Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Matching and Recommendations

Bumble; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 345,000 - 410,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Medical, dental, vision insurance

401k with company match

Fully paid life and long-term disability insurance

Maternity and fertility benefits

Job summary

Bumble in Austin is seeking an experienced AI professional to lead the technical strategy for machine learning systems. You will be responsible for designing, developing, and deploying production-grade AI models to enhance user experience. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in machine learning, particularly in large-scale systems, and possesses strong collaboration and mentoring skills. Benefits include unlimited PTO, medical insurance, and 401k plan with company match.

Qualifications

• 10-15 years of experience or equivalent skills.
• Expertise in building and deploying large-scale ML systems.
• Deep knowledge of recommendation systems or NLP.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead ML technical strategy for Bumble products.
• Design and deploy production-grade ML models.
• Mentor senior individual contributors.

Skills

Machine learning expertise

Python proficiency

Large language models (LLMs)

Collaboration skills

Mentoring others

Tools

PyTorch

Spark

Airflow

Job description

At Bumble, our mission is to create a world where all relationships are healthy and equitable. As part of our AI & Matching team, this role sits at the forefront of shaping how millions of people connect, build friendships, and find meaningful relationships. Reporting into our SVP of AI & Data, you will play a critical role in advancing intelligent systems that power safe, personalized, and engaging user experiences across our platforms.

This is a highly influential individual contributor role where your work will directly impact product strategy, user trust, and business outcomes at scale. You’ll operate with a high degree of ownership and curiosity, championing innovative approaches to machine learning while role modelling Bumble’s values of Curiosity and Excellence. From reimagining recommendation systems to embedding responsible AI practices, you’ll help us push boundaries while staying grounded in respect for our global community.

AI is central to how we evolve our products and internal capabilities. In this role, you’ll not only build and scale advanced machine learning models, but also shape how AI is thoughtfully and responsibly applied across the organization.

What you’ll do

• Define and lead the technical strategy for AI and machine learning systems that power recommendations, ranking, and personalization across Bumble products, delivering measurable improvements in user engagement and safety
• Design, develop, and deploy production‑grade models using modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, ensuring scalability and reliability in high‑traffic environments
• Build and deploy production AI agents using raw and fine‑tuned foundational large‑language models (LLMs), along with sub‑agents, tools, and MCP integrations
• Architect end‑to‑end ML pipelines, integrating data processing (e.g., Spark, Airflow) with model training, evaluation, and deployment workflows
• Drive experimentation frameworks, including A/B testing and offline evaluation, to continuously improve model performance and product outcomes
• Partner cross‑functionally with Product, Engineering, and Data leadership to translate business challenges into impactful ML solutions, collaborating with purpose and influencing at senior levels
• Mentor and elevate senior individual contributors, fostering a culture of Excellence, Curiosity, and continuous learning across the ML community
• Take ownership of complex, ambiguous problem spaces, seeing initiatives through from insight to impact while adapting approaches with an agile mindset
• Champion responsible AI practices, ensuring fairness, transparency, and user safety are embedded into all machine learning systems

About you

• Typically requires 10–15 years of experience, though we welcome candidates with alternative backgrounds that demonstrate equivalent skills
• Deep expertise in machine learning, with hands‑on experience building and deploying large‑scale systems in production environments
• Strong proficiency in Python and at least one major ML framework (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow), with experience in areas such as recommendation systems, ranking models, or NLP
• Expertise in prompting and fine‑tuning large‑language models (LLMs) and building production AI agents
• Proven experience designing scalable data and ML pipelines using tools such as Spark, Airflow, or similar distributed systems
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a senior individual contributor, influencing technical strategy and decision‑making without direct authority
• Experience partnering effectively across functions, collaborating with purpose and taking ownership of outcomes in complex organisational environments
• A track record of mentoring and uplifting others, role‑modeling Respect and Excellence while building inclusive, high‑performing teams
• Strong AI fluency, with the ability to independently design, evaluate, and optimise ML systems, and guide others in the responsible and effective application of AI

Benefits & Perks

• Insurance: Medical, dental, vision – 30‑day eligibility. Multiple competitive offerings will be available to you on the first of the month following the date of hire
• Unlimited PTO + one company‑wide week off + Focus Fridays every week
• Fully paid life and long‑term disability insurance
• 401k with 4% company match if you contribute 6%, 90‑day eligibility
• Monthly wellness benefit and access to Noom, Unmind, and Your Money Line
• Maternity and fertility benefit + 26‑week paid parental leave
• Premium app access

Inclusion at Bumble Inc.

Bumble Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and we strongly encourage people of all ages, colour, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non‑binary people, veterans, parents, people with disabilities, and neurodivergent people to apply. We’re happy to make any reasonable adjustments that will help you feel more confident throughout the process; please don’t hesitate to let us know how we can help.

Salary range: 345,000 – 410,000 USD a year.