ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Senior Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in Illinois

Albi

Senior Machine Learning Engineer (LLMs)

Chicago, IL · On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

... engineers * An environment that values deep work, clear thinking, and real impact * Regular team events and off-sites * Equipment and learning budget to help you do your best work and keep up with ...

Albi

Senior Machine Learning Engineer (LLMs)

Chicago, IL · On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

... engineers * An environment that values deep work, clear thinking, and real impact * Regular team events and offsites * Equipment and learning budget to help you do your best work and keep up with the ...

Albi

Senior Machine Learning Engineer (LLMs)

Chicago, IL · On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

... engineers * An environment that values deep work, clear thinking, and real impact * Regular team events and off‑sites * Equipment and learning budget to help you do your best work and keep up with ...

Gotion, Inc.

Machine Learning Engineer

Manteno, IL · On-site

Role Summary We are seeking a highly motivated Machine Learning Engineer with a strong background in model architecture design and algorithm development, ideally with experience in scientific domains ...

Referrals Only

Lead Machine Learning Engineer

Chicago, IL

$105K - $139K/yr

Lead Machine Learning Engineers at Thoughtworks use modern architectures to develop end-to-end scalable machine learning systems and applications. They use their specialized depth and breadth of ...

Bespoke Labs

Machine Learning Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

Must-Have Skills 3+ years of ML engineering experience -- model training, fine-tuning, or post-training pipelines in research or production Strong Python and deep learning proficiency (PyTorch ...

Instacart

As a Machine Learning Engineer, you will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior engineers and product leaders as part of your team. Together, you'll develop and enhance Instacart ...

Bespoke Labs

Machine Learning Engineer

Joliet, IL · On-site

Must-Have Skills 3+ years of ML engineering experience -- model training, fine-tuning, or post-training pipelines in research or production Strong Python and deep learning proficiency (PyTorch ...

Instacart

As a Machine Learning Engineer, you will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior engineers and product leaders as part of your team. Together, you'll develop and enhance Instacart ...

Instacart

As a Machine Learning Engineer, you will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior engineers and product leaders as part of your team. Together, you'll develop and enhance Instacart ...

Bespoke Labs

Machine Learning Engineer

Dekalb, IL · On-site

Must-Have Skills 3+ years of ML engineering experience -- model training, fine-tuning, or post-training pipelines in research or production Strong Python and deep learning proficiency (PyTorch ...

Instacart

As a Machine Learning Engineer, you will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with senior engineers and product leaders as part of your team. Together, you'll develop and enhance Instacart ...

New

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsMachine Learning Engineer JobsSenior Machine Learning Engineer JobsSenior Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in Illinois

Senior Machine Learning Engineer information

See Illinois salary details

$57.7K

$122.6K

$177.8K

How much do senior machine learning engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 19, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior machine learning engineer in Illinois is $122,637.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $101,300.00 and $139,100.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are some common challenges Senior Machine Learning Engineers face when deploying models to production, and how can they be addressed?

Senior Machine Learning Engineers often encounter challenges related to model scalability, maintaining performance in real-world scenarios, and ensuring reliable integration with existing systems. Addressing these challenges typically involves thorough testing, implementing robust monitoring for model drift, and collaborating closely with DevOps and software engineering teams to streamline deployment pipelines. Staying updated on best practices in MLOps and adopting tools for automated deployment and monitoring can greatly improve the reliability and efficiency of production models.

What does a Senior Machine Learning Engineer do?

A Senior Machine Learning Engineer designs, develops, and implements machine learning models to solve complex problems. They are responsible for selecting appropriate algorithms, preprocessing data, and optimizing model performance. Additionally, they collaborate with data scientists, software engineers, and product teams to integrate machine learning solutions into production systems. Senior engineers also mentor junior team members and contribute to setting technical direction for machine learning projects.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, you need advanced knowledge of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and programming languages like Python or Java, typically supported by a degree in computer science or a related field. Experience with frameworks and tools such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, and cloud platforms, as well as familiarity with version control and CI/CD systems, is essential. Strong problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills help you collaborate effectively and mentor junior team members. These capabilities are crucial for designing scalable ML solutions and driving impactful results within complex, dynamic projects.

