Protagonist
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
Protagonist - Olympia, Washington, United States
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Senior Machine Learning Engineer
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Protagonist 20 hours ago Be among the first 25 applicants Join to apply for the
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
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Protagonist Get AI-powered advice on this job and more exclusive features. This range is provided by Protagonist. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more. Base pay range
$120,000.00/yr - $170,000.00/yr Direct message the job poster from Protagonist You are a hands-on Machine Learning Engineer passionate about creating production-ready systems that power mission-critical work. You bring strong engineering discipline, systems thinking, and a bias toward scalable, well-architected solutions. You work across the full ML lifecycle—building and deploying tools that solve complex problems efficiently and reliably. You are a strategic contributor and builder who collaborates across engineering, product, and client-facing teams to expand the role of AI at Protagonist. You are deeply curious, continuously learning, and committed to staying current with advances in machine learning, infrastructure, and software development. Responsibilities Partner with product, engineering, data science, and analysis teams to identify and execute high-impact NLP use cases Translate business requirements and stakeholder needs into actionable ML solutions that deliver measurable value Design and implement state-of-the-art NLP solutions with scalable pipelines for multi-modal, multi-language data, utilizing transformers, LLMs, and generative modeling techniques Lead technical discussions with cross-functional teams to align on ML strategy, architecture, and implementation plans Architect cloud-native ML solutions leveraging containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and MLOps best practices Implement RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) pipelines and vector search systems to enhance model performance Develop, optimize, and maintain production-ready ML systems and infrastructure with a focus on cost-efficiency, reliability, reproducibility, and real-world performance Build solutions for narrative detection, event classification, entity resolution, and other bespoke model applications Fine-tune and deploy language models for specific business domains with parameter-efficient methods (LoRA/PEFT) Improve foreign-language and noisy/mixed-modality input handling Establish robust ML evaluation frameworks including regression testing and hallucination detection Enhance data coverage and quality across structured and unstructured sources Work with product managers to define success metrics and evaluation strategies for ML features Lead by example in mentoring, planning, and cross-functional collaboration Advance ML practices through knowledge sharing and contribute to product improvements Evaluate and adopt best practices in ML systems and balance innovation with practical delivery Requirements Must be located in the Washington, DC area. U.S. person eligible to work on government contracts; active or prior SECRET clearance preferred. Bachelor's degree with 7+ years of work experience or advanced degree with 5+ years of work experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related technical field. 5+ years of experience building and deploying ML systems in production with focus on NLP Deep expertise in modern NLP approaches including transformers, LLMs, and embedding models Proven ability to work effectively across engineering, product, and business teams to deliver ML solutions Skilled in scaling ML for real-world applications and working with multi-modal (text, image, video) and domain-specific data. Strong Python skills and fluency with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face) Experience with MLOps tools and practices (MLflow, Kubeflow, Airflow, model registries) Proven experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and Infrastructure as Code Knowledge of distributed computing frameworks (Spark, Ray) for large-scale data processing Experience with vector databases (Pinecone, Milvus, OpenSearch) and search optimization Familiarity with containerization, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines Experience with orchestration tools (e.g., MLflow, Metaflow, Argo), cloud infrastructure, data lakes, and modern ML stack architectures. Effective communicator and cross-functional collaborator. Strong self-starter comfortable with ambiguity and startup-like environments. Prior experience managing direct reports is a plus. Join Us If you’re passionate about technology and making an impact, apply today! Protagonist is dedicated to fostering a welcoming and innovative environment where everyone’s voice can make a difference. Protagonist is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Salary Range: $120,000-$170,000 based on education and level of relevant experience. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Seniority level
Seniority level Mid-Senior level Employment type
Employment type Full-time Job function
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Senior Machine Learning Engineer
role at
Protagonist 20 hours ago Be among the first 25 applicants Join to apply for the
Senior Machine Learning Engineer
role at
