Sr. Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Content Quality

Pinterest

About Pinterest: Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product. Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible. At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI. Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here. Pinterest works when the content ecosystem works: when people can reliably find ideas that feel inspiring, trustworthy, and actionable—and when the ecosystem continuously learns what to create, surface, and sustain next. In this Sr. Staff ML Engineer role, you’ll be the technical lead shaping how Pinterest understands and improves its content as a living marketplace: a dynamic system with feedback loops between users, creators/publishers, distribution, and long-term business outcomes. You will define a durable ML strategy that goes beyond “engagement metrics” to improve overall ecosystem health—identifying where we’re underserving content, uncovering the attributes that make content succeed, and designing optimization approaches that balance relevance, quality, diversity, integrity, and monetization. The problems are inherently multi-objective and long-horizon: the best decisions today should strengthen the ecosystem tomorrow. If you’re excited by high-leverage technical leadership, rigorous ML thinking, and marketplace-style dynamics at scale, this role offers a chance to directly shape Pinterest’s moat and the experience millions of people come to for ideas they can act on. What you’ll do: * Set technical strategy and vision for ML systems that improve the end-to-end content ecosystem, including supply, distribution, and engagement/utility outcomes. * Partner with DS teams to develop a content ecosystem measurement framework to quantify content health and performance (e.g., content quality, freshness, diversity, coverage, creator/content sustainability, and user value), and align it with company/business goals. * Identify and close content gaps by building models and insights that answer: what content is missing, for whom, in which contexts, and why. * Deeply understand what content works and why by combining causal thinking, experimentation, and model interpretability to connect content attributes and distribution mechanisms to downstream user and business outcomes. * Build and optimize content marketplace mechanisms that balance multi-sided incentives and constraints (e.g., users, creators/publishers, advertisers, internal policy/safety), while maximizing long-term ecosystem value. * Design multi-objective optimization approaches that manage tradeoffs across relevance, quality, diversity, creator incentives, integrity/safety, and monetization. * Partner closely with cross-functional teams (Product, Data Science, UX Research, Content/Creator teams, Trust & Safety, Ads, Infra) to translate ambiguous ecosystem problems into clear technical roadmaps and deliver measurable impact. * Mentor and grow junior ML engineers through technical coaching, design reviews, career development support, and creating a culture of strong engineering and scientific rigor. * Raise the quality bar for ML engineering by establishing best practices for data quality, model governance, reliability, privacy-aware design, and operational excellence. * Communicate clearly and influence broadly by producing crisp technical proposals, aligning stakeholders on tradeoffs, and driving decisions across org boundaries. * Explore and apply advanced methods where beneficial—e.g., game-theoretic approaches, reinforcement learning, mechanism design, or bandit-style optimization—to improve marketplace dynamics and long-term ecosystem outcomes. What we’re looking for: * Strong fundamentals in machine learning and optimization, with the ability to apply them to real-world, high-scale ecosystem problems. * Demonstrated ability to lead technical strategy, navigate ambiguity, and deliver end-to-end impact. * Deep interest in marketplace dynamics (multi-sided incentives, feedback loops, long-term health metrics), and comfort with multi-objective tradeoffs. * Experience with Cursor, Copilot, Codex, or similar AI coding assistants for development, debugging, testing, and refactoring. * Familiarity with LLM-powered productivity tools for documentation search, experiment analysis, SQL/data exploration, and engineering workflow acceleration. * Not required but certainly a plus: background in game theory, reinforcement learning, mechanism design, or causal inference applied to ecosystems/marketplaces. * Bachelor’s degree in computer science, machine learning, statistics, a related field or equivalent experience   Relocation Statement: * This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.   In-Office Requirement Statement:  * We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role. * This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times every 6 months and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.    #LI-SM4 #LI-REMOTE At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise. Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here. US based applicants only $227,871—$469,147 USD Our Commitment to Inclusion: Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.   By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.

