Data Scientist - Search Squad

Metro Global Solution Center (MGSC) is internal solution partner for METRO, a €29.8 Billion international wholesaler with operations in 31 countries through 661 stores & a team of 93,000 people globally. Metro operates in a further 10 countries with its Food Service Distribution (FSD) business and it is thus active in a total of 34 countries.

MGSC, location wise is present in Pune (India), Düsseldorf (Germany) and Szczecin (Poland). We provide IT & Business operations support to 31 countries, speak 24+ languages and process over 18,000 transactions a day. We are setting tomorrow’s standards for customer focus, digital solutions, and sustainable business models. For over 10 years, we have been providing services and solutions from our two locations in Pune and Szczecin. This has allowed us to gain extensive experience in how we can best serve our internal customers with high quality and passion. We believe that we can add value, drive efficiency, and satisfy our customers.

Website: https://www.metro-gsc.in
Company Size: 600-650
Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra, India
Type: Privately Held
Inception:  2011

As a Data Scientist in our Search Squad, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our customer-facing search experience. You will be the go-to expert for machine learning within the team, taking ownership of our search algorithms and driving their evolution. This is a unique opportunity to have a significant impact on a high-traffic, business-critical product. 

Responsibilities: 

• Take ownership of the existing "Learning to Rank" ML algorithm, from understanding its current implementation to identifying areas for improvement. 

• Design, develop, and deploy a new, state-of-the-art search algorithm to replace the current one, with a focus on fine-tuning and performance optimization. 

• Tailor the search algorithm to our diverse customer categories, with a special focus on FSD customers, to provide a more personalized and relevant search experience. 

• Collaborate closely with the backend and frontend engineering teams to integrate and deploy your ML models in our production environment using Kubernetes and ArgoCD. 

• Work with our existing search infrastructure, which includes Solr and Elasticsearch for pre-filtering, to ensure seamless integration of your machine learning solutions. 

• Act as the subject matter expert for data science within the Search Squad, providing guidance and sharing your knowledge with a team of talented engineers.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience as a Senior Data Scientist or a similar role, with a proven track record of delivering impactful ML solutions. 

• Experience in a technical leadership role, with the ability to steer projects and mentor other team members. 

• Expertise in machine learning, with a strong background in search, ranking, and recommendation systems. 

• Hands-on experience with the end-to-end machine learning lifecycle, from data exploration and model development to deployment and monitoring. 

• Proficiency in Python and its data science libraries (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Polars). 

• Solid experience with SQL and Bigquery - working with large-scale datasets. 

• Experience with cloud platforms, preferably Google Cloud Platform (GCP). 

• Experience with MLOps tools and platforms; specific experience with Kubernetes and ArgoCD for model deployment is highly desirable. 

• Familiarity with search technologies such as Solr or Elasticsearch. 

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences. 

• A proactive and independent mindset, with the ability to drive projects forward in an autonomous data science role. 

• Familiarity with the wholesale/retail domain is a plus. 

• Fluency in English (both written and verbal).