Applied Machine Learning Engineer

Fireworks AI; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

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

This hands-on role emphasizes customer success, PoC delivery, and building AI-powered applications while contributing to the internal ML platform and model enablement. You will collaborate with GTM and engineering teams to deliver scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering or related field required.
• 5+ years in software engineering, with customer-facing experience preferred.
• Proficiency in Python and ability to lead complex projects.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with GTM team and Solutions Architects to deploy ML solutions.
• Build and present PoCs demonstrating AI capabilities.
• Design, develop, and deploy end-to-end AI-powered applications.
• Contribute to ML platform features and fix issues.
• Integrate and enable new ML models in client environments.
• Improve performance, efficiency, and scalability of models.
• Partner with peers to enable joint AI solutions.

Skills

Customer-facing

Strong communication

Cross-functional teamwork

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Engineering or related field

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

Python

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.

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.