Machine Learning Engineer

We are searching a Staff Applied Backend / ML Engineer to lead the design and implementation of production-grade, AI-driven systems that power intelligent products at scale for our client a very young and promising AI startup which recently got over $2.5M in initial see round funding. • Position Type: Contract to Hire • W2 position • Work Location: Remote in USA. This is a hands-on, senior technical role responsible for architecting distributed backend services, building and deploying machine learning pipelines, and translating ambiguous business problems into robust, measurable solutions. You will design high-performance APIs and data workflows, productionize models (training, evaluation, inference, monitoring), and ensure reliability, security, and scalability across cloud environments. The ideal candidate combines deep backend engineering expertise (Python/Java, REST/gRPC, SQL/NoSQL, event-driven systems) with practical ML experience (feature engineering, embeddings, model serving, experimentation frameworks) and a strong sense of ownership from prototype to hardened production systems. You will set technical standards, mentor engineers, collaborate cross-functionally with product and data teams, and play a key role in shaping the long-term architecture and AI strategy of the platform.