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Distiller Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Waabi

Distillation Lead

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$195K - $286K/yr

As the Distillation Lead, you will own the strategy and execution for distillation across Waabi's AI stack, ensuring our most capable models run efficiently in every deployment context. You will ...

Waabi

Distillation Lead

San Francisco, CA

$195K - $286K/yr

As the Distillation Lead, you will own the strategy and execution for distillation across Waabi's AI stack, ensuring our most capable models run efficiently in every deployment context. You will ...

Hark

On-Device Research Engineer

San Jose, CA

$120K - $300K/yr

You will own distillation, quantization, and architecture-aware compression as a first-class work-stream. Responsibilities * Design and execute distillation strategies (response, feature, and self ...

Hark

On-Device Research Engineer

San Jose, CA · On-site

$120K - $300K/yr

You will own distillation, quantization, and architecture-aware compression as a first-class work-stream. Responsibilities * Design and execute distillation strategies (response, feature, and self ...

Adobe

Senior Applied Scientist

San Jose, CA · On-site

$107K - $146K/yr

Responsibilities : • Develop and run distillation pipelines to transfer capabilities from large teacher models into smaller, efficient student models. • Carry out and refine post-training methods ...

Adobe, Inc.

Senior Applied Scientist

San Jose, CA · On-site

$107K - $146K/yr

Develop and run distillation pipelines to transfer capabilities from large teacher models into smaller, efficient student models. * Carry out and refine post-training methods including supervised ...

Adobe

Applied Scientist 3

San Jose, CA · On-site

Develop and run distillation pipelines to transfer capabilities from large teacher models into smaller, efficient student models. * Carry out and refine post-training methods including supervised ...

Adobe

Senior Applied Scientist

San Jose, CA

$107K - $146K/yr

Develop and run distillation pipelines to transfer capabilities from large teacher models into smaller, efficient student models. * Carry out and refine post-training methods including supervised ...

ProAmpac

Press Helper/Material Handler

West Covina, CA · On-site

$19/hr

Operates washer and distiller, as required, to support production and minimize the plant hazardous wage; transfers waste still bottoms from distiller to DOT approved drums; responsible for proper ...

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All JobsDistiller JobsDistiller Jobs in California

Distiller information

See California salary details

$10

$18

$27

How much do distiller jobs pay per hour?

As of Jul 27, 2026, the average hourly pay for distiller in California is $18.24, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $14.71 and $20.14 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Distiller, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Distiller, you need a strong understanding of fermentation, chemistry, and quality control, often supported by relevant experience or a degree in food science or a related field. Familiarity with distillation equipment, quality assurance systems, and safety certifications such as HACCP is typically required. Attention to detail, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work collaboratively are crucial soft skills in this role. These skills ensure the consistent production of high-quality spirits, compliance with safety standards, and efficient operation in a regulated industry.

Is distilling a hard job?

Distilling can be physically demanding and requires attention to detail, precision, and knowledge of safety protocols. It often involves long hours in a production environment and the use of specialized equipment, making it a challenging but skilled profession.

How much money does a distiller make?

A distiller's salary varies depending on experience, location, and the type of distillery, but typically ranges from $30,000 to $70,000 annually. Skilled distillers with certifications and experience can earn higher wages, especially in larger or more established facilities.

What are distillers?

Distillers are professionals who operate and manage the process of converting raw materials, such as grains, fruits, or botanicals, into distilled spirits like whiskey, vodka, or gin. They oversee the fermentation, distillation, and aging processes to ensure the production of high-quality alcoholic beverages. Distillers also monitor equipment, maintain safety and cleanliness standards, and may be involved in developing new flavors or products. Their expertise combines science, craftsmanship, and attention to detail to create unique and consistent spirits.

What Is the Job of a Distiller?

The job duties of a distiller involve working in a distillery that produces spirits, such as whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, or other forms of liquor. The distillation process that you oversee in this career may vary slightly depending on the type of alcohol that you create. Generally, your responsibilities involve gathering water and raw materials and putting them through a fermentation process. In many cases, you may oversee blending and bottling. In larger distilleries, a master distiller is in charge of a team of professionals, each of whom carries out one step in the production process.

What is a distiller job description?

A distiller is responsible for producing spirits by fermenting and distilling liquids, operating and maintaining distillation equipment, and ensuring product quality and safety. The role often requires knowledge of brewing or distillation processes, attention to detail, and adherence to safety regulations and standards.

What are some common challenges faced by distillers during the production process?

Distillers often encounter challenges such as maintaining consistency in flavor and quality across batches, troubleshooting equipment malfunctions, and adhering to strict safety and sanitation regulations. Additionally, they must carefully monitor fermentation and distillation conditions to prevent unwanted flavors or product loss. Collaboration with quality control teams and continuous learning about new techniques or industry standards is essential for overcoming these challenges and producing high-quality spirits.

