Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Unity; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 210,300 - 273,400; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health insurance

Employee stock ownership

Generous retirement plans

Vacation and personal days

Parental leave support

Office snacks

Job summary

Unity is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to lead AI-driven agent systems within the Unity engine, enabling goal-directed behavior and planning for NPCs and simulations. You will design scalable frameworks and build models that operate under real-time constraints, collaborating across teams to push the boundaries of agentic AI in games and simulations.

The role emphasizes reinforcement learning, AI planning, and multi-agent decision-making, with opportunities to mentor others and shape

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in CS/ML/Robotics or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years hands-on experience developing ML systems in production environments.
• Strong background in reinforcement learning, AI planning, or multi-agent systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and scale AI agent systems in Unity environments with goal-directed behavior and environment-aware decision‑making.
• Develop reusable agentic frameworks (planning modules, memory systems, policy adaptation) for integration by creators.
• Build AI models for Unity agentic systems and optimize them for real-time game constraints.
• Collaborate with internal and external teams to unlock new use cases in gaming and simulations.
• Contribute to Unity's long-term AI roadmap, emphasizing modularity, usability, and performance.
• Mentor engineers and researchers to foster innovation and technical excellence.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

AI planning

Multi-agent systems

Decision-making under uncertainty

Fine-tuning

Education

MS or PhD in CS/ML/Robotics or equivalent

Job description

The opportunity

At Unity, we’re shaping the future of real-time 3D development by enabling creators to harness intelligent, autonomous systems. Our next-generation agentic AI - goal-directed, adaptive, and capable of reasoning and planning in dynamic environments - is transforming how games and simulations come to life.

We’re looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to lead the development of these foundational AI systems within the Unity engine, empowering creators to build smarter, more responsive in-game agents and simulations. Your work will directly drive innovation, allowing developers and designers to integrate sophisticated AI behavior seamlessly into their worlds.

This role is perfect for someone passionate about pushing the boundaries of AI, multi-agent systems, reinforcement learning, and intelligent decision-making in complex, real-time environments.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design, implement, and scale AI agent systems in Unity environments that enable goal-directed behavior, task planning and execution, and environment-aware decision‑making.
• Develop reusable agentic frameworks—such as planning modules, memory systems or policy adaptation layers—that creators can extend in their own projects.
• Develop AI models for the Unity AI agentic system. The AI models perform various tasks for building Unity games.
• Integrate Machine Learning models seamlessly within real‑time game engine constraints, optimizing for latency, compute, and determinism.
• Lead high‑impact initiatives, including hierarchical reinforcement learning for scalable behaviors, AI planning and goal inference frameworks for NPCs and simulations, and agent memory and world modeling systems for persistent, believable behavior.
• Collaborate across internal and external teams to unlock innovative use cases in gaming, simulation, and interactive storytelling.
• Contribute to the long‑term vision and roadmap for Unity’s agentic AI offerings, ensuring modularity, usability, and performance across platforms.
• Establish and champion best practices for model quality, simulation‑based evaluation, and ML/AI safety within real‑time systems.
• Mentor engineers and researchers while cultivating a technical culture of innovation, excellence, and collaboration.

What We're Looking For

• Advanced degree (MS or Ph.D.) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field—or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands‑on experience developing ML systems in production, ideally within real‑time or interactive environments.
• Strong background in one or more of the following: reinforcement learning, fine‑tuning, decision‑making under uncertainty, AI planning, or multi‑agent systems.

Gross pay annually: 210 300.00 USD - 273 400.00 USD

This range reflects the anticipated base salary for this position. Beyond base salary, this role may be eligible for equity awards and participation in our company incentive plans (such as annual discretionary bonuses or sales commissions). The final offer amount will depend on several factors, including geographic location and the candidate’s relevant experience, professional background, and skill set.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, life, and disability insurance
• Commute subsidy
• Employee stock ownership
• Competitive retirement/pension plans
• Generous vacation and personal days
• Support for new parents through leave and family‑care programs
• Office food snacks
• Mental Health and Wellbeing programs and support
• Employee Resource Groups
• Global Employee Assistance Program
• Training and development programs
• Volunteering and donation matching program

Equal Employment Opportunity

Unity is a proud equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment and celebrate our employees across age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law. Our differences are strengths that enable us to support the growing and evolving needs of our customers, partners, and collaborators.

If you have a disability that means there are preparations or accommodations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please fill out this form to let us know.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position requires the incumbent to have a sufficient knowledge of English to have professional verbal and written exchanges in this language since the performance of the duties related to this position requires frequent and regular communication with colleagues and partners located worldwide and whose common language is English.

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