We're building marketplace sustainable ecosystems that millions of people depend on every month – to buy and sell cars, find homes, land jobs, and trade secondhand goods. It's commerce that matters: safe, smart, and environmentally responsible.
We do this with courage to innovate, commitment to outcomes, collaboration across 50+ nationalities and 7 markets, and a customer-led approach that puts real people first. We’re on a mission to transform how millions of people discover and connect with what they need most - across Motors, Real Estate, Jobs, Services, and Goods. This initiative is sponsored directly by our CTO and represents a strategic leap for OLX: a new cross-functional team built from the ground up, bringing together machine learning engineers, data scientists, SREs, and platform engineers. Together, we’re redefining how search intelligence is built, shared, and scaled across our global ecosystem.
As the Principal Search Machine Learning Engineer, you’ll be the technical guiding force behind this transformation. You’ll work alongside our Principal Search Engineer to shape the architecture, mentor the team, and deliver solutions that bring measurable business and user impact. You'll also play a key role in growing OLX’s data science practice, mentoring peers, and shaping how AI is applied across the company. This is a hands-on leadership opportunity where you’ll see your ideas move from research to production and into the hands of millions of users.
Lead the design and evolution of OLX’s Search AI Platform, developing LLM- and GenAI-based systems that power discovery and relevance across Motors, Real Estate, Jobs, and Goods.
Partner with the Principal Search Engineer to define and implement a unified technical strategy for search, ranking, and retrieval at scale.
Guide a cross-functional team of ML engineers, data scientists, and platform engineers, fostering technical excellence, experimentation, and rapid iteration.
Mentor and inspire data scientists and ML engineers across OLX’s global hubs, sharing best practices and shaping the future of applied ML at scale.
Stay hands-on, driving implementation in Python and AWS while exploring state-of-the-art advances in LLMs, GenAI, and search infrastructure.
Based in Germany, with the ability to collaborate across global teams.
Strategic and hands-on technical leader who thrives at the intersection of machine learning, large-scale systems, and product impact.
Strong background in Generative AI and LLMs, with an understanding of their application to search and content understanding.
Proficient in Python and familiar with at least one other programming language (e.g., Kotlin, Java); Solid understanding of data pipelines, experimentation frameworks, and distributed systems in cloud environments (preferably AWS).
Exceptional analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills, capable of translating complex ideas into actionable solutions.
Experience building large-scale batch and real-time data pipelines with open source data processing frameworks like Spark.
Experience driving initiatives such as Tech Radar for Data Science and interacting with external groups (e.g. Amazon ML Solutions Lab or similar) to formulate and progress the Data Science Tech agenda
Permanent contract
~ Salary + annual bonus up to 25% of your annual gross salary
~ Health insurance and life insurance
~ 100% remote work (and the possibility to work from our offices in Berlin)
OLX will process your personal data to assess your fit for the applied position. You may optionally consent to store your data for up to 12 months after the application process for consideration in future OLX roles. For more details on how your application data will be processed please check our Privacy Statement .