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Senior Machine Learning Engineer(US)

Checkmate
Washington, DC Full Time
POSTED ON 1/4/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 1/18/2026
We’re seeking a Mid-Level Machine Learning Engineer to join our growing Data Science & Engineering team. In this role, you will design, develop, and deploy ML models that power our cutting-edge technologies like voice ordering, prediction algorithms, and customer-facing analytics. You’ll collaborate closely with data engineers, backend engineers, and product managers to take models from prototyping through to production, continuously improving accuracy, scalability, and maintainability.

Essential Job Functions

  • Model Development: Design and build next-generation ML models using advanced tools like PyTorch, Gemini, and Amazon SageMaker - primarily on Google Cloud or AWS platforms.
  • Feature Engineering: Build robust feature pipelines; extract, clean, and transform large-scale transactional and behavioral data. Engineer features like time-based attributes, aggregated order metrics, categorical encodings (LabelEncoder, frequency encoding).
  • Experimentation & Evaluation: Define metrics, run A/B tests, conduct cross-validation, and analyze model performance to guide iterative improvements. Train and tune regression models (XGBoost, LightGBM, scikit-learn, TensorFlow/Keras) to minimize MAE/RMSE and maximize R².
  • Own the entire modeling lifecycle end-to-end, including feature creation, model development, testing, experimentation, monitoring, explainability, and model maintenance.
  • Monitoring & Maintenance: Implement logging, monitoring, and alerting for model drift and data-quality issues; schedule retraining workflows.
  • Collaboration & Mentorship: Collaborate closely with data science, engineering, and product teams to define, explore, and implement solutions to open-ended problems that advance the capabilities and applications of Checkmate, mentor junior engineers on best practices in ML engineering.
  • Documentation & Communication: Produce clear documentation of model architecture, data schemas, and operational procedures; present findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

100 % Remote

$100,000 to $140,000

Requirements

Academics: Bachelors/Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field

Experience

  • 5 years of industry experience (or 1 year post-PhD).
  • Building and deploying advanced machine learning models that drive business impact
  • Proven experience shipping production-grade ML models and optimization systems, including expertise in experimentation and evaluation techniques.
  • Hands-on experience building and maintaining scalable backend systems and ML inference pipelines for real-time or batch prediction

Programming & Tools

  • Proficient in Python and libraries such as pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn; familiarity with TensorFlow or PyTorch.
  • Hands-on with at least one cloud ML platform (AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI, or Azure ML).

Data Engineering

  • Hands-on experience with SQL and NoSQL databases; comfortable working with Spark or similar distributed frameworks.
  • Strong foundation in statistics, probability, and ML algorithms like XGBoost/LightGBM; ability to interpret model outputs and optimize for business metrics.
  • Experience with categorical encoding strategies and feature selection.
  • Solid understanding of regression metrics (MAE, RMSE, R²) and hyperparameter tuning.

Cloud & DevOps: Proven skills deploying ML solutions in AWS, GCP, or Azure; knowledge of Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines

Collaboration: Excellent communication skills; ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights.

Working Terms: Candidates must be flexible and work during US hours at least until 6 p.m. ET in the USA, which is essential for this role & must also have their own system/work setup for remote work.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Master’s or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field.
  • Familiarity with data-privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA) and best practices in secure ML.
  • Open-source contributions or publications in ML/AI conferences.
  • Experience with Ruby on Rails programming framework.

Benefits

  • Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
  • Retirement Plan (401k)
  • Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
  • Flexible Paid Time Off
  • Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
  • Short Term & Long Term Disability
  • Training & Development
  • Work From Home
  • Stock Option Plan

Salary : $100,000 - $140,000

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