Staff Backend Engineer Unity Ads jobs at Unity in United States, San Francisco

These models power our ad ranking and recommendation systems, helping advertisers reach the right users at the right time by accurately estimating engagement and conversion likelihood. By leveraging large-scale behavioral data, creative features, and contextual signals, we continuously improve the relevance and accuracy of our predictions. This drives key outcomes such as higher user engagement, stronger conversion performance, and better return on ad spend — enabling advertisers to achieve their goals while delivering a better experience for users.

• Design, implement, and maintain high-performance fraud detection models to identify and block fraudulent activities at the publisher, game, and user levels.
• Build and refine systems to analyze user behavior, transaction patterns, and contextual signals, enabling accurate and timely detection of suspicious or malicious activity.
• Ensure model quality and reliability by continuously monitoring performance, calibrating predictions, and addressing data drift or delayed feedback.
• Actively participate and work with other leads to set the long term direction for the team, plan and oversee engineering designs and project execution.
• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts to non-engineering stakeholders.

• Advanced degree (MS or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience building and operating large-scale systems for detection, monitoring, or risk management in ads, payments, or related domains.
• 3+ years of experience designing and deploying fraud detection or anomaly detection models, user behavior modeling, or risk scoring systems.
• Significant experience in one or more general-purpose programming languages like Python, Go, Scala, C++ or similar.
• Knowledge of metric design, experimentation methodologies, and large-scale data analysis.

• Experience designing and productionizing optimization algorithms in an ad serving platform and/or other marketplaces.
• Experience with state-of-the-art control systems, reinforcement learning algorithms.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

• Guide the architecture and low level design of distributed systems to ensure scalability, reliability, and efficiency
• Own and operate infrastructure services with the engineering teams, including on call responsibilities and deep debugging of complex issues
• Drive operational excellence through improved observability, resiliency, and automation
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical bar through design reviews, code reviews, and engineering best practices
• Advise leadership on platform direction, long term investment, and adoption of emerging infrastructure technologies

• 7 or more years of experience building and operating large scale distributed systems in production
• Programming experience for backend service and infrastructure development
• Hands on experience with Kubernetes and cloud native systems in GCP, AWS, or Azure
• Expertise in distributed infrastructure including traffic management, load balancing, networking, and large scale data processing.
• Deep understanding of networking, observability, and debugging distributed systems end to end

• Deep expertise in distributed caching or storage systems used to support large scale, low latency workloads
• Expertise in protocols, routing, and service discovery in large scale environments
• Domain knowledge of online advertising and adtech systems is a plus

• Relocation support is not available for this position
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

As part of the team, you will work on distributed systems that handle real-time ad requests, impression tracking, and user data analytics with strict requirements for uptime and security. You'll play a critical role in optimizing performance, maintaining service availability, and supporting the development of new monetization features for game developers worldwide. Security, data privacy, and a positive user experience are central to everything we build.

• Design, build, and modernise backend services and APIs that support ad delivery
• Work on scalable, high-availability systems used across Unity’s ads ecosystem
• Collaborate with engineers, product managers, and data teams to deliver new features
• Improve performance, observability, and cost-efficiency of current backend systems, modernising the legacy stack
• Contribute to architectural decisions and technical direction of the platform

• Experience building backend services at scale
• Proficiency in Golang, and relational databases (e.g., MySQL)
• Familiarity with cloud infrastructure and observability tools (Kubernetes, Ray, etc.)
• Understanding of API design, distributed systems, and system reliability
• Strong collaboration and communication skills in a remote-first team environment

• Experience in ad tech, programmatic advertising, or real-time bidding systems
• Background with infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform)
• Familiarity with networking, caching, or real-time data pipelines

• Relocation support is not available for this position.
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support employees' well-being and work-life balance. You can read more about them on our .

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Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

• Design, implement, and maintain high-performance CTR and CVR prediction models that power ad ranking and recommendation systems.
• Build and refine systems for creative understanding and user behavior modeling, enabling more accurate and context-aware engagement predictions.
• Ensure model quality and reliability by continuously monitoring performance, calibrating predictions, and addressing data drift or delayed feedback.
• Actively participate and work with other leads to set the long term direction for the team, plan and oversee engineering designs and project execution.
• Effectively communicate complex technical concepts to non-engineering stakeholders.

• Advanced degree (MS or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience building and operating large-scale Ads delivery and optimization systems.
• 3+ years of experience building CTR/CVR systems, content understanding, or behavior modeling systems.
• Significant experience in one or more general-purpose programming languages like Python, Go, Scala, C++ or similar.
• Knowledge of metric design, experimentation methodologies, and large-scale data analysis.

