Lyft · 2 weeks ago
Data Scientist, Algorithms - Lyft Ads
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Full-time
Hybrid
Mid, Senior Level
CA$108K/yr - CA$135K/yr
3+ years expLyft is a company focused on building a large transportation media network through Lyft Ads. They are seeking an Algorithms Data Scientist to develop machine learning models that enhance ad relevance and performance, collaborating with various teams to translate business needs into algorithmic solutions.
AppsMobile AppsRide SharingSoftwareTaxi ServiceTransportation
Responsibilities
Design, develop, and deploy production-grade machine learning models and algorithms that power core Lyft Ads capabilities, such as ad relevance, targeting, ranking, bid optimization, pacing, campaign delivery, and measurement
Own the end-to-end lifecycle of modeling projects — including problem definition, data exploration, feature engineering, model development, offline evaluation, deployment, and monitoring
Collaborate closely with Ads Engineering to integrate models into real-time ad-serving and batch decision systems, ensuring performance across latency, scalability, and reliability constraints
Analyze large-scale mobility, behavioral, and ads performance datasets to identify patterns, surface opportunities, and guide ML and AI driven product improvements
Implement rigorous model evaluation frameworks, including offline metrics, statistical tests, calibration, sensitivity analysis, and A/B experimentation to validate both model impact and system-level outcomes
Build robust training pipelines, feature transformations, and scoring infrastructure, ensuring reproducibility, observability, and long-term maintainability
Partner with Product, Engineering, and Sales to translate ambiguous advertiser goals (e.g., increased conversions, reach efficiency, brand lift) into measurable requirements and success metrics
Investigate and resolve model behavior issues, production regressions, calibration drift, and performance anomalies in close partnership with Ads Infra teams
Drive innovation by staying current with advances in ML for ranking, recommendation, causal inference, optimization, and ads measurement — and proactively identifying opportunities to apply them
Contribute to Lyft Ads’ modeling and experimentation infrastructure, through model cards, documentation, reproducibility standards, and code quality improvements
Qualification
Required
Master's, or PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Engineering, or related quantitative fields; or equivalent applied industry experience
3–5 years of hands-on ML/applied science experience, ideally involving production models, large-scale systems, or ads/recommendation/relevance domains
Strong proficiency in Python and machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, or scikit-learn; ability to write clean, efficient, production-adjacent code
Experience working with large-scale datasets and distributed data tools (Spark, Snowflake, Presto, Databricks)
Practical experience building and evaluating ranking and relevance models
Practical experience building and evaluating optimization or pacing algorithms
Practical experience building and evaluating predictive models for CTR, CVR, or user response
Practical experience building and evaluating causal or experimentation-based measurement methods
Understanding of online/offline evaluation techniques, including offline metrics (AUC, NDCG, MRR, calibration)
Understanding of A/B testing methodologies
Understanding of bias correction and counterfactual estimation
Ability to solve ambiguous problems by structuring analyses, evaluating trade-offs, and proposing algorithmic solutions grounded in scientific rigor
Strong communication skills, with an ability to clearly explain model behavior, constraints, trade-offs, and recommendations to engineering, product, and sales partners
Demonstrated ownership of modeling work, including debugging, monitoring, documentation, and iteration after deployment
Curiosity, initiative, and a track record of delivering measurable improvements through high-quality modeling
Benefits
Extended health and dental coverage options, along with life insurance and disability benefits
Mental health benefits
Family building benefits
Child care and pet benefits
Access to a Lyft funded Health Care Savings Account
RRSP plan to help save for your future
In addition to provincial observed holidays, salaried team members are covered under Lyft's flexible paid time off policy. The policy allows team members to take off as much time as they need (with manager approval). Hourly team members get 15 days paid time off, with an additional day for each year of service
Lyft is proud to support new parents with 18 weeks of paid time off, designed as a top-up plan to complement provincial programs. Biological, adoptive, and foster parents are all eligible.
Subsidized commuter benefits
Company
Lyft
Lyft is a leading ride-hailing service offering car rentals, bike, and scooter-sharing through its mobile app for convenient transportation.
5001-10000 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$5.76BKey Investors
FidelityMagna InternationalCapitalG,Rakuten
2025-09-03Post Ipo Debt· $450M
2024-02-21Post Ipo Debt· $400M
2021-02-01Post Ipo Equity
Leadership Team
David Risher
Chief Executive Officer
Erin Brewer
Chief Financial Officer
Recent News
2026-02-07
2026-02-06
2026-02-05
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