Staff Software Engineer, Machine Learning Infrastructure

Thumbtack; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Thumbtack is seeking a Staff ML Infrastructure Engineer to lead the technical vision of its machine learning platform. This role encompasses designing scalable ML infrastructure and ensuring best practices while collaborating across teams to shape the organization's AI capabilities. Candidates should have extensive experience in engineering and a strong understanding of machine learning workflows.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of engineering experience with focus on distributed systems.
• 4+ years building ML infrastructure or platforms at scale.
• Deep expertise in a major programming language (Go, Python preferred).

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the technical vision for ML infrastructure.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives for scalable ML systems.
• Establish technical standards for ML engineering across the organization.

Skills

Distributed systems

Machine Learning workflows

Technical leadership

Architectural design

Mentoring

Tools

Go

Python

Job description

Thumbtack helps millions of people confidently care for their homes.

Thumbtack is the one app you need to take care of and improve your home — from personalized guidance to AI tools and a best-in-class hiring experience. Every day in every county of the U.S., people turn to Thumbtack to complete urgent repairs, seasonal maintenance and bigger improvements. We help homeowners know which projects to do, when to do them and who to hire from our growing community of 300,000 local service businesses. If making an impact inspires you, join us. Imagine what we’ll build together.

About the Machine Learning Infrastructure Team

At Thumbtack, we're solving complex technical challenges across search, ranking, recommendations, pricing optimization, and spam detection. Our ML Infrastructure team leads the architectural vision and implementation of enterprise-wide machine learning capabilities, enabling teams to effectively experiment with and deploy ML models at scale. We're building next-generation infrastructure that powers Thumbtack's AI-first future. For insights into our engineering challenges, visit our engineering blog.

The challenge

As a Staff ML Infrastructure Engineer, you'll drive the technical vision and strategic direction of Thumbtack's machine learning platform. You'll architect solutions that democratize ML capabilities across the organization while establishing best practices and technical standards. Working closely with senior leadership, you'll shape our technical roadmap for generative AI adoption, feature platform evolution, and ML operational excellence.

What you'll do

• Define and drive the technical vision and architecture for Thumbtack's next-generation ML infrastructure
• Lead cross-functional initiatives spanning engineering, data science, and product teams to build scalable, enterprise-grade ML systems
• Architect and oversee implementation of critical ML infrastructure components including model serving systems and RAG systems that can scale.
• Establish technical standards and best practices for ML engineering across the organization
• Mentor and provide technical leadership to engineering teams on ML infrastructure best practices
• Partner with senior leadership to align ML infrastructure capabilities with business objectives

In order to be successful, you must bring

• 8+ years of engineering experience with significant focus on distributed systems
• 4+ years of hands-on experience building ML infrastructure or ML platforms at scale
• Deep expertise in at least one major programming language; proficiency in our core stack (Go, Python) preferred
• Proven track record of technical leadership on complex, cross-functional projects
• Strong architectural skills with experience designing scalable, reliable distributed systems
• Deep understanding of ML workflows, common frameworks, and operational challenges
• Experience mentoring teams and driving engineering excellence
• Track record of making strategic technical decisions with organization-wide impact

#LI-Remote

Thumbtack embraces diversity. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, state, or local law. We also will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable law.

Thumbtack is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition or disability during any part of the application process, please contact: [e-mail] .

If you are a California resident, please review information regarding your rights under California privacy laws contained in Thumbtack’s Privacy policy available at https://www.thumbtack.com/privacy/ .