Applied Research Scientist, World Model

Location: Remote-USA

About the team

The Agentic Foundations team is a focused group of 15–20 applied scientists within Zillow's broader Agentic AI organization, building the foundational AI technologies that power the next generation of home shopping experiences. We are building a Zillow World Model: a model of the housing market and the people in it that our agents can reason with. This is a very new field, and the team works on open-ended problems in close partnership with product, engineering, platform, and data teams.

About the role

You'll build the demand side of the Zillow World Model: the representation of who is in the market, what they'll pay, and how that demand clears against supply. You will get to:

Build latent state-space or world models that represent market participants and how their state evolves, with calibrated uncertainty and multi-step rollouts

Turn large-scale user behavior (search, engagement, session trajectories) into structured demand representations, such as willingness to pay and conversion from attention to demand

Apply causal inference to observational data to separate what a model can and cannot say about "what if" scenarios

Connect learned representations to economic quantities like demand curves, market tightness, and clearing dynamics

Lead ambiguous, open-ended research end to end and share technical direction with scientists and engineers

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.

In California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $195,600.00 - $312,400.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.

In Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia the standard base pay range for this role is $185,800.00 - $296,800.00 annually. The base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.

In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

Who you are

Must-haves

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Economics, Statistics, or a related field, or equivalent research experience
• Hands-on experience building world models or sequential dynamics models (e.g., RSSM/Dreamer-family, JEPA-style latent prediction, or event-sequence transformers), or modeling demand from large-scale behavioral data
• Practical experience with causal inference in observational settings, such as quasi-experiments, instruments, or policy discontinuities
• A track record of delivering on open-ended research projects and providing technical leadership to other scientists
• Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX

Nice-to-haves

Economics fluency: market microstructure, search-and-matching, or structural / discrete-choice demand models

Experience with two-sided marketplaces, real estate, or other long-horizon consumer markets

Background in simulation, model-based reinforcement learning, or LLM post-training with an interest in world models

Publications at top ML or economics venues

Get to know us

At Zillow, we’re reimagining how people move—through the real estate market and through their careers. As the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., we help people navigate buying, selling, financing and renting with greater ease and confidence. Whether you're working in tech, sales, operations, or design, you’ll be part of a company reshaping an industry and helping more people make home a reality.

How we work is a key part of that transformation. Through Cloud HQ, our strategic approach to distributed work, most employees have the flexibility to work from wherever they’re most productive—enabling us to move fast, stay connected and deliver on our people promise.

Zillow is honored to be recognized among the best workplaces in the U.S. Zillow was named one of FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® in 2026, and included on TIME’s America’s Best Companies 2026 list, reflecting our commitment to creating an innovative, inclusive, and engaging culture where employees are empowered to grow.

No matter where you sit in the organization, your work will help drive innovation, support our customers, and move the industry—and your career—forward, together.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position.

These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.