Applied Machine Learning Engineer

Fireworks AI; New York (NY); On-site; USD 170,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Fireworks AI in New York seeks an Applied Machine Learning Engineer to bridge cutting-edge research with real-world products. You will develop, fine-tune, and operationalize ML models that deliver business value and improve user experiences.

You will work hands-on across customers and platforms, building end-to-end AI products, optimizing performance, and collaborating with GTM, engineering, and partners to deploy scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years in software engineering with customer-facing focus.
• Strong Python programming skills.
• Proven ability to lead complex technical projects with customer impact.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; cross-functional teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with GTM team to ensure smooth deployment of ML solutions.
• Build and present PoCs demonstrating AI capabilities.
• Design, develop, and deploy end-to-end AI-powered applications.
• Contribute to platform features and bug fixes.
• Integrate new ML models into client environments.
• Optimize performance and scalability.
• Partner enablement for joint AI solutions.

Skills

Python

Customer facing

Communication

Project leadership

Software engineering

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or related

Master's degree preferred

Job description

About Us

Fireworks is the platform for specialized intelligence, enabling companies to build, train, and serve AI models tailored to their own data, workflows, and products. Founded by the team behind PyTorch and backed by AMD, Atreides, Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, NVIDIA, Sequoia Capital, and TCV, Fireworks powers production AI with hundreds of state-of-the-art open models across text, image, embedding, audio, and multimodal workloads. Today, Fireworks is a Series D company valued at $17.5 billion, bringing together an ambitious, collaborative team that’s building the future of enterprise AI.

About Us

Fireworks is the platform for specialized intelligence, enabling companies to build, train, and serve AI models tailored to their own data, workflows, and products. Founded by the team behind PyTorch and backed by AMD, Atreides, Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, NVIDIA, Sequoia Capital, and TCV, Fireworks powers production AI with hundreds of state-of-the‑art open models across text, image, embedding, audio, and multimodal workloads. Today, Fireworks is a Series D company valued at $17.5 billion, bringing together an ambitious, collaborative team that’s building the future of enterprise AI.

The Role

As an Applied Machine Learning Engineer, you will serve as a vital bridge between cutting‑edge AI research and practical, real‑world applications. Your work will focus on developing, fine‑tuning, and operationalizing machine learning models that drive business value and enhance user experiences. This is a hands‑on engineering role that combines deep technical expertise with a strong customer focus to deliver scalable AI solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Customer Success: Collaborate directly with the GTM team (Account Executives and Solutions Architects) to ensure smooth integration and successful deployment of ML solutions.
• Demo / Proof of Concept (PoC): Build and present compelling PoCs that demonstrate the capabilities of our AI technology.
• Application Build: Design, develop, and deploy end‑to‑end AI‑powered applications tailored to customer needs.
• Platform Features / Bug Fixes: Contribute to the internal ML platform, including adding features and resolving issues.
• New Model Enablements: Integrate and enable new machine learning models into the existing platform or client environments.
• Performance Optimizations: Improve system performance, efficiency, and scalability of deployed models and applications.
• Partnership Enablement: Work closely with partners to enable joint AI solutions and ensure seamless collaboration.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience in a software engineering role, with a strong preference for customer‑facing roles.
• Robust coding skills required, preferably with proficiency in Python.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and execute complex technical projects with a focus on customer success.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to thrive in dynamic, cross‑functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Experience working in a startup or fast‑paced environment.
• Hands‑on experience fine‑tuning machine learning models, including supervised fine‑tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF or RFT).
• Solid understanding of generative AI, machine learning principles, and enterprise infrastructure.

Why Fireworks?

• Solve Hard Problems: Tackle challenges at the forefront of AI infrastructure, from low‑latency inference to scalable model serving.
• Build What’s Next: Work with bleeding‑edge technology that impacts how businesses and developers harness AI globally.
• Ownership & Impact: Join a fast‑growing, passionate team where your work directly shapes the future of AI—no bureaucracy, just results.
• Learn from the Best: Collaborate with world‑class engineers and AI researchers who thrive on curiosity and innovation.

Fireworks AI is an equal‑opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all innovators.

Compensation Range: $170K - $240K