Principal Machine Learning Engineer - Content Understanding

Roblox Corporation; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 289,000 - 339,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a Principal ML Engineer, where your expertise in machine learning will shape the future of digital experiences. You will lead the design and implementation of innovative ML solutions that empower millions of users worldwide. This role offers the unique opportunity to work at the intersection of AI research and large-scale engineering, tackling complex technical challenges while mentoring fellow engineers. With a commitment to creating safer and more engaging shared experiences, this position is perfect for those looking to make a significant impact in a dynamic environment. Embrace the chance to innovate and drive the future of human interaction through technology.

Benefits

Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage

401k program

Flexible vacation policy

Free catered lunches

Onsite fitness center

Annual CalTrain Go Pass

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in machine learning and deep learning systems.
• Proven leadership in technical project management and design decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of ML-driven solutions for content understanding.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance platform capabilities.

Skills

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Computer Vision

Natural Language Processing

Reinforcement Learning

Python

C#

Education

Master's Degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Every day, tens of millions of people come to Roblox to explore, create, play, learn, and connect with friends in 3D immersive digital experiences– all created by our global community of developers and creators.

At Roblox, we’re building the tools and platform that empower our community to bring any experience that they can imagine to life. Our vision is to reimagine the way people come together, from anywhere in the world, and on any device. We’re on a mission to connect a billion people with optimism and civility, and looking for amazing talent to help us get there.

A career at Roblox means you’ll be working to shape the future of human interaction, solving unique technical challenges at scale, and helping to create safer, more civil shared experiences for everyone.

As a Principal ML Engineer within the Creator Organization, you will lead, design, and build machine learning-driven solutions for the Content Understanding Team. Our team’s mission is critical: to build a deep, holistic understanding of the billions of experiences, 3D models, images, audio clips, text, and videos on our platform. Your work will directly empower search & discovery, content recommendations, platform safety, creator tools, and the next generation of generative AI experiences for millions of users worldwide.

As a Principal ML Engineer, you will be a key technical leader driving the research, design, and implementation of cutting-edge machine learning systems. This role sits at the exciting intersection of foundational AI research and large-scale engineering, focusing on areas like sophisticated multimodal understanding, advanced Large Language Models (LLMs), novel reasoning and reinforcement learning (RL) techniques, and scalable generative AI applications.

You Will:

• Lead the technical direction for complex content understanding challenges across diverse data types (image, 3D, audio, text, video).
• Design, build, and deploy robust, scalable end-to-end ML systems, from model training and evaluation to production inference services.
• Innovate by exploring state-of-the-art ML research (including multimodal AI, LLMs, RL, Generative AI) and applying practical, impactful solutions to Roblox products.
• Mentor other engineers and influence technical strategy across teams.
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners including engineers, product managers, and researchers across Roblox.

You Have:

• Extensive Experience: 8+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and shipping complex machine learning models into production environments at scale.
• Deep Learning Expertise: Profound understanding and practical application of deep learning architectures and algorithms, particularly in Computer Vision (CV). Expertise in other areas like NLP or Multimodal Learning is a strong plus.
• Technical Proficiency: Mastery of deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and the ML development lifecycle. Strong programming skills, particularly in Python (experience with C# is beneficial).
• Leadership: Proven ability to lead complex technical projects, make critical design decisions, influence technical roadmaps, and guide teams.
• Problem-Solving Mindset: A proactive, results-oriented approach to tackling ambiguous and challenging technical problems.

Bonus Points:

• Experience working with 3D models or in the game industry.
• Track record of research contributions (e.g., publications in top-tier conferences).
• Experience with large-scale distributed systems for ML training and inference.

For roles that are based at our headquarters in San Mateo, CA: The starting base pay for this position is as shown below. The actual base pay is dependent upon a variety of job-related factors such as professional background, training, work experience, location, business needs and market demand. Therefore, in some circumstances, the actual salary could fall outside of this expected range. This pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. All full-time employees are also eligible for equity compensation and for benefits.

Annual Salary Range:

$289,460 — $338,270 USD

Roles that are based in our San Mateo, CA Headquarters are in-office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with optional in-office on Monday and Friday (unless otherwise noted).

You’ll Love:

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage
• A rewarding 401k program
• Flexible vacation policy (varies by exemption status)
• Roflex - Flexible and supportive work policy
• At Roblox HQ:
• Free catered lunches five times a week and several fully stocked kitchens with unlimited snacks
• Onsite fitness center and fitness program credit
• Annual CalTrain Go Pass

Roblox provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Roblox also provides reasonable accommodations for all candidates during the interview process.