Staff Machine Learning Engineer

Databricks · San Francisco, California · Engineering - Pipeline · listed February 2, 2026

The shape of it

Seniority
Staff
Experience asked
2–8 years
Where
Not stated
Stated pay
$190,000 – $285,000 USD
Requirements listed
6
Length
851 words

In the posting’s own words

As our GenAI products continue to evolve, we are seeking multiple GenAI Engineers from junior levels to more senior levels to drive the next phase of development. In 2025, we will focus on enhancing LLM quality, expanding GenAI capabilities across Databricks products, and strengthening our platform architecture to enable seamless AI interactions at scale.

What it asks for · 6

  • 2-8 years of machine learning engineering experience in high-velocity, high-growth companies. Alternatively, a strong background in relevant ML research in academia will be considered as an equivalent qualification.
  • Strong track record of working with language modeling technologies. This could include the following: Developing generative and embedding techniques, modern model architectures, fine tuning / pre-training datasets, and evaluation benchmarks.
  • Proficiency in Python, TensorFlow/PyTorch, and scalable ML architectures.
  • Ability to drive end-to-end model development, from research and prototyping to deployment and monitoring.
  • Strong coding and software engineering skills, and familiarity with software engineering principles around testing, code reviews and deployment.
  • Experience with LLM fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a bonus.

What the job covers

  • Shape the direction of our applied AI areas and intelligence features in our products . Drive the development and deployment of state-of-the-art AI models and systems that directly impact the capabilities and performance of Databricks' products and services (e.g., Databricks Assistant and AI/BI Genie).
  • Develop novel data collection, fine-tuning, and LLM technologies that achieve optimal performance on specific tasks and domains.
  • Design and implement ML pipelines for data preprocessing, feature engineering, model training, hyperparameter tuning, and model evaluation, enabling rapid experimentation and iteration.
  • Work closely with cross-functional teams, including AI researchers, ML engineers, and product teams, to deliver impactful AI solutions that enhance user productivity and satisfaction.
  • Build scalable, reusable backend systems to support GenAI products across the company. Develop robust logging, telemetry, and evaluation harnesses to ensure reliable model performance.

Tools and skills named

Models & research
  • Machine learning6×
  • LLM4×
  • Fine-tuning2×
  • Prompt engineering
  • PyTorch
  • TensorFlow
Data
  • Databricks8×
  • Experimentation
Ways of working
  • Code review
  • Cross-functional
  • Testing
Languages
  • Python
  • SQL
Go to market
  • Pipeline generation
Product & design
  • Prototyping

Words the posting leans on

  • products12×
  • model7×
  • engineering5×
  • genai4×
  • llm4×
  • user4×
  • architectures3×
  • data3×
  • deployment3×
  • development3×
  • drive3×
  • evaluation3×
  • experience3×
  • generation3×
  • performance3×
  • ai-driven2×

Counted from the posting after the mission statement and the legal notices are set aside. The ones near the top are the ones a screener is looking for.

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How this page was made

An automated read of a public job posting, fetched August 24, 2026 and last changed by Databricks on August 18, 2026. Every list above is pulled from the posting’s own sentences — nothing rewritten, nothing added, no judgment about the role or the company. Counts and seniority are read off the text by rule, so they can be wrong where the posting is unusual. The original is the only thing that binds. Openings close without warning; check the source before spending an evening on it.