Principal Product Manager, Search

Principal Product Manager – Search

We are seeking a Principal Product Manager – Search to lead the long-term strategy and evolution of search and discovery across our streaming platforms. In this role, you will define the vision for scalable, ML-powered search experiences that serve millions of users globally, shaping how audiences find and engage with content across Max and our broader ecosystem.

You will operate at both strategic and execution levels—owning the roadmap for search relevance, semantic understanding, and discovery, while guiding the transition from traditional keyword-based systems toward intent-aware and conversational experiences.

As a senior leader within the Personalization and Discovery organization, you will drive cross-functional alignment across Engineering, Data Science, Design, and Content teams, and influence product direction at an organizational level.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate has experience building and scaling ML-driven search or discovery systems for large consumer platforms. You combine strong product judgment with technical depth, and are comfortable operating across ambiguous, multi-system problem spaces.

You are highly data-driven, fluent in experimentation, and able to translate complex system behavior into clear product strategy. You influence cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders without direct authority, and consistently drive alignment and execution at scale.

Expectations

As a key contributor for Personalization at WBD, you will:

• Define and drive the long-term vision for Search as a core discovery platform. Lead the evolution from keyword-based retrieval to intent-aware, semantic, and conversational experiences. Identify high-impact opportunities and translate them into a clear, scalable strategy.
• Own the direction of core search systems, including retrieval, ranking, and query understanding. Partner with Engineering and Data Science to evolve capabilities such as learning-to-rank, semantic retrieval, and real-time relevance signals.
• Shape end-to-end discovery experiences that are intuitive, actionable, and grounded in catalog data. Ensure results help users make decisions quickly while enabling exploration through AI-assisted and conversational interfaces.
• Define success metrics and lead experimentation strategy across Search, including A/B and MAB testing. Use data to drive measurable improvements in relevance, engagement, and user satisfaction.
• Drive alignment across Engineering, Data Science, Design, and Content teams. Influence senior stakeholders and executives by clearly articulating product vision, trade-offs, and impact.
• Act as a thought leader for Search within the organization. Mentor other product managers and set best practices across Search, Personalization, and Discovery.

Skills / Experience

• 10+ years of product management experience, including leading large-scale consumer products in search, discovery, personalization, or other ML-driven systems

• Strong understanding of search relevance, ranking systems, retrieval techniques, and semantic understanding

• Proven experience partnering with engineering and data science teams to build and ship production-grade ML systems at scale

• Demonstrated ability to define product strategy and drive execution across complex, multi-system problem spaces

• Experience operating in ambiguity and driving clarity, prioritization, and alignment across cross-functional teams

• Strong technical fluency, with the ability to engage deeply in discussions on system design, data, and machine learning approaches

• Track record of using experimentation (A/B, MAB) and data to drive measurable improvements in user engagement and product performance

• Experience influencing stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership, without direct authority

• Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to translate complex concepts into clear product direction

• Experience building high-quality search or recommendation experiences for data-rich platforms

Nice to have:

• Experience with conversational search, natural language interfaces, or generative AI

• Familiarity with large-scale data platforms, real-time systems, or distributed architectures