Machine Learning Engineer

About The Company
Millions of people around the world come to Pinterest to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities, and plan memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, our mission is to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and this begins with the talented people behind our innovative products. We foster a dynamic environment where creativity, passion, and diversity are celebrated, enabling our team members to thrive and make a meaningful impact. Our platform serves as a hub for discovery, enabling users to explore interests, share ideas, and connect through visually engaging content. We are committed to building an inclusive culture that values collaboration, continuous learning, and growth. Join us to be part of a forward-thinking organization that empowers individuals to turn their ideas into reality and shapes the future of social discovery and content sharing.

About The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled Staff Machine Learning Engineer to serve as the technical lead for our Content Mining team at Pinterest. This role is pivotal in defining the long-term architecture, technical vision, and strategic roadmap for source discovery, content acquisition optimization, and understanding. As a core member of our high-performing team, you will lead the design, development, and deployment of advanced machine learning systems, particularly focusing on large language models (LLMs) and natural language processing (NLP) techniques for content extraction and classification. Your expertise will drive the creation of scalable, efficient, and reliable ML solutions that power engaging and accurate Pins, enhancing user experience and platform engagement. You will also mentor and guide a team of engineers, fostering innovation and technical excellence across projects. This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the future of content understanding at Pinterest while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams including Product, Data, and Infrastructure.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience building end-to-end machine learning products, including 2+ years in a technical leadership role.
• Deep hands-on expertise with NLP and LLM training and inference using frameworks like PyTorch and Python.
• Strong experience in evaluation methodologies, prompt/data design, and fine-tuning of language models.
• Proven track record of deploying models at scale, including feature/data pipelines, online serving, monitoring, and cost-performance trade-offs.
• Excellent software engineering skills in Python, with a focus on best practices and scalable code development.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and influencing cross-functional teams.
• Master's or PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related fields.
• Knowledge of LLM efficiency techniques such as LoRA/adapters, distillation, quantization, and prompt caching.
• Experience with MLOps tools and platforms including Airflow, Spark/Presto, Triton, and vLLM.
• Strong understanding of evaluation, prompt/data design, and fine-tuning strategies for large language models.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, roadmap, and execution plans for content source discovery, acquisition optimization, and understanding systems.
• Lead design reviews, establish engineering standards, and ensure alignment across Product, Data, and Infrastructure teams.
• Mentor and develop engineering team members through technical guidance, pairing, and code reviews.
• Train, fine-tune, and optimize LLMs and NLP models for classification, extraction, and instruction-following tasks.
• Design features and frameworks to facilitate feature sharing across models and improve system efficiency.
• Productionize models for large-scale inference, focusing on latency reduction, reliability, and cost efficiency through techniques like quantization and distillation.
• Establish evaluation protocols, gold sets, and automated regressions for model performance monitoring.
• Collaborate on data strategy, labeling standards, and feedback mechanisms to enhance model coverage and accuracy.
• Define and meet operational Service Level Objectives (SLOs) for data quality, model performance, and system reliability.
• Lead incident response, postmortem analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives to ensure operational excellence.
• Measure and influence downstream impacts on revenue and user engagement metrics.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and comprehensive health benefits.
• Flexible work environment with remote work options.
• Opportunities for professional growth and development through mentorship and training.
• Collaborative and inclusive company culture that values diversity and innovation.
• Access to cutting-edge technology and resources to support your work.
• Paid time off and wellness programs to promote work-life balance.

Equal Opportunity

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions based on merit. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We welcome all qualified individuals to apply and join our diverse team. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the application process, please complete the appropriate support form.