Protagonist Get AI-powered advice on this job and more exclusive features. This range is provided by Protagonist. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more. Base pay range
$120,000.00/yr - $170,000.00/yr Direct message the job poster from Protagonist You are a hands-on Machine Learning Engineer passionate about creating production-ready systems that power mission-critical work. You bring strong engineering discipline, systems thinking, and a bias toward scalable, well-architected solutions. You work across the full ML lifecycle—building and deploying tools that solve complex problems efficiently and reliably. You are a strategic contributor and builder who collaborates across engineering, product, and client-facing teams to expand the role of AI at Protagonist. You are deeply curious, continuously learning, and committed to staying current with advances in machine learning, infrastructure, and software development. Responsibilities Partner with product, engineering, data science, and analysis teams to identify and execute high-impact NLP use cases Translate business requirements and stakeholder needs into actionable ML solutions that deliver measurable value Design and implement state-of-the-art NLP solutions with scalable pipelines for multi-modal, multi-language data, utilizing transformers, LLMs, and generative modeling techniques Lead technical discussions with cross-functional teams to align on ML strategy, architecture, and implementation plans Architect cloud-native ML solutions leveraging containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and MLOps best practices Implement RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) pipelines and vector search systems to enhance model performance Develop, optimize, and maintain production-ready ML systems and infrastructure with a focus on cost-efficiency, reliability, reproducibility, and real-world performance Build solutions for narrative detection, event classification, entity resolution, and other bespoke model applications Fine-tune and deploy language models for specific business domains with parameter-efficient methods (LoRA/PEFT) Improve foreign-language and noisy/mixed-modality input handling Establish robust ML evaluation frameworks including regression testing and hallucination detection Enhance data coverage and quality across structured and unstructured sources Work with product managers to define success metrics and evaluation strategies for ML features Lead by example in mentoring, planning, and cross-functional collaboration Advance ML practices through knowledge sharing and contribute to product improvements Evaluate and adopt best practices in ML systems and balance innovation with practical delivery Requirements Must be located in the Washington, DC area. U.S. person eligible to work on government contracts; active or prior SECRET clearance preferred. Bachelor's degree with 7+ years of work experience or advanced degree with 5+ years of work experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related technical field. 5+ years of experience building and deploying ML systems in production with focus on NLP Deep expertise in modern NLP approaches including transformers, LLMs, and embedding models Proven ability to work effectively across engineering, product, and business teams to deliver ML solutions Skilled in scaling ML for real-world applications and working with multi-modal (text, image, video) and domain-specific data. Strong Python skills and fluency with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face) Experience with MLOps tools and practices (MLflow, Kubeflow, Airflow, model registries) Proven experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and Infrastructure as Code Knowledge of distributed computing frameworks (Spark, Ray) for large-scale data processing Experience with vector databases (Pinecone, Milvus, OpenSearch) and search optimization Familiarity with containerization, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines Experience with orchestration tools (e.g., MLflow, Metaflow, Argo), cloud infrastructure, data lakes, and modern ML stack architectures. Effective communicator and cross-functional collaborator. Strong self-starter comfortable with ambiguity and startup-like environments. Prior experience managing direct reports is a plus. Join Us If you’re passionate about technology and making an impact, apply today! Protagonist is dedicated to fostering a welcoming and innovative environment where everyone’s voice can make a difference. Protagonist is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Salary Range: $120,000-$170,000 based on education and level of relevant experience. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Seniority level
Seniority level Mid-Senior level Employment type
Employment type Full-time Job function
Job function Engineering and Information Technology Industries IT Services and IT Consulting Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Protagonist by 2x Get notified about new Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs in
Washington DC-Baltimore Area . Washington, DC $120,000.00-$170,000.00 2 weeks ago Herndon, VA $130,000.00-$170,000.00 1 week ago Senior / Lead ML Tooling Software Engineer
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Herndon, VA $130,000.00-$180,000.00 1 month ago Senior Delivery Consultant - Senior Machine Learning Engineer, AWS Professional Services, AWS Professional Services
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We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
#J-18808-Ljbffr