The Lead ML Ops Data Scientist will design scalable MLOps systems, mentor data scientists, and develop models for rental matching and personalization.
Who We Are
At Apartment List, we’re transforming how people rent—making it smarter, easier, and a lot less frustrating. Our platform has already matched over a 1.4 million renters with their next home, while helping properties fill units with the right residents. Backed by strong growth and a big vision, we’re building the future of renting—and inviting bold thinkers to help us shape it!
Remote (U.S.) | Data Science & Machine Learning
At Apartment List, we’re on a mission to help every renter find a home they love at the value they deserve. As one of the fastest-growing online rental marketplaces, we use data and machine learning to understand renter preferences and match them seamlessly with the right property. To date, we’ve helped over one million families find a home they love — and we’re just getting started. Join us!
Apartment List is seeking a Lead ML Ops Data Scientist to help us scale and accelerate our use of machine learning across the renter and property experience. Our Data Science team has a strong foundation and a rich roadmap of high-impact initiatives — from personalized search to real-time AI-driven journey optimization. To fully realize this potential, we need a strong leader who can bridge the worlds of data science and engineering.
In this role, you’ll design and evolve the machine learning systems, infrastructure, and practices that allow us to move faster, build and deploy more sophisticated models, and drive measurable business impact. You’ll lead by doing — developing our platform and models yourself while enabling the broader team to experiment, iterate, and deploy at scale.
- Design and implement scalable MLOps systems and practices that streamline model development, deployment, and monitoring.
- Partner closely with Engineering and Product to ensure data scientists can experiment and deploy models quickly, efficiently and safely.
- Build tools and frameworks that automate or simplify feature integration, retraining, and experimentation.
- Develop and deploy production models for ranking, recommendation, and personalization, leveraging modern ML architectures and frameworks.
- Mentor data scientists on best practices in applied ML and MLOps, fostering a culture of technical excellence and efficiency.
- Continuously identify and address bottlenecks in our ML workflows to expand the team’s capacity for innovation.
- A degree in Computer Science or Engineering, or related fields.
- 5+ years of experience developing, deploying, and maintaining machine learning models in production environments.
- Strong proficiency in Python, SQL, and cloud platforms (GCP/Vertex AI preferred).
- Experience building or standardizing ML platforms and infrastructure.
- Deep understanding of ML lifecycle management, CI/CD for ML, and monitoring tools.
- Hands-on experience with modern ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, XGBoost), and orchestration and distributed computing tools (Airflow, MLflow, Kubeflow, Dask, Ray, or dbt).
- Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally and lead technical initiatives that improve productivity and scalability.
- A passion for combining scientific rigor with strong engineering fundamentals.
Bonus Points For:
- Background in recommendation systems, ranking, or personalization.
- Contributions to open-source or shared ML tooling initiatives.
- Marketplace or PropTech experience.
- Advanced degree in a relevant field.
- Impact: Shape the foundation of how machine learning powers every renter experience at Apartment List.
- Leverage: Multiply the output and effectiveness of the entire Data Science organization.
- Leadership: Blend hands-on technical work with strategic influence across Data Science and Engineering.
- Culture: A remote-first, high-bar environment where your work drives real results.
We’re building a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the renters we serve. If you’re excited about this opportunity but don’t meet every qualification, we still encourage you to apply.
Join us and help unlock the next era of intelligent renting at Apartment List.
At Apartment List, we carefully consider a variety of factors to determine compensation for each position, including the role, level, and work. The US Total Target Compensation (TTC) for this position is:
- Zone 1: $189,000 - $229,000 TTC (including $170,000 - $206,000 base salary) + equity
- Zone 2: $ 175,000 - $212,000 TTC (including $157,000 - $191,000) + equity
- Zone 3: $ 160,000 - $195,000 TTC (including $144,000 - $175,000 base salary) + equity
This reflects the compensation target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Please note, the compensation details provided do not include benefits and perks that we offer.
Here's what's in it for you (full-time US based employees only; does not apply to contract roles):
- Competitive Compensation: Including annual salary, pre-IPO stock options, and other financial compensation (if applicable)
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage: 100% of premiums covered for you AND all of your dependents
- Unlimited Flexible Time Off: Unlimited FTO in addition to 12 company holidays per year, quarterly “recharge” days, and a week-long holiday break
- Home Office Reimbursement: To cover home office furniture and supplies, monthly home internet, and monthly cell phone (if applicable)
- Health & Wellness Reimbursement: To cover monthly gym membership or other qualifying expenses
- Parental Support: Generous parental and family leave, fertility benefits, and employer-sponsored stipends towards family forming services
- 401k Plan: To support you in your individual retirement goals
- Team Events: Frequent team-building events, fun team off-sites, and bi-annual company meetups
- Commitment to DEI: To prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within our workplace and to stay true to our values and mission
- Mentorship and Training: To get you onboard quickly, learn new professional skills, and invest in your career development
- Impact and Visibility: To expose you to and provide the opportunity to work on highly strategic initiatives that will transform the business
- Encouragement and Empowerment: To explore and adopt new technologies and drive meaningful decisions and outcomes
- At Apartment List we believe that everyone deserves a home they love AND a career they love. We strive to build a diverse team that is a reflection of the people we serve; this is made possible through our commitment to fostering a culture of diversity, inclusion, equity, and connectedness.
As a proud equal opportunity employer, we celebrate the collection of individual differences, life experiences, ideas, perspectives, knowledge, and talent. We hire candidates of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, Veteran status, and any other status.
Top Skills
Airflow
Dask
Dbt
GCP
Kubeflow
Mlflow
Python
PyTorch
Ray
Scikit-Learn
SQL
TensorFlow
Vertex Ai
Xgboost
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