Senior Research Scientist - Phish and Spam Detection

The Mail Intelligence platform is responsible for building the next generation platforms and services enabling Yahoo to deliver deeply personalized content to the hundreds of millions of users wherever they are and whatever mode of consumption they are using. 

We (Mail Intelligence platform) process billions of mail messages(data in tune of several petabytes).With the help of cutting edge algorithms we extract information, build knowledge, interconnect information between different sources to deliver a great experience to our users.  Building this knowledge provides many challenges in the areas of natural language processing, machine learning techniques, big data processing in order of petabytes. You will build tools and workflows to make it easier to manage and act on this vast information. You will apply your insights on the data to build innovative consumer applications for Yahoo.

Yahoo Mail is the ultimate consumer inbox. It is the best way to access your email and stay organized from a computer, phone or tablet. With its beautiful design and lightning fast speed, Yahoo Mail makes reading, organizing, and sending emails easier than ever. Come join this amazing team of Engineers, Product Managers and Designers to work on next generation innovative experiences transforming how users connect with each other every day.

About You:

• You are an expert in developing and applying state-of-the-art machine learning and deep learning models to solve complex problems. 

• You thrive in a research-oriented environment and enjoy pushing the boundaries of innovation to deliver impactful solutions. 

• You have a strong academic foundation and are passionate about the domains of phishing/spam detection using machine learning in large-scale systems.

• You excel in transforming theoretical research into practical applications, preferably in the domains of phishing and spam detection, classification tasks, and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

• You are a hands-on expert with experience in training and evaluating large-scale models, including cutting-edge deep learning architectures. 

• You have a collaborative mindset, excellent communication skills, and the ability to contribute to a high-performing team in a fast-paced environment.

Your Day: 

• Conduct research to develop and advance innovative algorithms for phishing and spam detection tailored to large-scale email inboxes.

• Design, train, evaluate, and optimize state-of-the-art ML models for anti-phishing and anti-spam classification, including transformer-based models like BERT, RoBERTa, LLM-driven techniques and knowledge distillation. .

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate machine learning models into production systems and drive business impact.

• Develop scalable workflows for processing and analyzing large-scale datasets.

• Stay abreast of the latest research trends and contribute to the team’s thought leadership through publications, patents, or presentations.

• Participate in the design and execution of experiments to validate model effectiveness.

• Mentor and guide junior team members in research and development efforts.

You Must Have:

• PhD (preferred) or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.

• 5+ years of experience in machine learning, deep learning, or related fields, with hands-on expertise in phishing/spam classification, LLM prompting, distillation, or NLP.

• Strong fundamentals in machine learning and deep learning, with solid expertise in model training and evaluation.

• Comprehensive understanding of deep learning models and architectures, including transformer-based and generative models.

• Hands-on experience with Python and frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch.

• Hands-on experience with Huggingface, Pandas, and NumPy.

• Demonstrated problem-solving skills and ability to translate complex concepts into actionable solutions.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a proven ability to work in a team-oriented environment.

You May Have:

• Exposure to cloud platforms such as GCP or AWS

• Familiarity with large-scale data processing and analysis tools.

• Contributions to the research community through publications.

• Understanding of statistical methods and exploratory data analysis.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace strengthens Yahoo and deepens our relationships. When you support everyone to be their best selves, they spark discovery, innovation and creativity. Among other efforts, our 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) enhance a culture of belonging with programs, events and fellowship that help educate, support and create a workplace where all feel welcome.