, and excellent cross-functional stakeholder management skills. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity with broad influence across Reddit’s Ads platform.
The ideal candidate understands the value that ads can bring to our users, advertisers, and Reddit as a whole. As the Machine Learning Manager for the Ads Targeting Modeling team, you will partner closely with Engineering Managers, Product Managers, and Data Scientists to:
- Define the vision and product strategy for Ads Targeting Modeling.
- Optimize and evolve existing targeting products.
- Build new ML-powered targeting solutions to help advertisers reach relevant audiences at scale.
Responsibilities
Technical Vision & Strategy:
- Lead the development and optimization of first-party and automation-based targeting products that scale with Reddit’s growing Ads business.
- Shape a long-term technical vision that balances performance, personalization, and scalability while delivering measurable advertiser outcomes.
Execution & Delivery:
- Own the execution of your team’s roadmap and ensure consistent, predictable, and high-quality delivery.
- Prioritize initiatives effectively, balancing long-term innovation with emergent needs.
- Coach engineers and technical leads on execution, project management, and architectural tradeoffs.
- Identify risks early and communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical partners.
Recruiting & Team Growth:
- As the Ads Targeting Modeling team scales rapidly, you’ll be responsible for growing your team—writing job descriptions, sourcing, interviewing, and helping close top-tier talent.
- You’ll be supported by an experienced recruiting team but will be directly accountable for hiring and team scaling.
Career Development:
- Guide engineers in setting and achieving career goals.
- Create development plans, provide mentorship, and foster a team culture focused on growth and accountability.
- Encourage engineers to stretch beyond their comfort zones, grow their leadership skills, and become force multipliers for the organization.
Requirements
- Experience managing and growing ML engineering teams, ideally having scaled a team by more than 100%.
- Proven track record in building and shipping large-scale, end-to-end machine learning products.
- Technical expertise in at least one of the following areas: Machine Learning, NLP, Ranking, Search Engines, Recommender Systems, or Knowledge Graphs.
- Experience managing engineering teams, including hiring, onboarding, and talent development.
- Demonstrated success launching new products (0 → 1) and scaling mature product lines.
- Hands-on technical skills—you are capable of solving complex problems yourself, though you prefer to guide your team in doing so.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively collaborate across remote teams and communicate complex topics with technical and non-technical audiences.
- Experience with data-driven decision making and using data to guide roadmap priorities.
- Exposure to developing and executing multi-year technical strategies.
- Passion for building high-performing, inclusive teams and working closely with cross-functional stakeholders (e.g., Product Management, Product Marketing Management, Data Science, Sales).
- Experience mentoring and growing individual contributors.
- Management experience in the advertising domain or within ad tech platforms.
- Familiarity with marketplace dynamics and auction-based ad delivery systems.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits
- 401k Matching
- Workspace benefits for your home office
- Personal & Professional development funds
- Family Planning Support
- Flexible Vacation (please use them!) & Reddit Global Wellness Days
- 4+ months paid Parental Leave
- Paid Volunteer time off
#LI-Remote
Pay Transparency:
This job posting may span more than one career level.
In addition to base salary, this job is eligible to receive equity in the form of restricted stock units, and depending on the position offered, it may also be eligible to receive a commission. Additionally, Reddit offers a wide range of benefits to U.S.-based employees, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) program with employer match, generous time off for vacation, and parental leave. To learn more, please visit https://www.redditinc.com/careers/.
To provide greater transparency to candidates, we share base pay ranges for all US-based job postings regardless of state. We set standard base pay ranges for all roles based on function, level, and country location, benchmarked against similar stage growth companies. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including, skills, depth of work experience and relevant licenses/credentials, and may vary from the amounts listed below.
Reddit is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and is committed to building a workforce representative of the diverse communities we serve. Reddit is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If, due to a disability, you need an accommodation during the interview process, please let your recruiter know.
A social media platform where users create and participate in communities (subreddits) to discuss a wide range of topics, share content, and connect.
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