Principal Machine Learning Engineer

ATLASSIAN PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A global technology company based in Singapore is seeking a Principal Machine Learning Engineer to lead generative AI modeling innovations. In this technical leadership role, you'll design novel approaches for advanced modeling, rapidly prototype, and mentor a team of engineers. Ideal candidates will have 6+ years of ML engineering experience, expertise in LLMs, and a passion for shaping a collaborative AI hub. Join us to drive impactful innovations that elevate team performance.

Benefits

Collaborate with world-class peers

Drive technical breakthroughs

Be part of a mission-driven company

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in ML/AI engineering, generally 6+ years.
• Proven track record of building and shipping ML-powered products.
• Hands-on experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and embeddings.

Responsibilities

• Design and build novel approaches for knowledge-grounded LLMs.
• Drive POC experimentation and translate research ideas into prototypes.
• Mentor engineers and influence design and implementation.

Skills

Expert-level knowledge of GenAI ecosystems

Deep technical skills across modeling, infrastructure, and orchestration

Strong prototyping ability

Ability to set technical direction

Education

Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field

Tools

LangChain

LlamaIndex

Vector DBs

Job description

Overview

At Atlassian, we’re on a mission to unleash the potential of every team. As part of that mission,we're investing deeply in Generative AI — pioneering advanced modeling and rapid innovationsthat accelerate how teams work, discover, and create.

Role Summary

We’re seeking a Principal Machine Learning Engineer (P60) to join our new GenAI Modeling & Innovation Forge in Singapore. This is a hands-on technical leadership role where you’ll pushthe boundaries of advanced GenAI modeling, rapid prototyping, and applied research—turningstate-of-the-art techniques into high-impact innovations across Atlassian.

What You'll Do

• Advance GenAI Modeling with Knowledge – Design and build novel approaches for knowledge-grounded LLMs, embeddings, and multimodal modeling. Explore fine-tuning, post-training, and retrieval‑augmented strategies to adapt foundation models to Atlassian’s data. Lead technical explorations that expand the frontier of what’s possible in applied generative modeling.
• Prototype & Experiment Rapidly – Drive POC experimentation, from agentic workflows to novel GenAI‑powered assistants. Translate research ideas into fast, working prototypes that demonstrate user value. Define and implement evaluation methods (groundedness, hallucination detection, human‑in‑the‑loop) to measure success.
• Provide Technical Leadership – Act as the technical anchor of a small tiger team (manager + ICs), mentoring engineers and scientists. Influence design and implementation across retrievers, rankers, orchestration, and serving infrastructure. Collaborate with product and platform teams to transition prototypes into scalable systems.
• Shape Innovation Strategy – Contribute to the roadmap for the Forge as a global hub for advanced GenAI modeling and applied research. Partner with peers across Rovo, Jira Search, Knowledge AI, and Platform to drive cross‑team impact. Champion responsible AI, groundedness, and data quality in all innovations.

What We're Looking For

Experience

• Extensive experience in ML/AI engineering (generally 6+ years), with deep expertise in LLMs, NLP, or search.
• Proven track record of building and shipping ML‑powered or GenAI‑integrated products.
• Hands‑on experience with retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), embeddings, hybrid retrieval, or agentic workflows.
• Strong background in scaling ML systems from prototype to production.

Skills

• Expert‑level knowledge of GenAI ecosystems (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, OSS) and fine‑tuning/serving frameworks.
• Deep technical skills across modeling, infrastructure, and orchestration (LangChain, LlamaIndex, vector DBs).
• Strong prototyping ability, balancing speed with rigor in experimentation.
• Ability to set technical direction and inspire peers with thought leadership.

Education

Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field preferred—orequivalent industry experience.

Nice to Have

• Experience with multimodal models, knowledge graphs, or semantic embeddings.
• Familiarity with evaluation metrics for search/GenAI (NDCG, groundedness, human preference modeling).
• Contributions to open‑source ML frameworks or GenAI research communities.
• Passion for mentoring, fostering innovation, and shaping a new AI hub in Singapore.

Why Join Us?

• Play a founding role in Atlassian’s Singapore‑based GenAI Modeling & Innovation Forge.
• Drive technical breakthroughs and deliver high‑visibility prototypes with global impact.
• Collaborate with world‑class peers, rich enterprise data, and robust infrastructure.
• Be part of a mission‑driven, remote‑first company where innovation is valued and amplified.