Senior Software Engineer AI

Blackline Systems Inc; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Incentive programs

Benefits and wellness plans

Job summary

BlackLine Systems Inc. seeks a Senior AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and optimize data pipelines powering our AI-driven accounting agents. You will lead scalable data infrastructure while collaborating across teams to deliver robust ML solutions.

Responsibilities include PySpark ETL development, API data integrations, and ensuring data quality and reliability. You will deploy ML models, implement governance, and drive performance improvements across cloud environments in a hybrid setup.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of programming in Python, Java, or Scala.
• Experience with ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Proven production pipelines for ML/LLM systems across cloud ecosystems (GCP/AWS/Azure).
• Familiarity with LangChain, LangGraph, ADK, or similar runtimes.
• Strong CI/CD, IaC, and DevSecOps practices for automation and deployment.
• Hands-on with observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, New Relic).
• Understanding governance for Responsible AI, auditability, and cost metering.

Responsibilities

• Lead data pipeline development and PySpark ETL work.
• Manage integrations to client data sources via APIs and tools.
• Ensure reliability with automated tests and data accuracy checks.
• Collaborate to innovate using AI and big data technologies.
• Lead design reviews for ML pipelines and model registries.
• Deploy ML models into production with scalable, reliable runtimes.
• Build CI/CD pipelines automating LLM agent deployment and prompt evaluation.

Skills

Python/Java/Scala

ML frameworks

Cloud platforms

CI/CD & IaC

Containerization

Observability

Governance & Responsible AI

Tools

Airflow

Kubeflow

Vertex AI

MLflow

LangChain

LangGraph

ADK

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

Make Your Mark

We're looking for a Senior AI/ML Engineer to design, build, and optimize data pipelines that power our next-generation AI-driven accounting agents. You'll lead the development of scalable, high-performance data infrastructure while collaborating closely across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead data pipeline development: Build and maintain PySpark ETL pipelines with high data quality and performance.
• Manage integrations: Establish robust connections to client data sources via APIs and tools like FiveTran, Plaid, and BlackLine's own internal connector ecosystem.
• Ensure reliability: Monitor pipeline performance, automate testing, and validate data accuracy.
• Optimize for scale: Implement performance improvements (e.g., CDC mechanisms, indexing strategies) for large-scale datasets.
• Collaborate & innovate: Work with business stakeholders to refine data requirements and integrate cutting-edge AI and big data technologies.

You’ll Get To

• Partner with data science, security, and product teams to set evaluation and governance standards (Guardrails, Bias, Drift, Latency SLAs).
• Mentor senior engineers and drive design reviews for ML pipelines, model registries, and agentic runtime environments.
• Lead incident response and reliability strategies for ML/AI systems.
• Collaborate with development teams to integrate AI solutions into existing workflows and applications.
• Ensure seamless integration with different platforms and technologies.
• Define and manage MCP Registry for agentic component onboarding, lifecycle versioning, and dependency governance.
• Build CI/CD pipelines automating LLM agent deployment, policy validation, and prompt evaluation of workflows.
• Develop and operationalize experimentation frameworks for agent evaluations, scenario regression, and performance analytics.
• Implement logging, metering, and auditing for agent behavior, function calls, and compliance alignment.
• Create scalable observability systems – tracking conversation outcomes, factual accuracy, latency, escalation patterns, and safety events.
• Architect end‑to‑end guardrails for AI agents including prompt injection protection, identity‑aware routing, and tool usage authorization.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally to standardize authentication, authorization, and session governance for multi‑agent runtimes.
• Architect and standardize model registries and feature stores to support version tracking, lineage, and reproducibility across environments.
• Lead the deployment of machine learning models into production environments, ensuring scalability, reliability, and efficiency.
• Collaborate with software engineers to integrate machine learning models into existing applications and systems.
• Implement and maintain APIs for model inference.
• Design and manage training infrastructure including distributed training orchestration, GPU/TPU resource allocation, and automatic scaling.
• Implement CI/CD for model workflows using pipelines integrated with model validation, bias checks, and rollback automation.
• Build standardized experimentation frameworks for reproducible training, tuning, and deployment cycles (MLflow, W&B, Kubeflow).
• Manage and optimize the infrastructure required for machine learning operations in cloud.
• Work closely with other teams to ensure the availability, security, and performance of machine learning systems.
• Implement robust monitoring solutions for deployed machine learning models to detect issues and ensure performance.
• Collaborate with data scientists and engineers to address and resolve model performance and data quality issues.
• Conduct regular system maintenance, updates, and optimizations to ensure optimal performance of machine learning solutions.
• Develop and maintain automation scripts and tools for managing machine learning workflows.
• Implement orchestration systems to streamline the end‑to‑end machine learning lifecycle, from data preparation to model deployment.
• Collaborate with data scientists to understand model requirements and constraints for deployment.
• Facilitate the transition of machine learning models from research to production, ensuring scalability and efficiency.
• Identify and implement optimizations to enhance the performance and efficiency of machine learning models in production.
• Conduct performance analysis and implement improvements based on resource utilization of metrics.
• Implement security measures to protect machine learning systems and data.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards related to machine learning and data privacy.
• Integrate audit controls, metadata storage, and lineage tracking across ML and AI workflows.
• Ensure complete monitoring and feedback loops including event logs, evaluations, and automated retraining triggers.
• Enforce secure deployment patterns with Infrastructure-as-Code and cloud‑native secrets management.
• Define SLAs, error budgets, and compliance reporting mechanisms for ML and AI systems.

