Staff Software Engineer, YouTube Ads Experiences

About the job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google’s needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

As a part of the YouTube Ads Experiences (YTAX) team, you will join a core, horizontal engineering group responsible for the DNA of the YouTube user experience. You will build the experiences and interactions that power YouTube’s ecosystem across major surfaces and interfaces.

In this role, your mission is to balance user experience with high-value advertiser outcomes. You will build patterns that scale globally, ensure the financial health of the YouTube creator community and advertiser values by delivering long-term business annually.

Google Ads is at the forefront of AI innovation, applying machine learning and Generative AI models like Gemini to power a multi-billion dollar global business.

Our work directly impacts billions of users by protecting users from harm, improving ad quality, and optimizing campaigns for advertiser return-on-investment. We foster a culture of deep collaboration, partnering closely with teams like Google Research and DeepMind to solve complex challenges. Join us to work on state-of-the-art AI, take on problems at an unparalleled scale, and build the next generation of advertising technology.Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate alignment and clarity across teams on goals, outcomes, and timelines, and influence and coach a distributed team of engineers.
• Leverage AI strategically to solve complex layout and interaction problems, using it or not for its own sake but to build smarter, more adaptive products.
• Partner directly with YouTube’s "Organic" product teams to re-envision the app experience, going beyond simply adding ads by helping build step-function changes to how users interact with the YouTube App.
• Lead the effort to reduce friction between an ad and its destination, owning the full-stack, from deep infrastructure and foundation layers to the application-level UI.
• Drive the next-generation of ad experiences, especially on Consumption Surfaces (Watch, and Shorts surfaces, account for 87% YT ads revenue), by optimizing existing inventory and innovating new experiences to meet evolving user and advertiser needs.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 5 years of experience with ML design and ML infrastructure (e.g., model deployment, model evaluation, data processing, debugging, fine tuning).
• 5 years of experience testing, and launching software products, and 3 years of experience with software design and architecture.
• Experience integrating generative AI tools or Large Language Model (LLM) interfaces into workflows.
• Experience applying AI (Gemini, GenAI, LLM) towards solving real-world technical problems.

Preferred qualifications:

• Master’s degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• 8 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.
• 3 years of experience in a technical leadership role leading project teams and setting technical direction.
• 3 years of experience working in a complex, matrixed organization involving cross-functional, or cross-business projects.