What is the difference between Senior Machine Learning Engineer vs Data Scientist?

AspectSenior Machine Learning EngineerData Scientist
Required CredentialsBachelor's/Master's in CS, ML, or related; experience with ML frameworksBachelor's/Master's in CS, Statistics, or related; strong analytical skills
Work EnvironmentDevelops and deploys ML models in production systemsAnalyzes data, builds models, and provides insights
Industry UsageTech, finance, healthcare, e-commerceResearch, finance, marketing, tech

While both roles require strong technical skills and knowledge of machine learning, Senior Machine Learning Engineers focus more on deploying scalable ML solutions in production environments, whereas Data Scientists primarily analyze data and develop models for insights. The roles often overlap but differ in their core responsibilities and focus areas.

What are the most commonly searched types of Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Illinois? The most popular types of Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Illinois are:
What are popular job titles related to Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Illinois? For Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Illinois, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Illinois look for? The top searched job categories for Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs in Illinois are:
What cities in Illinois are hiring for Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs? Cities in Illinois with the most Senior Machine Learning Engineer job openings:
Senior Machine Learning Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Senior Machine Learning Engineer job openings in Illinois as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 96% Full Time, 2% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 9% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $122,637 per year, or $59 per hour.

Senior Machine Learning Engineer (LLMs)

Albi

Chicago, IL • On-site

$126K - $166K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement, PTO

Posted 13 days ago

Job description

We're building deeply integrated LLMs into a real product used daily by restoration companies running thousands of jobs. This is not a "prompt engineer" role. You'll design, train, and ship domain-specific language models that automate real workflows and move real revenue.
You will:
  • Own end-to-end LLM systems: architecture, training, evals, and iteration
  • Fine-tune and extend existing models (LoRA, instruction tuning, RLHF)
  • Build and maintain data pipelines from product databases, documents, APIs, and logs
  • Ship reliable, monitored, production models with clear guardrails
  • Collaborate closely with product and engineering to turn messy real-world problems into working systems
  • Build and coordinate the AI engineering team
  • Use Claude Code as a core tool for development, refactors, tests, and experiments

This is for you if:
  • "How does this actually work under the hood?" is your default question
  • You're fine sitting with a hard problem for days and reading papers on weekends to figure it out
  • If there's something interesting to learn or solve, it doesn't matter if it's Saturday or 1 a.m., you're in
  • You build side projects nobody asked for and write cleaner code than anyone requires
  • You're quietly competitive, self-taught in at least one major skill, and think in systems
  • You're slightly allergic to meetings without a clear purpose or owner

Requirements
  • 5+ years of real world experience in ML / AI engineering
  • Proven experience training or substantially contributing to training LLMs (not just calling APIs)
  • Deep understanding of transformers, attention, and training dynamics
  • Strong Python plus PyTorch or JAX
  • Experience with large-scale data pipelines and experiment tracking
  • Hands-on fine-tuning (LoRA, instruction / SFT, RLHF or similar)
  • Comfortable using Claude Code as part of your daily workflow
  • Able to explain complex systems simply to non-technical stakeholders and go deep with experts
  • Track record of owning projects end-to-end and mentoring other engineers

Nice to have:
  • Distributed training (FSDP, DeepSpeed, Megatron, etc.)
  • Inference optimization (quantization, speculative decoding, vLLM, Triton)
  • Experience shipping LLM features in production SaaS
  • Open-source contributions or published work or patents in ML / NLP
  • Microsoft Foundry experience

Benefits
  • Competitive salary (based on experience and location)
  • Generous PTO
  • Medical, dental, and vision coverage
  • 401(k) plan
  • High ownership and autonomy over your work
  • Direct collaboration with a small team of smart, kind, motivated engineers
  • An environment that values deep work, clear thinking, and real impact
  • Regular team events and off-sites
  • Equipment and learning budget to help you do your best work and keep up with the frontier

Apply