What is the difference between Distiller vs Brewer?

AspectDistillerBrewer
CredentialsTypically requires a certification in distillation or alcohol productionOften requires brewing certifications or related training
Work EnvironmentDistilleries focused on spirits like whiskey, vodka, rumBreweries producing beer or similar fermented beverages
Industry UsageUsed in spirits manufacturing industryUsed in craft and commercial beer production
Common Search/ComparisonDistiller vs Brewer

While both roles involve beverage production, a Distiller specializes in creating spirits through distillation, whereas a Brewer focuses on brewing beer through fermentation. The skills, certifications, and work environments differ, making each role unique within the beverage industry.

What does it take to become a distiller?

Becoming a distiller typically requires a combination of relevant experience, knowledge of fermentation and distillation processes, and sometimes formal training or certifications. Many distillers start in entry-level roles in beverage production, learn on the job, and develop skills in operating distillation equipment and quality control.
More about Distiller jobs
What are the most commonly searched types of Distiller jobs in California? The most popular types of Distiller jobs in California are:
What are popular job titles related to Distiller jobs in California? For Distiller jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Distiller jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Distiller jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Distiller jobs? Cities in California with the most Distiller job openings:
Distiller jobs near you
Infographic showing various Distiller job openings in California as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 100% Full Time. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $37,949 per year, or $18.2 per hour.

Distillation Lead

Waabi

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$195K - $286K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, PTO

Posted 28 days ago

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

Waabi's Physical AI platform is powered by state of the art ML models which must be deployed efficiently across diverse use-cases, from onboard vehicle inference to large-scale simulation. As the Distillation Lead, you will own the strategy and execution for distillation across Waabi's AI stack, ensuring our most capable models run efficiently in every deployment context. You will partner closely with ML Platform, Infrastructure, Onboard Autonomy, and Simulation teams to deliver compressed models that meet the performance requirements of both real-time onboard systems and high-throughput simulation pipelines.
 

You will...

- Define and drive the technical strategy for model distillation and compression across Waabi's AI stack - spanning perception, world models, and planning - with an eye toward both onboard deployment and simulation use-cases.

- Design, implement, and scale state-of-the-art distillation and efficiency pipelines, which may include: 

  • Distillation for generative models (diffusion, autoregressive, flow-matching, video models)

  • Quantization-aware training (QAT) and post-training quantization (PTQ)

  • Knowledge distillation (feature-level, response-based, and relation-based)

  • Structured and unstructured pruning and sparsification

  • Low-rank factorization and efficient architecture design

  • Speculative decoding and other inference-time efficiency techniques

- Collaborate closely with ML Platform, Infrastructure, Onboard, Autonomy, and Simulation teams to integrate compressed models into production pipelines and meet latency, memory, and throughput targets across deployment contexts.

- Define rigorous benchmarks and evaluation frameworks to characterize efficiency vs. quality trade-offs across models and hardware targets.

- Mentor and guide researchers and engineers working in the distillation and model efficiency space, setting a high technical bar and fostering a culture of rigorous experimentation.

- Champion best practices for model compression across the organization; disseminate knowledge through internal design reviews, documentation, and technical talks.

- Stay at the cutting edge of model efficiency research; contribute to the broader scientific community through publications and open-source contributions.

Qualifications:

- Deep distillation expertise: You have extensive hands-on experience designing and implementing distillation, quantization, pruning, and model compression techniques for large-scale neural networks, with demonstrated impact in production settings.

- Strong research and engineering foundation: A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Robotics, or a related field, or equivalent industry experience; relevant hands-on experience in model distillation and efficiency is what matters most. Expert Python and PyTorch (or JAX) skills with experience in large-scale distributed training.

- Technical leadership: You have a proven track record of setting technical direction and driving projects from conception to production. You inspire and elevate those around you through deep technical expertise and mentorship.

- Cross-functional collaboration: You have experience working closely with infrastructure, platform, and autonomy teams to deploy compressed models under real engineering constraints.

- Clear communicator: You can communicate complex technical trade-offs clearly to diverse audiences and drive alignment across research and engineering teams.

Bonus:

- Experience with hardware-aware optimization (TensorRT, ONNX, custom CUDA kernels, hardware-specific quantization).

- Publications at top-tier ML/CV venues (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ICLR, ECCV) in model compression, efficient deep learning, or related areas.

- Experience distilling large generative models (diffusion models, LLMs, VLMs, or video models).

- Background in autonomous vehicles or robotics.

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $195,000 - $286,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi (US) Inc.'s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company's compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations.  Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus.
 

Perks/Benefits:
- Competitive compensation and equity awards.
- Health and Wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental and Vision coverage (for full-time employees only).
- Unlimited Vacation.
- Flexible hours and Work from Home support.
- Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office).
- Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on-site, off-site & virtually.
- As we grow, this list continues to evolve! 

Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
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