--- title: 'Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Discovery Recommendations at Epic Games' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-machine-learning-engineer-discovery-recommendations-epic-games-multiple-vh7eh17p220x' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-09' --- # Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Discovery Recommendations at Epic Games - **Company:** Epic Games - **Location:** Multiple Locations - **Compensation:** $190k–$341k - **Posted:** 2026-04-17 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09 - **Apply:** https://epicgames.com/careers/jobs/5973992004?gh_jid=5973992004 ## Job description WHAT MAKES US EPIC? At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating. Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development. ## ANALYTICS ## What We Do Our Data & Analytics teams build powerful stories and visuals that inform the games we make, the technology we develop, and business decisions that drive Epic. ## What You'll Do You will design, build, and optimize the recommendation systems that power Fortnite's Discover experience, serving personalized recommendations to one of the largest player bases in gaming across a massive catalog of creator-built experiences. You'll work across the full recommendation stack: candidate generation, content ranking, impression allocation, and real-time reranking. Unlike recommendation systems that operate over a stable catalog, you're working with a massive, rapidly changing content library where new experiences are published daily, quality signals are sparse, and the system's own outputs shape the data it learns from. In this role, you will - Design and implement retrieval, ranking, and reranking models for creator content using deep learning approaches (two-tower architectures, transformer-based sequence models, embedding-based retrieval) and build the user representation systems that power personalized discovery - Build and optimize multi-stage candidate generation and impression allocation pipelines that balance relevance, diversity, and fair content exposure across a large and rapidly evolving catalog - Design and run A/B experiments to validate model improvements, own evaluation frameworks that capture recommendation quality holistically, and drive the path from experiment to production deployment - Collaborate with analytics and content quality teams on ranking signals including genre classification, creator credibility, and content quality metrics - Own ML infrastructure decisions: choosing the right tradeoffs between batch, near-real-time, and streaming serving architectures ## What we're looking for - 5+ years of experience building production recommendation or ranking systems, ideally in a UGC, marketplace, or content discovery context - Experience with deep learning for information retrieval and multi-stage recommendation pipelines (candidate generation, scoring, reranking) - Demonstrated ability to design and analyze A/B experiments, with awareness of biases inherent to recommendation systems - Strong Python engineering skills with experience in PyTorch and large-scale data processing frameworks (Spark preferred) - Comfort working in a cloud-based ML environment - Experience with explore/exploit strategies, content cold-start, or counterfactual evaluation methods applied to recommendation - Experience with content understanding models (NLP, vision, or generative AI) used as ranking features - Familiarity with creator economy dynamics and how recommendation design affects content quality and creator incentives - Experience with our stack: PyTorch (TorchRec, Transformers), Ray, Databricks, AWS - Passion for video games and/or experience with gaming analytics This role is open to multiple locations across the US (including CA, NYC, & WA). EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical. Pay Transparency Information The expected annual base pay range(s) for this position are detailed below. Each base pay range is relevant only for individuals who are residents of or will be expected to work within the specified locale. Compensation varies based on a variety of factors, which include (but aren’t limited to) things such as skills and competencies, qualifications, knowledge, and experience. In addition to base pay, most employees are eligible to participate in Epic’s generous benefit plans and discretionary incentive programs (subject to the terms of those plans or programs). New York City Base Pay Range $232,666—$341,243 USD California Base Pay Range $209,399—$307,119 USD Washington Base Pay Range $190,363—$279,199 USD ## ABOUT US Epic Games​ ​is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent. Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic! Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy [here](https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/eeo-policy). Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found [here](https://www.epicgames.com/note-to-recruitment-agencies). ## About Epic Games ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology, best known for developing Fortnite and Unreal Engine. - **Entity Type**: Private - **Headquarters**: Cary, North Carolina, USA (with dozens of offices worldwide) - **Founded**: 1991 - **Founders**: Tim Sweeney ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Video games, game engine development, digital storefronts, online services - **Target customers**: B2C (gamers, especially through Fortnite) and B2B (game developers, film/TV studios, automotive, architecture, simulation professionals using Unreal Engine) - **Mission or purpose statement**: To empower creators and provide an end-to-end digital ecosystem for developers and creators to build, distribute, and operate games and other content. ## Products & Services - **Fortnite**: A vibrant ecosystem of social entertainment experiences including Fortnite Battle Royale, LEGO® Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival, as well as creator-made experiences. Available across multiple platforms. - **Unreal Engine**: The most powerful real-time 3D creation engine, used not only for games but also for film/FX, automotive design, architectural visualization, broadcast/live events, and simulation. - **Epic Games Store**: A digital storefront for PC games and apps, offering developers an 88/12 revenue split and free games programs. - **Epic Online Services**: A suite of backend services for multiplayer games, including matchmaking, voice chat, leaderboards, and cross-platform play. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (privately held) - **Key Metric**: Over 800 million accounts and over 6 billion friend connections across Fortnite, Fall Guys, Rocket League, and the Epic Games Store. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not disclosed in official materials; historically, Tencent acquired a minority stake (~40%) in 2012 and 2020 (source not in provided web results). - **Growth Signals**: Ongoing expansion of Fortnite ecosystem (LEGO, racing, music); widespread adoption of Unreal Engine across industries; consistent hiring across engineering, art, production, and corporate roles; active investment in the metaverse and creator economy. ## Competitive Advantages - **Unreal Engine dominance**: Industry-leading real-time 3D technology used by a vast range of developers and enterprises, creating a strong ecosystem and lock-in. - **Fortnite’s massive, engaged user base**: Over 800 million accounts provide a built-in audience and a platform for content creators. - **End-to-end digital ecosystem**: Epic owns the full stack – engine, store, online services, and games – enabling seamless integration and data feedback loops. - **Proprietary technology and R&D**: Continuous innovation in rendering, networking, and interactive experiences. ## Strategic Focus - Building the metaverse through Fortnite’s creative and social experiences. - Expanding Unreal Engine’s use beyond games into film, TV, broadcast, architecture, automotive, and simulation. - Growing the Epic Games Store and Epic Online Services to attract and support developers. - Investing in creator tools and economy (e.g., UEFN – Unreal Editor for Fortnite). ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Epic describes itself as a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment where talented, passionate employees are at the core of its success. - **Disciplines**: Opportunities span Engineering, Art & Animation, Audio & Design, Production, Publishing (Marketing, Community), Data & Analytics, Product Management, Corporate (HR, Legal, IT, InfoSec, Finance), and more. - **Global presence**: Dozens of offices worldwide including major hubs in Cary (HQ), Montreal, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, Porto Alegre, Shanghai, and others. - **Remote/Hybrid**: Not explicitly stated in provided materials, but many roles list specific locations; likely a mix of in-office, hybrid, and limited remote based on role. - **Perks and growth**: Internship programs, opportunities to work on award-winning games and cutting-edge engine tech, and a “Be Epic” ethos that encourages innovation and quality. ## Sources 1. [epicgames.com](https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/careers) – Careers overview and culture 2. [epicgames.com](https://www.epicgames.com/site/about) – About page with company facts 3. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/epic-games) – LinkedIn company profile (funding and revenue data not shown) 4. [epicgames.com](https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/about) – About page (alternative URL) 5. [epicgames.com](https://www.epicgames.com/site/careers/jobs) – Current job listings and departments ## Other roles at Epic Games - [Senior Gameplay Programmer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-gameplay-programmer-epic-games-montreal-g8z3vwn6jsr5) — Montreal, Canada - [Senior Gameplay Programmer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-gameplay-programmer-epic-games-multiple-locations-wqzmg146k98f) — Multiple Locations - [Senior Gameplay Programmer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-gameplay-programmer-epic-games-cary-m5zf69jynpmj) — Cary, NC - [Frontend Programmer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/frontend-programmer-intern-epic-games-cary-fkyvtw6p4cbp) — Cary, NC - [Level Design Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/level-design-intern-epic-games-cary-dfszk703bjwt) — Cary, NC - [Web Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/web-engineer-intern-epic-games-novi-sad-raj9213yjp9w) — Novi Sad, Serbia - [Web Engineer Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/web-engineer-intern-epic-games-london-x33jh293fpvk) — London, United Kingdom - [Release Management Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/release-management-lead-epic-games-vancouver-vfwkvd5f0g8t) — Vancouver, Canada - [Release Management Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/release-management-lead-epic-games-multiple-locations-773v3ypmfsdp) — Multiple Locations - [Release Management Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/release-management-lead-epic-games-cary-cbkha916gpxf) — Cary, NC