Data and Applied Machine Learning Engineer

Location: Irvine, CA
Schedule: Onsite (hybrid schedule similar to engineering team norms)
Employment Type: Full Time, Permanent
Compensation: 150,000 to 175,000 base plus 5 percent AIP bonus

About the Opportunity

A growing engineering organization in Irvine is seeking a Data and Applied Machine Learning Engineer to join a collaborative, cross functional team. This position combines high level data engineering with applied ML ownership and offers the chance to work closely with a recently acquired AI division focused on computer vision and machine learning.

This role is a backfill that has evolved from a traditional data engineering position into a hybrid data and ML role with end to end ownership of pipelines, modeling workflows, and data quality for production systems.

What You Will Do

Data Platform, Pipelines, and Quality (Primary Focus)

• Design, build, and operate scalable ELT and ETL pipelines ingesting data from IoT devices, smart cart telemetry, video events, operational systems, and external partners

• Build and maintain cloud based data infrastructure including SQL and NoSQL databases, data warehouses, and integration systems

• Create and maintain canonical data models including schemas, taxonomies, KPIs, and event structures

• Implement robust data quality practices including validation rules, automated tests, anomaly detection, monitoring, and alerting

• Improve consistency across data producing systems through naming standards, identifiers, timestamps, joins, and deduplication

• Perform root cause analysis on pipeline issues and implement durable, long term fixes

• Partner with BI and Product teams to build curated datasets, semantic layers, and internal dashboards for visibility into system health

Applied Machine Learning Ownership (Secondary Focus)

• Own the end to end production lifecycle of a smart cart classification model including data collection, labeling, evaluation, threshold tuning, and safe deployment

• Build and optimize ML pipelines for feature engineering, model training, deployment, and monitoring in production

• Create and maintain evaluation frameworks including repeatable test sets and offline metrics

• Monitor model performance for accuracy drift, data drift, and classification error patterns

• Collaborate with a separate ML team to incorporate model improvements while maintaining stability in production environments

• Work closely with software and systems engineers to integrate the classifier cleanly into product workflows with strong telemetry, logging, and operational documentation

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field

• 5 plus years of experience in data engineering or ML engineering

• Strong fluency in SQL and Python

• Proven experience building and operating production ELT and ETL pipelines

• Experience with cloud platforms Azure or GCP

• Hands on experience with orchestration or transformation tools such as Airflow or Prefect

• Experience with Spark, Databricks, or similar batch processing frameworks

• Strong understanding of data modeling, governance, quality practices, and lineage

• Ability to troubleshoot data issues, collaborate with operations teams, and implement production ready solutions

• Strong analytical communication and problem solving abilities

• Must be a US Citizen or Green Card holder

Personality Fit

• Proactive and comfortable working autonomously

• Communicative and collaborative across engineering, product, and analytics teams

• Analytical mindset with a focus on delivering clear business insights

Additional Details

• Reports to VP of Engineering

• Collaborative team culture with strong cross functional support

• Standard benefits package including medical, dental, PTO, and a 5 percent annual incentive bonus

• Interview process includes HR, technical engineer interview, VP or hiring manager, and leadership

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled

Military connected talent encouraged to apply

To read our Candidate Privacy Information Statement, which explains how we will use your information, please navigate to https://www.lhh.com/us/en/candidate-privacy

The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable:

• The California Fair Chance Act
• Los Angeles City Fair Chance Ordinance
• Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers
• San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Massachusetts Candidates Only: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.