Applied AI / ML Scientist - Ads Bidding

About Faire Faire is a technology wholesale platform built on the belief that the future is local. Independent retailers around the globe collectively represent a multi-hundred-billion-dollar wholesale market that has historically been fragmented and offline. At Faire, we're using the power of tech, data, and machine learning to connect this thriving community of entrepreneurs across the globe. Picture your favorite boutique in town — we help them discover the best products from around the world to sell in their stores. With the right tools and insights, we believe that we can level the playing field so businesses can grow and local communities can thrive. We’re looking for smart, resourceful and passionate people to join us as we power the shop local movement. If you believe in community, come join ours. About this Role The Ads Data team is building the next generation of advertising products for the wholesale industry. As a key member of this team, you’ll shape the future of our ads marketplace and auction system at Faire—spanning auction design, bidding strategy, pacing, pricing, and budget optimization. Our in-house stack gives us unique end-to-end ownership, and our first-party conversion data allows us to train highly effective models and optimize for real, business-critical outcomes on behalf of our brands. This is a rare opportunity to be an early contributor to a fast-growing team in an incredibly strategic area of the business. Ads is a major company priority and you'll have a massive impact in shaping the platform that connects independent retailers and brands. You’ll work closely with engineers, product managers, and designers to launch and iterate on systems that are not just technically sophisticated, but also directly drive improvements to the bottom line for both brands and Faire. What You'll Do Own the end-to-end development of ML models across the ads bidding stack—from problem framing, solution design, modeling, and implementation to deployment, experimentation, and impact measurement. Build best-in-class models and algorithms for auction optimization, bid shading and bid multipliers, budget allocation, pacing, and advertiser ROI/ROAS optimization—drawing from marketplace optimization and experimentation best practices. Define and improve bidding and pacing strategies that balance advertiser performance, marketplace health, and platform economics (e.g., spend smoothing, delivery guarantees, seasonal demand, and inventory constraints). As an early member of the Ads Data team, help define its roadmap and technical culture, leveraging deep product intuition to shape what ads at Faire *should* be—not just how they’re built. Work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with team members who’ve shipped ML at top tech companies (e.g. Uber, Airbnb, Meta, Amazon, Pinterest). Qualifications 2+ years of industry experience using machine learning to solve real-world problems, ideally in Ads, Marketplace Optimization, Pricing, Auctions, or a related large-scale production domain. Demonstrated ownership of the full ML lifecycle: from scoping and design through training, deployment, A/B testing, and iteration. Strong programming skills. Experience with relational databases and SQL. The ability to contribute to team strategy and to lead model development without supervision. Strong communication skills and the ability to work with others in a closely collaborative team environment. Great to Haves Highly recommended: Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, or related STEM fields Ability to quickly implement state of the art algorithms from an academic paper Salary Range San Francisco: the pay range for this role is $165,500 to $227,500 per year. This role will also be eligible for equity and benefits. Actual base pay will be determined based on permissible factors such as transferable skills, work experience, market demands, and primary work location. The base pay range provided is subject to change and may be mo