Senior Machine Learning Engineer

LE130 Unity Technologies SF; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 167,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Commuter benefits

Equity and annual bonus

Pension plans

Generous vacation and personal days

Parental leave

On-site snacks

Wellbeing programs

Volunteer program

Job summary

Unity Technologies seeks a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to lead the development of agentic AI systems inside the Unity engine. You will enable goal-directed agents and adaptive simulations in real-time environments, driving innovation in gaming and interactive storytelling.

The role combines designing scalable ML frameworks, building AI models, and optimizing for latency and determinism, with mentorship and roadmap contributions across platforms.

Qualifications

• MS/PhD in CS/ML/Robotics or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on ML systems experience in production, real-time or interactive environments.
• Strong background in reinforcement learning, AI planning, decision-making under uncertainty, or multi-agent systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and scale AI agent systems in Unity environments for goal-directed behavior and environment-aware decision-making.
• Develop reusable agentic frameworks (planning modules, memory systems, policy adaptation).
• Develop ML models for Unity AI agentic system and integrate within real-time constraints.
• Lead initiatives like hierarchical reinforcement learning and agent memory for believable NPC behavior.
• Collaborate across teams to enable innovative use cases in gaming, simulation, and storytelling.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

AI planning

Multi-agent systems

Decision making under uncertainty

Education

MS/PhD in CS/ML/Robotics or equivalent

Tools

Unity Engine

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.

Base Salary Range

Base Salary Range: We determine the base salary range for this role based on your primary work location: Zone A: $188,200 - $244,600 Zone B: $167,200 - $217,300 Zone C: $148,700 - $193,300 This range reflect 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

Benefits At Unity, we want our team members to thrive. We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support well-being and work-life balance. Please note: Benefits eligibility, specific offerings, and coverage vary based on the country and employment status. While specific benefits vary, here are some of the ways we strive to take care of our eligible team members globally:

• 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

Life at Unity

Life at Unity Unity [NYSE: U] is the world’s leading game engine, powering play for more than 3 billion consumers each month. The top mobile games in the world, the most played PC indie titles, the most innovative console games, and virtually all of the top XR and Web Games are developed, deployed, and grown in Unity. Unity also enables teams across industries like automotive, manufacturing, and healthcare to design, simulate, and collaborate in 3D — closing the gap between ideas and reality. For more information, please visit www.unity.com.

Unity [NYSE: U] is the world’s leading game engine, powering play for more than 3 billion consumers each month. The top mobile games in the world, the most played PC indie titles, the most innovative console games, and virtually all of the top XR and Web Games are developed, deployed, and grown in Unity. Unity also enables teams across industries like automotive, manufacturing, and healthcare to design, simulate, and collaborate in 3D — closing the gap between ideas and reality.

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.

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.