• Experience designing and productionizing optimization algorithms in an ad serving platform and/or other marketplaces.
• Experience with state-of-the-art control systems, reinforcement learning algorithms.

• International relocation support is not available for this position.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

• Lead and mentor infrastructure engineers building and operating large-scale distributed systems
• Contribute directly to code, design, and incident resolution while guiding technical direction
• Drive the Ads Infrastructure roadmap focused on scalability, reliability, and efficiency
• Define and automate standards for observability, on-call, and operational excellence
• Foster a culture of technical ownership, collaboration, and continuous improveme

• 10 or more years of experience in software engineering with at least 3 years managing teams building distributed systems
• Proven track record of leading teams operating infrastructure at scale in production
• Technical depth in cloud native systems, ideally Kubernetes and large scale service infrastructure
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to set vision, align stakeholders, and deliver through others
• Excellent communication skills and experience working across cross functional organizations

• Experience leading infrastructure teams in online advertising or large scale data driven businesses
• Background in traffic management, load balancing, or distributed caching and storage systems
• Passion for mentoring engineering leaders and building high performing global teams

• Relocation support is not available for this position
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

You will be responsible for driving ad unit innovation — from dynamic rendering and interactive endcards to new ad flows that elevate user experience and improve monetization outcomes.

This role combines hands-on technical design with strategic leadership. You’ll work across Android, iOS, WebView, and backend services to build, experiment, and scale ad formats that reach billions of devices globally.

• Lead the design and implementation of innovative ad unit formats and flows — including dynamic rendering, interactive components, and seamless inline ad experiences.
• Prototype and experiment rapidly, collaborating with PMs, BIs, and Data Science to validate hypotheses and measure impact through A/B testing.
• Architect and deliver full-stack solutions, connecting SDK surfaces with backend ad delivery and configuration services.
• Drive the ad format innovation roadmap — identify opportunities, define technical direction, and quantify business impact.
• Mentor engineers across Android, iOS, and WebView platforms, promoting engineering best practices and experimentation culture.
• Collaborate with backend and Gateway teams to enhance ad rendering pipelines, caching strategies, and lifecycle performance.
• Own feature metrics such as load rate, show rate, CTR, and revenue lift, ensuring performance scales post-rollout.
• Contribute to the Bold SDK architecture, helping establish a modular and extensible foundation for future ad format innovations.

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, with a focus on mobile SDKs, rendering frameworks, or ad delivery systems.
• Expertise in front-end technologies: JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML/CSS, and hybrid rendering using WebView.
• Full-stack proficiency — ability to design APIs and data flows that connect mobile clients to backend services.
• Demonstrated success in leading experimentation-driven development, including feature flagging, rollout, and monitoring.
• Strong understanding of mobile ad lifecycle, caching, rendering, and performance optimization.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional partners and align engineering, product, and data science teams around shared goals.
• Excellent communication and technical leadership skills, capable of driving both architectural vision and hands-on delivery.

• Background in ad tech (VAST, MRAID, SKOverlay, SKAdNetwork, IAP, attribution).
• Experience with SDK, Gateway, or other large-scale delivery ecosystems.
• Familiarity with dynamic UI rendering frameworks or runtime layout generation.
• Experience working with experimentation platforms, telemetry pipelines, or BI data tooling.

• Relocation support is not available for this position
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

In this role, you’ll lead initiatives to improve the advertiser experience and define the vision, strategy, and execution of ML-powered User Acquisition products — from campaign management dashboards to optimization features such as bidding and budget management. Working closely with scientists and engineers, you’ll translate complex machine learning models into practical solutions that boost campaign performance and drive advertiser growth.

• Transform business requirements into actionable ML solutions, ensuring alignment with measurable objectives and user needs.
• Build and maintain product roadmaps for User Acquisition initiatives, prioritizing features and improvements that deliver the greatest value.
• Collaborate with the Vector team and multi-functional groups to implement and refine ML models, ensuring seamless user integration and technical robustness.
• Lead innovation by conceptualizing, defining, and launching new ML features while staying informed on the latest industry advancements.
• Analyze and track important metrics to evaluate product performance and guide iterative improvement.

• 6+ years of product management experience, including 3+ years leading technical or ML-driven products.
• Strong experience working in mobile advertising, particularly in User Acquisition.
• Data analysis or intelligence background, or strong experience partnering with BI/ML teams.
• Experience shaping product strategy and aligning teams around business and user priorities.
• Ability to leverage data-driven decision-making, including cohort analysis, to assess machine learning product and algorithm performance.
• Skilled in critical thinking and problem-solving with a focus on delivering user-first solutions.

• Background in gaming-focused advertising.
• A passion for working with teammates to champion bold ideas and deliver impactful results that resonate with users.

• Relocation support is not available for this position
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.