Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Motion Recruitment Partners LLC; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading startup is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer with significant experience in creating scalable ML infrastructure. This role involves leading the development of machine learning systems and mentoring junior engineers, all within a mission-driven environment that values civic engagement and transparency. Join a flexible, remote team and make a meaningful impact through innovative tools built for journalists and citizens.

Benefits

Fully remote and flexible working culture

Strong compensation, equity, and benefits package

Join a mission-driven team backed by prominent investors

Qualifications

• 10+ years in machine learning, data science, or applied AI roles.
• Expert in Python and ML libraries.
• Experience deploying ML models on cloud platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and implementation of ML systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams for building NLP models.
• Mentor junior ML engineers.

Skills

Python

Machine Learning

Natural Language Processing

MLOps

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

MLflow

Kubeflow

SageMaker

Job description

Full-time | Competitive Compensation + Equity

Are you a seasoned Machine Learning Engineer with a decade of experience looking to make a meaningful impact at the intersection of technology, journalism, and civic engagement?

An ambitious and well-funded startup is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to help architect and scale their machine learning infrastructure. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in startup environments, enjoys building from the ground up, and wants to contribute to a product that promotes transparency, accountability, and access to local government data.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead the design and implementation of machine learning systems that extract insights from large-scale civic and legislative datasets.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, data, and engineering teams to build NLP models, recommendation systems, and data categorization pipelines.

• Own and evolve the MLOps strategy, ensuring reproducibility, scalability, and performance of ML systems in production.

• Mentor junior ML engineers and contribute to a culture of technical excellence and innovation.

• Stay current with emerging trends in ML and data science, bringing new ideas and technologies into the fold.

What We’re Looking For:

• 10+ years of experience in machine learning, data science, or applied AI roles.

• Deep expertise in Python and ML libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face, or similar.

• Strong background in natural language processing (NLP), especially in entity recognition, summarization, and text classification.

• Experience deploying and maintaining ML models in production (ideally on cloud platforms like AWS or GCP).

• Proficiency in MLOps tools like MLflow, Kubeflow, or SageMaker.

• Ability to thrive in an early-stage, high-autonomy environment with a strong sense of ownership.

• Passion for public-interest tech, media innovation, or civic transparency is a plus.

Why You’ll Love It:

• Join a small, mission-driven team backed by prominent investors and led by media and tech veterans.

• Build transformative tools that help journalists, policymakers, and citizens better understand how government works.

• Fully remote and flexible working culture.

• Strong compensation, equity, and benefits package.