Zendesk
Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer
Zendesk, San Francisco, California, United States, 94199
Overview
Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer
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Zendesk Zendesk’s people have one goal in mind: to make Customer Experience better. Our products help more than 125,000 global brands make their billions of customers happy, every day. We are seeking a hands-on architecture and leadership role to set the technical vision for Zendesk’s GenAI infrastructure and platform. We’re the AI/ML Platform team that powers every AI-driven experience at Zendesk, enabling product teams to build, evaluate, and deploy state-of-the-art Large Language Model (LLM) applications reliably and at scale. You’ll be the primary technical authority for systems like our LLM Proxy, model evaluation frameworks, agent orchestration tools, and multi-model routing, ensuring they are secure, scalable, performant, cost-efficient, and future-proof. This is a hands-on architecture and leadership role where you’ll design high-impact systems, mentor senior engineers, and collaborate with product and platform teams to deliver GenAI capabilities with excellence. What You Get To Do Every Day
Own the end-to-end architecture for Zendesk’s GenAI platform, aligning with business goals and technical best practices. Set technical direction for core systems including LLM Proxy, agent orchestration layers, evaluation and benchmarking pipelines, and model observability tooling. Design and implement model routing, fallback strategies, and A/B testing infrastructure for LLMs from multiple vendors. Establish engineering standards for safety, latency, cost attribution, and reliability across GenAI services. Coach staff and senior engineers, providing deep technical guidance and fostering a culture of technical excellence. What You Bring To The Role
10+ years in ML/AI engineering, including at least 3 years in staff/principal-level platform or infrastructure leadership roles. Expertise in LLM systems, multi-model orchestration, and GenAI infrastructure patterns. Proven ability to design complex, distributed systems with high reliability, security, and scalability requirements. Strong experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure; Kubernetes; Docker; and distributed event-driven architectures. Fluency in Python and at least one other server-side language (Java, Scala, Golang, or Ruby). Track record of driving alignment across multiple engineering teams and influencing product direction. Preferred Qualifications
Background in agentic architectures and complex workflow orchestration for AI agents. Experience and contributions to enterprise-scale ML platforms. What Our Tech Stack Looks Like
Code is written in Python. Servers run in AWS. LLM Vendors: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Llama. Infra: Kubernetes, Docker, Kafka, AWS. What We Offer
Full ownership of the projects you work on. Impactful work with opportunities to implement your own ideas and improvements. Collaborative team of passionate professionals. Professional development funds and a flexible, balanced work environment. Remote-friendly setup with option for a premium office experience; equipment of your choice. Premium Medical Insurance and Private Life Assurance. Compensation and Work Arrangement
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. Compensation is based on job-related capabilities, experience, and location. Hybrid: The role combines onsite collaboration with remote work flexibility; specific in-office schedule is determined by the hiring manager. Equal Opportunity and Accessibility
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer. We foster global diversity, equity, and inclusion. We consider applicants 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 AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled. If you require accommodations during the application process, please email peopleandplaces@zendesk.com. Seniority level
Mid-Senior level Employment type
Full-time Job function
Engineering and Information Technology Industries: Software Development
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Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer
at
Zendesk Zendesk’s people have one goal in mind: to make Customer Experience better. Our products help more than 125,000 global brands make their billions of customers happy, every day. We are seeking a hands-on architecture and leadership role to set the technical vision for Zendesk’s GenAI infrastructure and platform. We’re the AI/ML Platform team that powers every AI-driven experience at Zendesk, enabling product teams to build, evaluate, and deploy state-of-the-art Large Language Model (LLM) applications reliably and at scale. You’ll be the primary technical authority for systems like our LLM Proxy, model evaluation frameworks, agent orchestration tools, and multi-model routing, ensuring they are secure, scalable, performant, cost-efficient, and future-proof. This is a hands-on architecture and leadership role where you’ll design high-impact systems, mentor senior engineers, and collaborate with product and platform teams to deliver GenAI capabilities with excellence. What You Get To Do Every Day
Own the end-to-end architecture for Zendesk’s GenAI platform, aligning with business goals and technical best practices. Set technical direction for core systems including LLM Proxy, agent orchestration layers, evaluation and benchmarking pipelines, and model observability tooling. Design and implement model routing, fallback strategies, and A/B testing infrastructure for LLMs from multiple vendors. Establish engineering standards for safety, latency, cost attribution, and reliability across GenAI services. Coach staff and senior engineers, providing deep technical guidance and fostering a culture of technical excellence. What You Bring To The Role
10+ years in ML/AI engineering, including at least 3 years in staff/principal-level platform or infrastructure leadership roles. Expertise in LLM systems, multi-model orchestration, and GenAI infrastructure patterns. Proven ability to design complex, distributed systems with high reliability, security, and scalability requirements. Strong experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure; Kubernetes; Docker; and distributed event-driven architectures. Fluency in Python and at least one other server-side language (Java, Scala, Golang, or Ruby). Track record of driving alignment across multiple engineering teams and influencing product direction. Preferred Qualifications
Background in agentic architectures and complex workflow orchestration for AI agents. Experience and contributions to enterprise-scale ML platforms. What Our Tech Stack Looks Like
Code is written in Python. Servers run in AWS. LLM Vendors: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Llama. Infra: Kubernetes, Docker, Kafka, AWS. What We Offer
Full ownership of the projects you work on. Impactful work with opportunities to implement your own ideas and improvements. Collaborative team of passionate professionals. Professional development funds and a flexible, balanced work environment. Remote-friendly setup with option for a premium office experience; equipment of your choice. Premium Medical Insurance and Private Life Assurance. Compensation and Work Arrangement
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. Compensation is based on job-related capabilities, experience, and location. Hybrid: The role combines onsite collaboration with remote work flexibility; specific in-office schedule is determined by the hiring manager. Equal Opportunity and Accessibility
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer. We foster global diversity, equity, and inclusion. We consider applicants 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 AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled. If you require accommodations during the application process, please email peopleandplaces@zendesk.com. Seniority level
Mid-Senior level Employment type
Full-time Job function
Engineering and Information Technology Industries: Software Development
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