What You’ll Bring

• 3+ years of experience with programming skills in languages such as Python, Java, or Scala.
• Expertise in ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit‑learn) and orchestration tools (Airflow, Kubeflow, Vertex AI, MLflow).
• Proven experience operating production pipelines for ML and LLM‑based systems across cloud ecosystems (GCP, AWS, Azure).
• Deep familiarity with LangChain, LangGraph, ADK, or similar agentic system runtime management.
• Strong competencies in CI/CD, IaC, and DevSecOps pipelines integrating testing, compliance, and deployment automation.
• Hands‑on with observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, New Relic) for model and agent performance tracking.
• Understanding of governance frameworks for Responsible AI, auditability, and cost metering across training and inference workloads.
• Proficiency in containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

We’re Even More Excited If You Have

• Proficient in scripting languages (e.g., Bash, Python) for automation.
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools (e.g., Apache Airflow).
• Expertise in managing and optimizing cloud‑based infrastructure.
• Familiarity with DevOps practices and tools for automated deployment.
• Understanding of network configurations and security protocols.
• Ability to define problems, collect and analyze data, and propose innovative solutions.
• Strong critical thinking skills to evaluate models, identify limitations, and adaptability and learning agility.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced, rapidly evolving environment.
• Proactive in staying up to date with the latest trends, techniques, and technologies in AI/data science.

Thrive at BlackLine Because You Are Joining

• A technology‑based company with a sense of adventure and a vision for the future.
• A culture that is kind, open, and accepting, where people can embrace what makes them unique.
• A culture where BlackLiner’s continued growth and learning is empowered, with professional development seminars and inclusive affinity groups.

Equal Opportunity Employer

BlackLine is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, age, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, ancestry, color, marital status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, medical condition, genetic information, or any other protected class or category recognized by applicable equal employment opportunity or other similar laws.

Working Arrangements

BlackLine recognizes that the ways we work and the workplace itself has shifted. We innovate in a workplace that optimizes a combination of virtual and in‑person interactions to maximize collaboration and nurture our culture. Candidates who live within a reasonable commute to one of our offices will work in the office at least three days a week.

Salary Range

$145,000.00 – $182,000.00

Pay Transparency Statement

Placement within this range depends upon several factors, including the applicant's prior relevant job experience, skill set, and geographic location.

Benefits

In addition to base pay, BlackLine also offers short‑term and long‑term incentive programs, based on eligibility, along with a robust offering of benefit and wellness plans.

Compensation Structure

For roles that include variable incentive components such as an Incentive Compensation Plan (ICP) or On‑Target Earnings (OTE), the compensation structure may follow a split model – for example, a 50/50, 70/30, or 60/40 ratio between base salary and variable incentive.

Accommodations

BlackLine is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible experience for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation that would better enable your success during the application or interview process, please complete this form.