Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Twilio Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 160,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Generous time off

Parental and wellness leave

Healthcare

Retirement savings program

Additional compensation and benefits

Job summary

Twilio Inc. is expanding its AI/ML foundation team to build scalable, enterprise-grade ML/AI capabilities across the platform. The role focuses on designing, evaluating, and deploying LLM-powered features while ensuring rigorous offline and online evaluation practices.

You will bridge theoretical research with production-grade experimentation, enabling trusted AI across Twilio’s products and services. This remote-first role welcomes candidates from Canada and beyond.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of applied ML/AI experience leading end-to-end systems.
• Experience with Python and 0-to-1 projects in ambiguous environments.
• Proficiency in building cloud-based services with high-volume data and real-time inference.

Responsibilities

• Conduct deep-dive research into and implement state-of-the-art LLM inference and orchestration.
• Identify opportunities to leverage small language via fine-tuning/distillation.
• Build ML systems that hold up at Twilio scale.
• Set standards and tooling for building evals across a range of AI/ML capabilities.
• Rapidly acquire new technical skills and knowledge in a fast-paced, high-delivery environment.
• Proactively leverage and integrate the latest AI development stacks to bypass boilerplate engineering and focus on core differentiation.

Skills

Applied ML/AI

Python

Cloud platforms

Statistical ML

ML Ops & LLM Ops

Communication & collaboration

AI tools (Claude, Codex, Copilot)

Job description

Who we are

At Twilio, we’re shaping the future of communications, all from the comfort of our homes. We deliver innovative solutions to hundreds of thousands of businesses and empower millions of developers worldwide to craft personalized customer experiences. Our dedication to remote-first work, and strong culture of connection and global inclusion means that no matter your location, you’re part of a vibrant team with diverse experiences making a global impact each day. As we continue to revolutionize how the world interacts, we’re acquiring new skills and experiences that make work feel truly rewarding. Your career at Twilio is in your hands.

Hiring and how we work

We use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help make our hiring process efficient. That said, every hiring decision is made by real Twilions! Also, while we are a remote-first company, you may be asked to report in person on an ad-hoc basis for team gatherings, functional off-sites or customer meetings.

About the job

We are actively recruiting for this role to fill an existing vacancy. This position is needed to build the foundational AI/ML capabilities and common platform tooling that power intelligent engagement experiences across Twilio. You will influence the design and evolution of our company-wide ML/AI Ops foundation, ensuring every AI capability incorporates rigorous offline and online evals to maintain exceptionally high quality. You will drive improvements to managing LLM workloads across the company, while ensuring easy and compliant access to data for AI/ML exploration and product development. This role requires a builder mindset to bridge theoretical research, production-grade experimentation, and scalable, enterprise-quality software.

Responsibilities

• Conduct deep-dive research into and implement state-of-the-art LLM inference and orchestration.
• Identify opportunities to leverage small language via fine-tuning/distillation.
• Build ML systems that hold up at Twilio scale.
• Set standards and tooling for building evals across a range of AI/ML capabilities.
• Rapidly acquire new technical skills and knowledge in a fast-paced, high-delivery environment.
• Proactively leverage and integrate the latest AI development stacks to bypass boilerplate engineering and focus on core differentiation.

Qualifications

• *Required:
• 8+ years applied ML/AI experience with a track record of owning technically ambitious systems end to end rather than contributing to someone else’s design.
• Comfort operating in a 0-to-1 setting with ambiguous requirements and a strong bias for action.
• Proficiency in Python programming language.
• Experience building cloud-based services on AWS, GCP, or Azure, with high-volume data, streaming or real-time inference paths, and a range of data stores.
• Strong fundamentals of statistical machine learning algorithms, transformer models, LLMs.
• Extensive experience with ML Ops and LLM Ops patterns, including designing and implementing rigorous evaluation metrics for non-deterministic AI features at scale.
• Strong communication skills and highly effective collaborator who works well with teammates.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Claude, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, etc.).
• Desired:
• Prior experience building evals for autonomous agents and large language models.
• Prior experience building autonomous agents that handle multi-turn conversations and maintain long-term context/consistency.
• Prior experience working in a globally distributed team.
• Evidence of technical leadership/impact, such as contributions to open-source data/ML projects and/or published technical presentations, blog posts, papers, or research.

Location

This role will be remote and based in Ontario, British Columbia or Alberta, Canada.

Travel

We prioritize connection and opportunities to build relationships with our customers and each other. For this role, you may be required to travel occasionally to participate in project or team in‑person meetings.

What We Offer

• Competitive pay
• Generous time off
• Ample parental and wellness leave
• Healthcare
• A retirement savings program
• And much more

Offerings vary by location. Based on role, employees may also be eligible for additional compensation and benefits, including but not limited to incentive programs, commissions, equity grants, health and wellness benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off. The estimated pay ranges for this role are as follows: $160,320 - $200,400 Target Bonus Percentage 12.5% The successful candidate’s starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location.

Twilio Culture

Twilio thinks big. Do you? We like to solve problems, take initiative, pitch in when needed, and are always up for trying new things. That's why we seek out colleagues who embody our values — something we call Twilio Magic . Additionally, we empower employees to build positive change in their communities by supporting their volunteering and donation efforts.