Machine learning jobs by role
Job titles overlap, so read the duties, not just the title.
| Role | What the job is | Typical requirement on this list | Example posting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machine learning engineer | Builds, trains and ships models into production systems | 2+ years of applied ML | Lyft, Machine Learning Engineer |
| AI engineer | Builds products on top of large language models: prompts, agents, evals, integrations | 3+ years of engineering, 1+ year with LLMs | Samsara, AI Engineer |
| Applied scientist | Designs models and experiments for a business problem, often pricing, ads or ranking | MS or PhD plus 2 to 8 years | Lyft, Instacart, Figma |
| Research engineer | Turns research into working systems, from training runs to evals | Distributed training or LLM experience | Anthropic, Scale AI |
| MLOps and ML infrastructure | Owns training, serving and deployment platforms | 5 to 10+ years, Ray, Kubernetes, GPUs | Roblox, Samsara |
Checked 17 October 2026 at each employer's own page.
If you are searching for AI engineer jobs, read the duties closely: the title rarely means research. Samsara's posting describes designing agent architectures, writing prompts, integrating with Salesforce and building automated test suites. If that sounds closer to your skills than model training, the AI coding tools you already use are part of the job.
Open ML and AI engineer roles with published pay
Twelve live postings, each opened on the employer's own careers page or its own Greenhouse board. Pay is the base range as printed, for the location shown.
| Employer | Role | Published pay | Location | Stated requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Applied AI, Research Engineer | $300,000 to $400,000 annual salary | San Francisco, New York | 6+ years as a software engineer or similar |
| Roblox | Principal Machine Learning Infrastructure Engineer, Ads and Discovery | $295,250 to $345,040 annual salary, plus equity | San Mateo | 5+ years of large-scale ML systems; 3+ years as tech lead |
| Roblox | Principal Machine Learning Platform Engineer, Foundation AI | $295,250 to $345,050 annual salary, plus equity | San Mateo | 10+ years of professional experience |
| Airbnb | Principal Machine Learning Engineer, LLM Fine-tuning and Optimization | $292,000 to $365,000 base | US remote | PhD and 10+ years |
| Scale AI | Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Public Sector | $225,750 to $282,450 annual base (Washington DC) | Washington DC | Active security clearance |
| Instacart | Senior Applied Scientist II, Ads Optimization | $240,000 to $253,500 base (CA, NY, CT, NJ); $201,000 to $212,000 in lower-cost states | US remote | Master's or PhD, 8+ years |
| Samsara | Lead Machine Learning Engineer, ML Infrastructure | $200,200 to $357,500 annual base, plus RSUs | US remote | 10+ years in ML engineering |
| Scale AI | ML Research Engineer, ML Systems | $189,600 to $237,000 annual base | San Francisco, New York, Seattle | Multi-node LLM training and inference |
| Figma | AI Applied Scientist | $153,000 to $376,000 annual base | San Francisco, New York, US remote | 4+ years in generative AI |
| Lyft | Machine Learning Engineer (Fulfillment) | $140,800 to $176,000 base (New York City) | New York | BS or MS in CS; 2+ years of ML modeling |
| Lyft | Applied Scientist, Pricing, Dynamic Pricing and Offer Selection | $140,800 to $176,000 base (San Francisco) | San Francisco (hybrid) | MS or PhD; 2+ years of algorithms work |
| Samsara | AI Engineer, Customer Success | $105,910 to $160,200 annual base | US remote, outside SF, NYC and DC metros | 3+ years of engineering; 1+ year with LLMs in production |
Checked 17 October 2026 at each employer's own page.
Every range here is base pay only. Most of these employers add equity and a bonus, which is why total compensation at AI labs and large tech firms often runs well above base. Our AI engineer salary guide breaks out total pay by company.
Where machine learning jobs are posted
Most AI and machine learning jobs appear first on the employer's own applicant tracking system. Anthropic, Scale AI, Figma, Roblox, Lyft, Samsara and Instacart all run their boards on Greenhouse, and many startups use Ashby or Lever. Search those sites directly and set alerts.
| Where | What you find | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Employer careers pages (Greenhouse, Ashby, Lever boards) | The original posting with the legal pay range and full requirements | Every application; always apply here |
| Y Combinator Work at a Startup | Roles at "actively hiring YC companies", including machine learning engineers | Early-stage startups |
| Wellfound machine learning engineer jobs | 803 ML engineer results on 17 October 2026, with salary and equity ranges | Startups that publish equity |
| Hudson River Trading AI and machine learning page | One trading firm's ML hub, listing AI Research Engineer (Inference and Pre-Training) and AI Researcher roles | Quant ML research |
Checked 17 October 2026 at each employer's (or platform's) own page.
Aggregators are useful for discovery, but a posting copied onto a third-party board can be stale. Before you spend an hour on a cover letter, confirm the role still exists on the employer's own page.
Why these postings show pay
Published ranges are a legal requirement in several states, not a courtesy. New York's pay transparency law, Labor Law Section 194-B, requires employers with four or more employees to list compensation ranges for advertised jobs, promotions and transfers. Similar rules in other states are why remote US postings, such as Instacart's, list a different range for each state group. Use the range to screen roles before you apply: a principal-level range on a posting that asks for two years of experience is a sign the title and level do not match.
