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Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in California

Suki

Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Redwood City, CA · On-site

The Staff Machine Learning Engineer will drive innovation on the Machine Learning team, focusing on NLP and improving technical approaches to support healthcare professionals. Responsibilities : • ...

Adobe

Staff Machine Learning Engineer

San Jose, CA · On-site +1

As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer (MLE 50), you will design, build, and deploy semantic matching and ranking models that understand text, images, documents, and other content modalities at Adobe ...

Intuitive

Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, you will be responsible for driving the design, development, and deployment of novel machine learning solutions for pathology image analysis. You will work with ...

Walmart

Staff, Machine Learning Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA

$130K - $260K/yr

We are looking for a strong Staff Machine Learning Engineer who has the passion to develop AI driven intelligent products for the Associate Productivity and Experience team, with the ability to ...

Suki

Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Redwood City, CA · On-site

The Staff Machine Learning Engineer will leverage NLP expertise to improve computational infrastructure, manage datasets, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize the platform for ...

Intuitive

Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, you will be responsible for driving the design, development, and deployment of novel machine learning solutions for pathology image analysis. You will work with ...

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All JobsStaff Machine Learning Engineer JobsSenior Staff Machine Learning Engineer JobsSenior Staff Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in California

Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer information

See California salary details

$58.7K

$124.9K

$181.1K

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

As of Aug 9, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior staff machine learning engineer in California is $124,900.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $103,100.00 and $141,600.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the primary challenges a senior staff machine learning engineer faces when leading large-scale ML projects?

Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineers often navigate complex challenges such as aligning cross-functional teams, ensuring model scalability, and maintaining data integrity across evolving pipelines. They are responsible for setting technical direction, mentoring junior engineers, and driving collaboration between data scientists, software engineers, and product managers. Balancing hands-on technical work with high-level architectural decisions, while also keeping up with rapid advancements in the field, is key to success in this role.

What does a senior staff machine learning engineer do?

A Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer leads the design, development, and deployment of complex machine learning systems within an organization. They work closely with cross-functional teams to identify business challenges that can be addressed with machine learning and guide the technical strategy for implementing solutions. Their responsibilities often include mentoring junior engineers, setting best practices, overseeing large-scale projects, and ensuring models are robust, scalable, and ethically implemented. Additionally, they may contribute to research and development, staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in the field.

What is the difference between Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer vs Machine Learning Engineer?

AspectSenior Staff Machine Learning EngineerMachine Learning Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's/Master's/PhD in CS, AI, or related; experience in ML frameworksBachelor's/Master's in CS, AI, or related; some experience in ML
Work EnvironmentLeadership roles, cross-team collaboration, strategic planningImplementation, model development, experimentation
Industry UsageTech companies, research labs, large enterprisesStartups, tech firms, research projects

The Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer typically holds a more senior, strategic role with leadership responsibilities, while the Machine Learning Engineer focuses on developing and deploying ML models. Both roles require strong technical skills, but the senior position involves guiding projects and mentoring teams.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior staff machine learning engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer, you need deep expertise in machine learning algorithms, statistical analysis, software engineering, and a relevant advanced degree (often MS or PhD). Mastery of tools such as Python, TensorFlow, PyTorch, distributed computing frameworks, and experience with cloud platforms is typically required. Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills distinguish top performers in this role. These abilities are crucial for designing scalable ML solutions, leading teams, and driving impactful business outcomes.
What are popular job titles related to Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer jobs in California? For Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer jobs in California look for? The top searched job categories for Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer jobs in California are:
What cities in California are hiring for Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer jobs? Cities in California with the most Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer job openings:
Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Senior Staff Machine Learning Engineer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 67% Full Time, 25% Part Time, 3% Temporary, and 4% Contract. Highlights an 96% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 3% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $124,900 per year, or $60 per hour.

Staff Machine Learning/AI Engineer

Protingent

Hillsborough, CA • On-site

$247 - $297/hr

Other

Re-posted 18 days ago

Job description

Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Protingent Staffing offers an exciting contract opportunity in San Francisco, CA or NYC, NY.

Job Responsibilities
  • Prototype, develop, and iterate on new product areas for our client, providing customers powerful AI tools for transforming data and reducing emissions.
  • Productionize and launch core technologies to power AI features on top of operational sustainability data.
  • Collaborate with product and other AI engineering teams to set product and technical strategy.
  • Build evaluations, fine‑tune, and create agent harnesses to build reliable AI‑powered systems.
  • Keep up with developments and state-of-the-art in AI to determine relevance.
  • Write performant, well‑crafted, tested, and maintainable code across our technical stack.
Job Qualifications
  • 8+ years of experience in Machine Learning / AI engineering.
  • Experience building products using LLMs, embeddings, and other ML technologies.
  • Full lifecycle experience building, deploying, and monitoring products that leverage LLMs, embeddings, or other ML technologies.
  • Experience leading cross‑functional teams in an innovative fast‑moving environment.
  • A strong foundational understanding of machine learning models and practice, including model evaluation and performance.
  • Strong full‑stack development skills.
Job Details

Job Type: Direct Hire

Location: San Francisco, CA or NYC, NY

Salary Range: $247-297K

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