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Position Title: Senior Machine Engineer / Lead
Location: San Francisco, CA
Time Type: Full Time
The Opportunity
Ohalo is looking for a hands-on Senior Machine Learning Engineer / Lead to convert cutting-edge quantitative-genetics and computer vision research into production systems that accelerate crop improvement. You will steer a squad of ML/Data/Software Engineers, partnering with quantitative geneticists and statisticians to deliver Bayesian genomic-prediction pipelines, breeding-system simulations, and AI-powered hybrid-optimization services. Your work will directly shape how breeders make thousands of crossing decisions and drive the next leap in agricultural productivity.
Responsibilities- Design, build, and maintain scalable ML pipelines on GCP (or the best-fit cloud) using Python, BigQuery/Spark, Kubernetes, and CI/CD best practices.
- Mentor & grow a small team—provide technical guidance, establish code-review norms, and cultivate a culture of rapid, well-engineered experimentation.
- Own model-ops lifecycle: automated testing, containerized deployment, continuous monitoring, and A/B evaluation against breeding KPIs.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with plant scientists, data engineers, and the automation group to ingest high-throughput phenotyping data and close feedback loops.
- Establish MLOps Excellence: Build robust infrastructure for model versioning, data lineage, and automated retraining; implement "champion-challenger" deployment patterns to safely promote research models to production while ensuring full auditability of breeding decisions.
- Education – M.S. in Computer Science or related field (or equivalent industry record).
- Experience – 5+ years building production ML/AI systems, technical lead experience preferred
- Engineering excellence – Expert Python plus one ML framework (JAX/NumPyro, TensorFlow, or PyTorch); strong grasp of microservices, Docker/Kubernetes, and cloud data platforms (BigQuery, Vertex AI, etc.).
- Data-engineering acumen – Comfortable designing batch, streaming, and event-driven pipelines; Pub/Sub, Kafka, or equivalent.
- Leadership & communication – Able to set direction, give candid feedback, and bridge domain-scientist ↔ engineer conversations with clarity.
Nice to have:
- Advanced Image Techniques – Proficiency in leveraging Foundation Models (e.g., SAM, CLIP) and Self-Supervised Learning to automate high-throughput feature extraction, converting unstructured imagery into high-dimensional embeddings for advanced statistical analysis.
About Ohalo:
Ohalo™ aims to accelerate evolution to unlock nature's potential. Founded in 2019, Ohalo develops novel breeding systems and improved plant varieties that help farmers grow more food with fewer natural resources, increasing the yield, resiliency, and genetic diversity of crops to sustainably feed our population. Ohalo's breakthrough technology, Boosted Breeding™, will usher in a new era of improved productivity to radically transform global agriculture. For more information, visit www.ohalo.com.
The anticipated pay range for this role is $170,000 - $220,000 per year for our San Francisco, CA location, though salary will be based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, and location.
Notes: If you previously applied for a job at Ohalo Genetics, we encourage you to restate your interest in the position by submitting your application.
Ohalo is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Ohalo is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.
No visa sponsorship is available for this position at this time.
This organization participates in E-Verify. Posters linked here.
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