What the BLS says about AI and ML work
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has no "machine learning engineer" occupation. The closest matches are below, with the latest figures on each Occupational Outlook Handbook page.
| BLS occupation | Median pay (May 2025) | Projected growth, 2025 to 2035 | Typical entry education |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer and information research scientists | $140,300 per year | 22% | Master's degree |
| Data scientists | $120,230 per year | 35% | Bachelor's degree |
| Software developers | $135,980 per year | 10% (whole occupation group) | Bachelor's degree |
Checked 17 October 2026 at each BLS page.
The BLS projects about 2,900 openings a year for computer and information research scientists and about 24,800 for data scientists. BLS medians cover the whole occupation nationwide, so they sit well below the AI lab ranges in our openings table. Both are true at once: a small number of AI-focused employers pay far above the national median.
How to apply for machine learning jobs
- Pick one role family. Decide between ML engineer, AI engineer, applied scientist, research engineer or ML infrastructure, and tailor your resume to that family's verbs: ship, evaluate, design experiments, train, serve.
- Match the stated requirement. If the posting asks for multi-node LLM training (Scale AI) or Ray and Kubernetes in production (Samsara), put that evidence in your first three bullets.
- Show one end-to-end project. A model you trained, evaluated, deployed and monitored beats five notebooks. Our guide on how to become an AI engineer lists portfolio projects that hiring teams recognize.
- Apply on the employer's own board. Greenhouse, Ashby and Lever postings are the source of truth for pay and location.
- Respect application limits. Figma allows up to 5 applications in any rolling 30-day period, and Scale AI waits 90 days before reconsidering a candidate for the same role.
- Check work authorization early. Roblox says it may not employ candidates on certain visa categories or sponsor H-1B for some roles; Anthropic says it does sponsor visas but not for every role.
- Prepare for evaluation-heavy interviews. Several postings, including Samsara's and Anthropic's, name designing evals as a core duty.
Best pick by situation
- Two years of experience, want product ML: Lyft's Machine Learning Engineer in New York at $140,800 to $176,000.
- Strong LLM builder, no ML degree: Samsara's AI Engineer, remote, $105,910 to $160,200.
- Graduate degree in ML or operations research: Lyft's pricing Applied Scientist or Figma's AI Applied Scientist.
- Distributed systems background: Scale AI's ML Research Engineer, ML Systems, at $189,600 to $237,000.
- Senior platform engineer: Roblox or Samsara ML infrastructure roles near $300,000 base.
- Still a student: start with our AI internships list, then the entry-level AI jobs guide.
Scam warning
Several employers on this list warn about fake recruiters in their own postings. Airbnb says its recruiters will never ask you to pay a fee, deposit or cash a check, or buy work equipment during interviews. Samsara says it charges no fees and names the only email domains it uses. Anthropic says its recruiters contact candidates only from @anthropic.com addresses. If an offer arrives without an interview or asks for money, walk away.
How we researched this
On 17 October 2026 we opened each employer's own posting, on its careers site or its own Greenhouse board, and copied titles, pay ranges, locations and requirements as printed. We read the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook pages for each related occupation, the New York State Department of Labor pay transparency page, and the job boards named above. Openings are rechecked monthly. Read more on how we rank and review, browse the AI jobs hub, or see the machine learning engineer career path.
Frequently asked questions
What do machine learning jobs pay in 2026? Published base ranges on this page run from $105,910 to $400,000 a year. The BLS median for computer and information research scientists is $140,300 per year (May 2025).
What is the difference between an AI engineer and a machine learning engineer? An AI engineer usually builds products on top of existing large language models; a machine learning engineer usually trains and ships the models. Samsara's AI Engineer posting centers on agents, prompts and evals.
Do I need a PhD for machine learning jobs? No, for most roles. Lyft's ML engineer asks for a BS or MS, and Anthropic accepts a bachelor's or equivalent experience; principal roles such as Airbnb's require a PhD.
Where are machine learning jobs posted first? On the employer's own applicant tracking system, usually Greenhouse, Ashby or Lever. Wellfound and Y Combinator's Work at a Startup are useful for startups.
Are remote machine learning jobs available? Yes. Airbnb, Instacart, Samsara and Figma list US remote ML or AI roles, though Samsara's AI engineer excludes the SF, NYC and DC metros.
Why do job postings show salary ranges now? State laws require it. New York's Labor Law Section 194-B requires employers with four or more employees to list ranges in job ads.
Is MLOps a good path into machine learning? It is a strong path for infrastructure engineers. The ML infrastructure roles on this page pay among the highest ranges but ask for 5 to 10 or more years of experience.
How fast is AI and ML employment growing? The BLS projects 22% growth for computer and information research scientists and 35% for data scientists from 2025 to 2035.
Does base pay include equity? No. The ranges here are base salary; Roblox, Samsara, Scale AI, Figma and Airbnb mention equity or bonus on top.
How many machine learning jobs should I apply to? Fewer than you think, tailored well. Figma caps applications at 5 in 30 days, and Scale AI waits 90 days before reconsidering a candidate for the same role.