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BLACKBIRD.AI · 4 weeks ago

Staff AI / Machine Learning Engineer

United States

Full-time

Hybrid

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$141K/yr - $250K/yr

7+ years exp

BLACKBIRD.AI helps organizations detect and understand emergent threats through their AI-powered Narrative and Risk Intelligence Platform. The Staff AI / Machine Learning Engineer will design and build production-grade AI systems that integrate machine learning and large language models, focusing on creating reliable and scalable platform features while ensuring performance and trustworthiness.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Enterprise SoftwareIntrusion DetectionMachine LearningSecurity

Responsibilities

Build and operate production-grade AI systems that combine machine learning, large language models, and structured data

Translate ambiguous problem spaces into reliable, explainable AI capabilities that customers can trust

Apply machine learning and AI techniques to graph-structured and networked data, enabling reasoning over entities, relationships, and complex information structures

Design AI systems with strong guarantees around correctness, transparency, and performance

Partner with data and backend engineers to bring AI capabilities into scalable platform services

Evaluate, iterate, and improve AI systems using both quantitative metrics and real-world feedback

Make thoughtful trade-offs across model quality, latency, cost, and system complexity

Own AI components end-to-end, from initial design through deployment and long-term maintenance

Provide technical leadership through design reviews, mentorship, and shared best practices

Qualification

Production AI systemsPythonMachine Learning frameworksLarge Language ModelsExplainable ML systemsAPI-driven architecturesGraph-structured dataCommunication skillsTechnical leadershipCollaborationContinuous Learning

Required

7+ years of experience in software engineering, ML engineering, or applied AI or equivalent senior experience with demonstrated Staff-level impact

Strong experience building production AI systems, not just prototypes

Deep proficiency in Python and modern ML/AI frameworks

Hands-on experience with LLMs, including prompting, retrieval-augmented generation, tool use, and evaluation

Experience designing explainable and auditable ML systems

Solid understanding of API-driven architectures and data contracts

Experience working with graph-structured or networked data, including reasoning over entities and relationships

Ability to reason about performance, cost, and reliability in real systems

Strong written and verbal communication skills

Preferred

Experience with agentic AI or multi-step reasoning systems

Experience with graph data models, network analysis, or knowledge graphs, including relationship modeling, traversal, or graph-based reasoning

Experience applying ML or LLM techniques to graph or network-based problems (e.g., relationship discovery, influence propagation, community detection, or other network analysis)

Experience building ranking, influence, or scoring models

Experience designing LLM evaluation and validation frameworks

Background in trust & safety, security, intelligence, or risk domains

Startup or fast-paced product environment experience

Experience with Databricks or similar platforms

Comfort using AI-assisted development tools in daily workflows

Benefits

Competitive compensation package, 401(k), and equity - everyone has a stake in our growth!

Comprehensive health benefits for you and your loved ones, including wellness days and monthly wellness reimbursements - an apple a day doesn't always keep the doctor away!

Generous vacation policy, encouraging you to take the time you need - we trust you to strike the right work/life balance!

A flexible work environment with opportunities to collaborate with your team in person - you can have it all!

Inclusion and Impact - soar to new heights!

Professional development stipend - never stop learning!