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Senior Reinforcement Learning Jobs (NOW HIRING)

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Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Data Mining

$125K - $165K/yr

As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer on the Data Mining team, your mission is to build the "Brain ... Reinforcement Learning for Data Discover : Build RL-based policy learning and reasoning systems for ...

Keebo

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

$125K - $165K/yr

About the Opportunity As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, you will bring your expertise in ... Familiarity with reinforcement learning or bandit models Nice to Have * Experience with Java and ...

Analog Devices

Senior Robot Learning Engineer

Boston, MA · On-site

$113K - $155K/yr

They are seeking a Senior Robot Learning Engineer to develop core AI technologies for future AI ... Reinforcement Learning and Imitation Learning for manipulation. • Planning and control algorithms ...

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Senior Reinforcement Learning information

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$25K

$80.3K

$163.5K

How much do senior reinforcement learning jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 12, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior reinforcement learning in the United States is $80,287.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $41,500.00 and $103,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are some common challenges faced by Senior Reinforcement Learning professionals when deploying models in real-world environments?

Senior Reinforcement Learning professionals often encounter challenges such as ensuring model robustness when transferring algorithms from simulated to real-world environments, handling limited or noisy data, and managing the computational demands of training complex models. Additionally, safety and interpretability are critical, as real-world deployments can have significant impacts if models behave unpredictably. Close collaboration with domain experts and engineering teams is essential to address these challenges and ensure successful, scalable deployments.

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

To thrive as a Senior Reinforcement Learning Engineer, you need deep expertise in machine learning, reinforcement learning algorithms, and programming languages such as Python, often supported by an advanced degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and RL-specific libraries, as well as experience with high-performance computing and cloud platforms, is typically required. Strong problem-solving abilities, collaboration, and communication skills help distinguish top performers in this role. These skills ensure the development of efficient, robust RL models and effective teamwork on complex AI projects.

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

AspectSenior Reinforcement LearningData Scientist
Required CredentialsAdvanced degrees in CS, ML, or related fields; experience with RL frameworksDegree in CS, Statistics, or related; strong analytical skills
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, AI teams, tech companies focusing on ML projectsBusiness analytics, data analysis, and modeling in various industries
Employer & Industry UsageTech firms, AI startups, research institutionsFinance, healthcare, marketing, tech, and more

While both roles require strong analytical skills and technical knowledge, Senior Reinforcement Learning specialists focus on developing RL algorithms and models, often in AI research settings. Data Scientists analyze data to inform business decisions across industries. The roles overlap in data handling and programming but differ in their core focus and application areas.

What does a Senior Reinforcement Learning Engineer do?

A Senior Reinforcement Learning Engineer designs, develops, and implements advanced machine learning algorithms that enable systems to learn optimal behaviors through trial and error. They work on complex problems such as robotics, game AI, recommendation systems, and automated decision-making. In addition to coding and model development, they often lead research initiatives, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and mentor junior engineers. Their role requires deep knowledge of reinforcement learning theory, practical experience with machine learning frameworks, and strong programming skills.
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Senior Reinforcement Learning jobs near you
Infographic showing various Senior Reinforcement Learning job openings in the United States as of June 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 76% Full Time, 22% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 87% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $80,287 per year, or $38.6 per hour.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer - VLM/LLM Evaluation

Senior Machine Learning Engineer - VLM/LLM Evaluation

Waymo

Manhattan, NY • On-site, Remote

$204K - $259K/yr

Other

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

This job post has expired today. Applications are no longer accepted.

Job description

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with the mission to be the world's most trusted driver. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has focused on building the Waymo Driver-The World's Most Experienced Driver-to improve access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. The Waymo Driver powers Waymo's fully autonomous ride-hail service and can also be applied to a range of vehicle platforms and product use cases. The Waymo Driver has provided over ten million rider-only trips, enabled by its experience autonomously driving over 100 million miles on public roads and tens of billions in simulation across 15+ U.S. states.

The mission of the Waymo AI Foundations team is to develop machine learning solutions addressing open problems in autonomous driving, towards the goal of safely operating Waymo vehicles in dozens of cities and under all driving conditions. As part of our work, we also initiate and foster collaborations with other research teams in Alphabet. AI Foundations areas that we are currently focusing on include reinforcement learning, learning from demonstration, generative modeling, Bayesian inference, hierarchical learning, and robust evaluation.

This role follows a hybrid work schedule and you will report to a Senior Staff Software Engineer.

You will:

  • Work with a creative team of people who help to build the state-of-the-art Foundation Models that are used throughout Waymo's systems, both onboard autonomous vehicles and offboard in simulation
  • Drive the development or significantly contribute to end-to-end evaluation systems and benchmarks for Waymo Foundation models, encompassing the entire life-cycle from pre-training and supervised fine-tuning (SFT) to reinforcement learning (RL), for evaluating the quality, safety, and realism of embodied AI agents
  • Partner with cross-functional teams within the organization to land innovative tech in production
  • Implement and extend large large scale data and evaluation pipelines.

You have:

  • Bachelor or Master's degree in Computer Science, similar technical field of study, or equivalent practical experience
  • Experience in ML engineering and applied Deep Learning
  • Experience with large scale distributed system
  • Proficient programming skills (eg: Python, C/C++)

We prefer:

  • ML infra experience: training, evaluating and deploying ML models at scale
  • Deep learning experience, especially with generative models, e.g., LLMs/VLMs, and/or reinforcement learning
  • Proficiency and in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of an ML framework (e.g. Pytorch, JAX, Tensorflow)

In accordance with Washington state law, we are highlighting our comprehensive benefits package, which is available to all eligible US based employees. Benefits for this role include:

  • Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
  • Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
  • Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
  • Sick Time: 40 hours/year (statutory, where applicable); 5 days/event (discretionary)
  • Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
  • Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
  • Holidays: 13 paid days per year

The expected base salary range for this full-time position across US locations is listed below. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors, including exact work location, experience, relevant training and education, and skill level. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the role location or, if the role can be performed remote, the specific salary range for your preferred location, during the hiring process.

Waymo employees are also eligible to participate in Waymo's discretionary annual bonus program, equity incentive plan, and generous Company benefits program, subject to eligibility requirements.

Salary Range
$204,000—$259,000 USD

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