Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Hybrid (San Francisco or Austin)

Job Description

Zendesk’s people have one goal in mind: to make Customer Experience better. 

The Enterprise Machine Learning team drives organizational value through scalable ML solutions and data-driven insights, fundamentally changing how business decisions are made. We collaborate closely with stakeholders, applying the latest advances in machine learning, deep learning, and large language models (LLMs) to create highly impactful outcomes. Our commitment is to advance the state of AI, statistical modeling, and robust system design to enhance and expand our core business capabilities.

Location

This position is open to candidates located within a commutable distance of our offices in San Francisco, Austin, or Madison. We are not considering fully remote applicants at this time.

Role Overview

As a Machine Learning Engineer, you will serve as a technical and strategic member within the team, driving the development and deployment of advanced data science and machine learning solutions—particularly those harnessing LLMs and deep learning. You will architect and scale ML systems, foster effective cross-functional collaborations, and ensure that business value is embedded in every technical decision. Your business acumen allows you to translate complex analytical approaches into actionable insights and stakeholder-friendly narratives, strengthening partnership and adoption across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive the design, development, and deployment of advanced ML and AI solutions, with an emphasis on large language models (LLMs), deep learning architectures, and sophisticated statistical modeling.

• Build scalable, robust data science systems—from data ingestion, data curation, data modeling to algorithm development, model deployment and monitoring—meeting enterprise-grade performance, reliability, and compliance standards.

• Act as a subject matter expert, collaborating with data scientists, ML engineers, analysts, and business stakeholders to understand needs, define requirements, and deliver practical solutions with measurable business impact.

• Effectively articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical partners, bridging gaps between technical teams and business operations for maximum results.

• Drive adoption of best practices in MLOps, including CI/CD pipelines, containerization, orchestration, observability, and reproducibility.

• Oversee and enhance the integrity, security, and compliance of all data science workflows and contracts.

• Stay abreast of the latest industry advancements in ML, LLMs, deep learning, cloud data engineering, and MLOps solutions (AWS, Kubernetes, Snowflake, etc.).

• Fostering technical excellence and ensuring alignment with business objectives.

What We’re Looking ForEducation & Experience:

• 3+ years’ experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Data Science, or related discipline (advanced degree is highly preferred)​

Technical Expertise:

• Deep expertise in statistical modeling, machine learning, and deep learning (including practical experience with LLMs and transformers)

• Strong programming skills (Python preferred; Java, Scala, or similar also valued)

• Proven ability to build and optimize scalable data science solutions—end-to-end—from data pipelines (dbt, Astronomer, Snowflake, AWS) to deployment and monitoring (Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, MLOps best practices)

• Experience handling and analyzing large datasets, with a preference for experience in cloud data warehouses (Snowflake)

Business Acumen:

• Demonstrated success in translating business needs into analytical solutions, driving quantifiable impact

• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with a track record of building trusted business partnerships and driving adoption of data science initiatives

Communication & Collaboration:

• Exceptional ability to simplify and communicate complex data science concepts to technical and non-technical audiences alike

• Experience working cross-functionally with engineers, analysts, and product leaders

• Steadfast commitment to continuous learning, collaboration, and fostering an inclusive, innovative team environment

Why You’ll Thrive Here

• Opportunity to develop and scale of LLM and deep learning solutions with real-world business impact

• An environment that values innovation, ownership, and professional growth

• The chance to work on high-visibility, high-impact projects at scale alongside a passionate multidisciplinary team

#LI-JH1

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $206,000.00-$308,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your specific accommodation request.