Databricks

P-1011 Job Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA  As a Sr. Staff Technical Solutions Engineer and tech subject matter expert, you will partner closely with our Field and Engineering teams to deliver high-touch specialized support and tailored technical solutions for Databricks' largest and most strategic customers in the Digital Native Business (DNB) segment. In this customer-facing role, you will leverage your technical expertise in Apache Spark™ and other data technologies to triage and resolve complex product issues and unblock our customers’ most critical technical challenges.  THE IMPACT YOU WILL HAVE * Perform advanced Troubleshooting and Root Cause Analysis to resolve performance and reliability issues in Spark, SQL, Delta, Streaming, and Databricks runtime features using tools like Spark UI metrics, Mosaic AI Model Service, DAGs, and event logs. * Discover requirements for continuous monitoring to detect early performance issues working with R&D and NOC teams to optimize the DNB customer environments.  * Build Rapid POCs, Test/Deploy/Monitor the solutions built by Databricks Engineering to address customer challenges and showcase advanced Spark/ML/AI runtime capabilities aligned with their business goals. * Develop comprehensive playbooks and maintain a knowledge base of common issues and solutions for Spark, ML, and AI workflows. * Train customer engineering and business teams on best practices in performance tuning, debugging, and effectively leveraging Databricks Features. * Pilot new best practices processes/ programs, champion process improvements, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to enhance the customer experience. * Advocate for customers in business review meetings and maintain close relationships as a trusted advisor and primary technical point of contact. * Collaborate onsite with Field Engineering, Sales, and Product teams during customer engagements and technical presentations to provide rapid solutions to production-impacting issues, demonstrating deep technical expertise and building strong customer trust.   WHAT WE LOOK FOR * Technical Expertise in Big Data and Spark: 8–12 years of experience designing, building, and troubleshooting distributed computing applications, with 4+ years delivering production-scale Spark/ML/AI solutions using Python, Java, or Scala. * Data Engineering Specialization: Hands-on expertise with Data Lakes, SQL-based databases, and Cloud-based Data Warehousing/ETL tools like Snowflake, Redshift, Bigquery, etc * Advanced Tech Skills: Deep knowledge of Spark core internals, Delta/Iceberg, JVM optimization, and memory management, with additional proficiency in AI ecosystems like Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Generative AI. * Cloud and CI/CD Skills: Practical experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP, coupled with expertise in building and managing CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and alerting systems. * Customer-Facing Experience: 3–5 years in customer-facing roles such as Technical Account Manager or Solutions Architect, demonstrating strong communication, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills. * Advanced Proactive Problem Solving Skills: Proven ability to anticipate, identify, and mitigate risks while planning solutions for production challenges. Effectively use sound business judgment, risk avoidance and subject matter expert resources to coordinate team efforts to solve problems.  * Collaboration and Leadership: Proven ability to work with cross-functional teams and senior leadership to address roadblocks, mitigate risks, and drive customer success while creating impactful documentation for self-service solutions.   Pay Range Transparency Databricks is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents the expected salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings for commissionable roles.  Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to job-related skills, depth of experience, relevant certifications and training, and specific work location. Based on the factors above, Databricks anticipates utilizing the full width of the range. The total compensation package for this position may also include eligibility for annual performance bonus, equity, and the benefits listed above. For more information regarding which range your location is in visit our page here.   Local Pay Range $141,700—$250,800 USD About Databricks Databricks is the data and AI company. More than 10,000 organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, Grammarly, and over 50% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform to unify and democratize data, analytics and AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe and was founded by the original creators of Lakehouse, Apache Spark™, Delta Lake and MLflow. To learn more, follow Databricks on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Benefits At Databricks, we strive to provide comprehensive benefits and perks that meet the needs of all of our employees. For specific details on the benefits offered in your region click here. Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion At Databricks, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone can excel. We take great care to ensure that our hiring practices are inclusive and meet equal employment opportunity standards. Individuals looking for employment at Databricks are considered without regard to age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. Compliance If access to export-controlled technology or source code is required for performance of job duties, it is within Employer's discretion whether to apply for a U.S. government license for such positions, and Employer may decline to proceed with an applicant on this basis alone.

Pinterest

About Pinterest: Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product. Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible. At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI. Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here. The Data Product Platform is mission-critical to accelerating data-driven decision-making at Pinterest on the foundation of 100s of thousands of tables and an exadata-scale data warehouse. We strive to provide effortless, efficient, and reliable data products and platforms that power the entire company. We achieve this by investing in three core areas: 1. Data Warehouse: Building and managing the foundational data warehouses that enable key analyses across both our core engagement and monetization products. 2. Analytical Velocity: Creating powerful analytical tools that empower internal data users to leverage our vast data assets and capable infrastructure effectively. 3. Data Governance: Defining and implementing the data governance policies and tools necessary to ensure the responsible, efficient and compliant storage and handling of all data. We are seeking a Sr. Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership and direction across these three pillars. In this role, you will be instrumental in architecting and driving solutions that handle increasing data volume, navigate business complexity, accelerate analytical velocity, and build the foundation for our next generation of AI analytics products. If you are passionate about building world-class data ecosystems at massive scale, we invite you to lead our efforts. What you’ll do:  * Spearhead the definition and design of Pinterest's data warehouse architecture, storage, governance, and usage. * Set the strategic direction for world-class data analytics tools, including experimentation platforms, ad hoc analysis systems, data visualization, data pipeline authoring, and AI-assisted data analytics capabilities. * Define, design, and drive the adoption of comprehensive data governance policies and tooling to ensure data quality, promote responsible data handling, and maximize efficiency. * Lead ambiguous, highly challenging, and cross-functional initiatives across the data ecosystem, expertly managing trade-offs among unique requirements and constraints (e.g., usability, efficiency, and compliance) to deliver a cohesive user experience. * Drive measurable adoption and significant business impact across the entire product portfolio through platform and tooling initiatives. * Mentor and elevate the technical bar for engineers, providing leadership on complex technical design, execution strategies, and critical trade-off decisions. * Collaborate with stakeholders across Product, Data Science, and Engineering teams to understand user needs, drive alignment and drive progress. What we’re looking for: * Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience. * 12+ years of relevant industry experience with large scale data warehouses, data tools and platforms.  * 5+ years experience building data warehouses and tools around the data ecosystem with technologies such as Spark, Trino, Flink, Airflow, Querybook, Superset, DataHub, etc. * Ability to work with cross-functional partners across multiple organizations. * Hands-on experience building tools and data pipelines leveraging AI coding tools, e.g. Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, etc. * Hands-on experience building AI tools and platforms to accelerate data pipeline authoring, data analytics and engineering productivity. Relocation Statement: * This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model. In-Office Requirement Statement: * We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role. * This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times/quarter, and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country. #LI-REMOTE #LI-AH2 At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise. Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here. US based applicants only $208,592—$429,454 USD Our Commitment to Inclusion: Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.   By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.