Staff/Lead Large Language Model (LLM) Data Scientist

About Agoda

Agoda is a global travel technology company founded in 2005 by two entrepreneurial friends passionate about travel. Currently part of Booking Holdings with over 7,000 employees across 90 different countries, Agoda connects travelers to millions of hotels, flights, and experiences worldwide, delivering excellent value and convenience.

Team Overview

Our Data department drives all data-related initiatives within Agoda, aiming to enhance data utilization across the business. We develop and manage operational and analytical databases, queue systems, business intelligence tools, and data science technologies. By fostering innovation and investing in talent development, we empower our teams and business partners to make informed decisions and improve user experience, including faster search results and fraud prevention. With vast amounts of data, the Data team tackles complex challenges that create rewarding opportunities.

Position Opportunity

We seek highly motivated and agile data scientists to engage with large scale machine learning and big data platforms processing approximately 600 billion daily events and generating 5 billion predictions. The role focuses on tackling real challenges including dynamic pricing, real-time customer intent prediction, optimizing search rankings for lifetime value, deep learning with unstructured data like images and text, personalized recommendations, innovating promotional algorithms for our supply partners, big data insight discovery, and enhancing user experience. Cutting-edge infrastructure includes multi-GPU parallel processing, over 30,000 CPU cores, and extensive memory resources.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and implement machine learning models and algorithms optimizing customer satisfaction, supply-side benefits, business impact, and scalability.
• Analyze large datasets generated daily from customers and suppliers, discovering actionable insights that drive innovation and improvements.
• Collaborate closely with software engineers and business stakeholders to deliver high-quality, timely results.
• Research and integrate novel ideas and technologies that can make a significant impact on our products.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years of practical experience in data science.
• Strong foundational knowledge of artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and statistical methods, along with expert programming skills using relevant open-source libraries and frameworks.
• Proficiency in SQL and programming languages such as Python, PySpark, and/or Scala.
• Proven ability to lead projects autonomously and contribute effectively within team settings.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills suited for a diverse, multinational workplace.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree such as a Ph.D. or Master’s in Computer Science, Operations Research, Statistics, or a comparable quantitative discipline.
• Experience working with natural language processing, image analysis, or recommendation systems.
• Hands-on experience in data engineering and big data platforms such as Spark or Hadoop.
• Background in data science within e-commerce or online travel agencies.

Additional Information

Agoda embraces diversity and is an equal opportunity employer, providing an inclusive environment free from discrimination. Employment decisions are merit based. Candidate applications may be retained for future consideration, with personal data handled according to our privacy policies.

Unsolicited submissions from third-party agencies will not be accepted, and Agoda is not obligated to pay fees for candidates sourced through such channels.