Machine Learning Engineer, Recommendation Algorithm

About SmartNews 

SmartNews is a leading global information and news discovery company dedicated to delivering quality information to the people who need it. Thanks to our unique machine-learning technology and relationships with more than 3,000 global publisher partners, we provide news that matters to millions of users.

Founded in 2012 in Tokyo, SmartNews also has offices in Osaka (Kansai Office), Palo Alto, New York and Singapore.

If you share our vision and are passionate about our mission, we encourage you to apply!

About Team

The Vertical Ranking Team builds the machine learning systems that power personalized experiences across SmartNews. We partner closely with Product and Business teams to design and deploy scalable recommendation solutions that drive user engagement and revenue growth across key surfaces such as For You, Push Notifications, Follow Recommendations, Search, Ads, and emerging vertical experiences.

Our work sits at the intersection of business impact and ML innovation. We translate product requirements and strategic priorities into high-performing ranking strategies that optimize engagement, retention, and monetization. From feature design and model development to experimentation and online iteration, we play a critical role in evolving and enhancing the recommendation pipeline to deliver measurable results.

We operate in a fast-moving environment where real-world impact matters. Every model is evaluated against clear business metrics. By leveraging large-scale behavioral data, advanced modeling techniques, and rigorous A/B testing, we continuously refine performance and elevate the quality of recommendations for our users.

Our team values strong ownership and accountability. Each initiative is grounded in data, aligned with business goals, and contributes to strengthening both vertical strategies and the broader recommendation ecosystem.

If you’re passionate about applying machine learning to solve meaningful business challenges, shaping recommendation strategies that directly influence growth, and collaborating cross-functionally to turn data into impact, the Vertical Ranking Team offers a unique opportunity to drive results at scale.

Responsibilities

In this role, you will translate business goals and product strategies into impactful machine learning solutions that power personalized experiences at scale. You will design, experiment with, and optimize ranking strategies that directly influence user engagement, retention, and monetization across key SmartNews surfaces.

You will collaborate closely with Product, Business, and cross-functional engineering teams to identify opportunities, define success metrics, and deliver measurable improvements through data-driven experimentation. By continuously refining models, features, and ranking logic based on performance insights and user feedback, you will help evolve our recommendation systems to drive sustainable business growth.

Requirements

Minimum requirements

• Business-level proficiency in Japanese, with the ability to collaborate effectively with local Product and Business stakeholders
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field.
• Strong foundation in machine learning fundamentals, including supervised learning, model evaluation, feature engineering, and basic optimization techniques.
• Proficiency in Python and experience with common ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar).
• Solid coding skills with attention to code quality, readability, and maintainability.
• Experience working with data processing tools (e.g., SQL, Pandas, Spark, or similar) and handling large-scale datasets.
• Understanding of experimentation methodologies such as A/B testing and basic statistical analysis.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to translate business questions into data-driven approaches.

Nice to have experiences/skills

• Internship or project experience in recommendation systems, ranking, search, ads, or personalization-related domains.
• Hands-on experience with large-scale data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark) or distributed training environments.
• Familiarity with deep learning models commonly used in recommendation systems (e.g., embeddings, sequence models, multi-task learning).
• Exposure to online serving, model deployment, or production ML workflows (e.g., feature pipelines, monitoring, model iteration).
• Understanding of user behavior analysis, growth metrics, and business-driven optimization.
• Contributions to open-source projects, research publications, Kaggle competitions, or other demonstrated passion for applied machine learning.

Related Links

• Click here or visit our careers site to check employee interviews

Working condition

• Office Location: Tokyo

Click here or visit our careers site for more info.

Benefits

Benefits available at the SmartNews Tokyo Office

• All healthcare and social insurance required by the Japanese labor law, plus annual health check
• Visa sponsorship and overseas relocation support available for eligible candidates

Click here or visit our careers site for more info about our benefits.