Lead Data Scientist

About Agoda

Agoda began in 2005 with the vision to simplify global travel, founded by two lifelong friends passionate about exploration. Now part of Booking Holdings with a multinational team exceeding 7,000 employees from 90 countries, Agoda connects travelers to countless accommodations, flights, and experiences worldwide.

Data and technology are central to Agoda's culture, driving innovation and curiosity. The Data department supports company-wide data needs by facilitating access to and use of operational and analytical databases, queue systems, BI tools, and data science technologies. The team focuses on empowering decision-making across all functions and enhancing customer experience with improved search speeds and fraud prevention.

The Opportunity

The company seeks proactive and agile data scientists to address complex challenges on one of the largest machine learning and big data platforms available, processing upwards of 600 billion daily events and generating around 5 billion predictions. Real-world challenges include dynamic pricing, real-time customer intent prediction, search result ranking to enhance lifetime value, analyzing unstructured data like images and text through deep learning, personalized recommendations, innovative promotions, big data insights, and overall user experience improvements. The platform operates with dozens of parallel GPUs, over 30,000 CPU cores, and 150 TB of memory.

Responsibilities

• Develop, experiment, and deploy models and algorithms to enhance customer satisfaction, supplier value, business results, and infrastructure efficiency.
• Analyze massive datasets including hundreds of millions of customers, daily generated events, supplier, and pricing data to derive actionable insights.
• Collaborate with developers and business units to deliver high-quality outcomes daily.
• Research and implement innovative ideas improving Agoda's offerings.

Qualifications

• Minimum four years of practical data science experience.
• Strong proficiency in AI, machine learning, deep learning, and statistics, alongside experience with open-source libraries and frameworks.
• Advanced skills in SQL and programming in Python, PySpark, and/or Scala.
• Ability to lead projects, work autonomously, and contribute meaningfully within teams.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills suitable for a multicultural environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Operations Research, Statistics, or other quantitative disciplines.
• Experience with natural language processing, image processing, and recommendation systems.
• Practical knowledge of data engineering and big data frameworks like Spark or Hadoop.
• Background in data science related to e-commerce or online travel agencies.

Equal Opportunity & Hiring Policies

Agoda is committed to diversity and inclusion, ensuring employment decisions are based solely on merit. The company does not accept representation from unsolicited recruitment agencies and reserves the right to engage candidates directly when unsolicited applications are received.