Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Summary

Join Instacart's growing team as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer and contribute to the advancement of AI solutions within our four-sided marketplace. This role offers the flexibility to work remotely and collaborate with various teams. You will design, develop, and deploy cutting-edge AI and machine learning solutions, leveraging LLMs and neural networks to solve complex challenges. The position requires a graduate degree in a relevant field, 7+ years of industry experience, and strong programming skills. Successful candidates will receive competitive compensation and benefits, including equity grants.

Requirements

• Have a graduate degree (masters or PhD) in artificial intelligence, machine learning or equivalent self study and experience
• Have 7+ years of industry experience using machine learning to solve real-world problems with large datasets
• Have strong programming skills in Python and fluency in data manipulation (SQL, Pandas) and Machine Learning (scikit-learn, XGBoost, Keras/Tensorflow) tools
• Have strong analytical skills and problem-solving ability
• Are a strong communicator who can collaborate with diverse stakeholders across all levels

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy advanced AI and machine learning solutions, including LLMs and neural networks, to solve complex challenges in our dynamic marketplace environment
• Architect and implement state-of-the-art deep learning systems that leverage transformer models, multimodal AI, and generative techniques to create intelligent, adaptive solutions
• Collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, and backend engineers to translate business requirements into cutting-edge AI applications that deliver measurable impact
• Pioneer the application of foundation models, prompt engineering, and fine-tuning methodologies to create AI systems that understand context and user intent at unprecedented levels
• Engage with diverse stakeholders to ensure our AI solutions are ethically implemented, well-integrated with existing systems, and fully aligned with strategic business objectives
• Drive continuous innovation in our AI infrastructure by researching, testing, and implementing the latest advancements in machine learning, from embeddings and vector databases to reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF)
• Push the boundaries of operational efficiency through intelligent automation, predictive modeling, and algorithmic optimization powered by our custom-trained AI systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive expertise with modern deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX) and advanced LLM architectures including transformer models, attention mechanisms, and multimodal AI systems
• Demonstrated experience implementing and fine-tuning large language models, including prompt engineering, embedding techniques, and efficient inference optimization for production environments
• Strong foundation in AI fundamentals including neural network architectures, generative models, and foundation model adaptation methodologies like PEFT, LoRA, and RLHF
• Proven track record designing and deploying sophisticated ML/AI systems in production environments that drive measurable business impact through improved recommendations, search relevance, and user engagement metrics
• Experience optimizing AI model performance across the full stack, from model architecture and training workflows to distributed inference and serving infrastructure
• Self-motivated innovator with a strong sense of ownership who can navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape, evaluate emerging techniques, and implement novel approaches to solve complex business challenges
• Passion for applying cutting-edge AI research to real-world applications and a keen understanding of the practical considerations in developing responsible, efficient AI systems at scale

Benefits

• Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work
• This role is remote
• This role is eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants
• $203,000 — $225,000 CAD