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Senior Machine Learning Scientist Jobs in Reston, VA

Our team is a vibrant mix of communication specialists, data scientists, and subject matter experts ... Protagonist is looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer who builds production-ready systems ...

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site

$118K - $162K/yr

Our team is a vibrant mix of communication specialists, data scientists, and subject matter experts ... Protagonist is looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer who builds production-ready systems ...

Position Overview Pantheon Data is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to design, build, and ... Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related ...

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Reston, VA · Hybrid

$108K - $149K/yr

Position Overview Pantheon Data is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to design, build, and ... Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related ...

Position OverviewPantheon Data is seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to design, build, and ... Required Skills and ExperienceBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Data ...

Showing results 21-40

Senior Machine Learning Scientist information

See Reston, VA salary details

$69.2K

$115K

$171.1K

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

As of Sep 5, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior machine learning scientist in Reston, VA is $115,006.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $95,200.00 and $130,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a senior machine learning scientist?

Senior Machine Learning Scientists are experienced professionals who design, develop, and implement advanced machine learning models to solve complex business or research problems. They are responsible for leading projects, mentoring junior team members, and staying updated on the latest AI and data science technologies. Their work often involves analyzing large datasets, selecting the right algorithms, and optimizing model performance for real-world applications. In addition to technical expertise, they often collaborate cross-functionally to align machine learning solutions with organizational goals.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior machine learning scientist?

To thrive as a Senior Machine Learning Scientist, you need expertise in machine learning algorithms, statistical analysis, programming (usually in Python or R), and an advanced degree (often a Ph.D.) in a quantitative field. Experience with tools such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, cloud platforms, and version control systems is typically expected, along with knowledge of deploying models in production environments. Exceptional problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills help you translate complex data insights into actionable business solutions and mentor junior team members. These skills are crucial for developing innovative models, ensuring robust deployment, and driving impactful data-driven decisions.

What are some common challenges senior machine learning scientists face when deploying models to production environments?

Senior Machine Learning Scientists often encounter challenges such as ensuring model scalability, maintaining model performance over time, and addressing data drift once models are deployed to production. Collaborating closely with engineering and operations teams is crucial to streamline deployment pipelines and monitor models for real-world reliability. It’s also important to communicate findings and potential risks to stakeholders, and to regularly update models based on new data or business requirements. These aspects make strong cross-functional teamwork and problem-solving skills essential in this role.

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

AspectSenior Machine Learning ScientistData Scientist
CredentialsMaster's or PhD in CS, ML, or related fieldBachelor's or Master's in CS, Statistics, or related field
Work EnvironmentFocus on developing ML models, algorithms, and researchData analysis, visualization, and business insights
Industry UsageUsed in AI-driven companies, tech firms, research labsCommon across industries for data analysis and reporting

While both roles involve working with data, Senior Machine Learning Scientists focus on developing advanced ML models and algorithms, often requiring research and deep technical expertise. Data Scientists typically analyze data to generate insights and support decision-making. The roles overlap but differ mainly in technical depth and focus area.

Is a senior machine learning scientist a high paying job?

A senior machine learning scientist typically earns a high salary due to advanced skills in data analysis, programming, and model development, often exceeding average tech industry wages. Compensation varies by industry, location, and experience, but it generally reflects the specialized expertise required for the role.

What are popular job titles related to Senior Machine Learning Scientist jobs in Reston, VA?

For Senior Machine Learning Scientist jobs in Reston, VA, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What cities near Reston, VA are hiring for Senior Machine Learning Scientist jobs?

Cities near Reston, VA with the most Senior Machine Learning Scientist job openings:

Infographic showing various Senior Machine Learning Scientist job openings in Reston, VA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 73% Full Time, 23% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 10% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $115,217 per year, or $55.4 per hour.

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Clearview AI, Inc.

Washington, DC • Remote

$107K - $146K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement, PTO

Re-posted 9 days ago


Job description


Clearview AI is the leading provider of facial recognition technologies to US law enforcement, state, and federal agencies. Our mission is to help our users solve crimes and prevent financial fraud with the responsible use of our facial recognition software. Our company is a high-octane, fast growing startup looking to hire enthusiastic and intelligent team members to join our team. To learn more about us, and our revolutionary facial recognition technology, please visit www.clearview.ai.

Senior Machine Learning Engineer


Position Summary: We are hiring a highly technical individual contributor to push the limits of our computer vision and machine learning capabilities. This is a high-impact, hands-on role for a research-minded engineer who wants to build and ship models, not manage a team. Much of the work involves large-scale visual understanding, extracting structured signals from imagery and reasoning about the real-world context behind a photograph, but we care more about deep ML/CV ability than any one problem area and welcome strong generalists.

Responsibilities:
  • Build, train, evaluate, and deploy computer vision and multimodal models, taking them from early prototype through to production
  • Design systems that infer structured attributes and spatial context from imagery, combining learned models with geometric and heuristic reasoning
  • Train and fine-tune models on large, diverse real-world image datasets, and build the pipelines to curate and label that data at scale
  • Work with vision-language models (VLMs) and build rigorous evaluation frameworks to measure their accuracy on our tasks
  • Develop and benchmark high-performance image retrieval capabilities with embedding models and vector indexing strategies
  • Optimize models for inference latency and throughput using techniques like distillation, quantization, and GPU acceleration
  • Read current research, prototype novel algorithms from academic literature, and turn promising ideas into reliable production code
  • Implement efficient, scalable data pipelines and inference infrastructure
  • Develop high-performance tooling in ML and data engineering
  • Additional duties and responsibilities as reasonably required by the employee's supervisor or CEO
Requirements:
  • Experience building, training, evaluating, and deploying ML models in production
  • Strong experience using PyTorch, JAX, or other deep learning frameworks to develop and optimize models
  • Strong software engineering ability to build and maintain complex systems and work with large-scale datasets
  • Ability to solve open-ended problems and quickly learn new domains
  • Comfort operating with significant ownership and autonomy, making pragmatic trade-offs between model sophistication, velocity, inference and business constraints
  • BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience

Nice to have:
  • Experience inferring structured, real-world attributes from images
  • Experience training models on large-scale, real-world image datasets
  • Familiarity with vision-language models (VLMs)
  • Ability to digest academic literature, prototype novel algorithms, and bridge the gap between research and production code
  • Experience building LLM or VLM pipelines and the evaluation frameworks to measure their performance
  • Experience in an ML role at a growth-stage startup
  • Publications in major ML or computer vision conferences (e.g., CVPR, ICML, ICCV, WACV)
  • Medical, Dental, Vision, STD and LTD Plans
  • FSA - Medical and Dependent Care
  • EAP and wellness programs
  • 13 Paid Holidays
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Flexible work environment - 100% remote
  • 401(k) plan