Join Pinterest as a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to drive AI/ML research and solutions for content discovery.
Posted by employer 15 hours ago
First seen on Joblaze 5 hours ago
Last verified on the company career page 5 hours ago
Skills & Technologies
What you'll build
- Contribute to AI/ML research
- Identify and deliver ML solutions
- Engage in external collaborations
- Act as a technical leader
- Own long-term research strategy
Must have
- MS/PhD in Computer Science or equivalent
- Minimum 6 years of relevant industry experience
- Hands-on experience with large-scale recommendation systems
- Technical leadership experience
- Publications at top ML conferences
Nice to have
- Experience with LLM/VLM post-training
Practical constraints
- In-office collaboration 1-2 times/quarter
- Not eligible for relocation assistance
AI in the day-to-day
AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact.
Requirements
- Experience
- 6+ years
- Education
- PhD
- Visa
- No sponsorship (stated in posting)
Benefits
Joblaze summary
In the role of Staff Machine Learning Engineer at Pinterest, the individual will focus on developing and deploying innovative machine learning solutions, particularly in generative recommendation systems and reinforcement learning. Key skills include expertise in large-scale recommendation systems, technical leadership, and the ability to translate complex problems into practical applications. This position is suited for experienced professionals with a strong background in AI research and a track record of publications in top conferences. The role involves collaboration with cross-functional teams to enhance Pinterest's content discovery capabilities.
Joblaze insights
- Listed today — first seen on Joblaze October 15, 2026. Last confirmed on Pinterest's careers page October 15, 2026.
- Salary band is above the typical range for AI/ML roles (median ~$190,000).
- Starts above 47% of 58 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States that list AI/ML we track (median $232,500 across 25 companies). See AI/ML salary trends
- AI/ML appears in 33.6% of 274 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States; reinforcement learning appears in 2.6% of 274 comparable staff ai/ml roles in United States.
Quick facts
- Is the Staff Machine Learning Engineer role remote?
- It's hybrid — Pinterest expects some on-site time in San Francisco, CA, United States.
- What's the salary range?
- Pinterest lists $227,871–$469,147 for this role.
- How much experience is required?
- At least 6 years of relevant experience for this Staff Machine Learning Engineer role.
- Where is the role based?
- Pinterest is hiring for this position in San Francisco, CA, United States.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AI/ML, Generative Recommendation System, LLM, VLM, reinforcement learning.
- What seniority level is this role?
- Pinterest targets staff-level candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Staff Machine Learning Engineer role at Pinterest.
From the original posting
About Pinterest:
About Pinterest
Millions of people across the world come to Pinterest to find new ideas every day. It’s where they get inspiration, dream about new possibilities and plan for what matters most. Our mission is to help those people find their inspiration and create a life they love. As a Pinterest employee, you’ll be challenged to take on work that upholds this mission and pushes Pinterest forward. You’ll grow as a person and leader in your field, all the while helping users make their lives better in the positive corner of the internet.
Our new progressive work model is called PinFlex, a term that’s uniquely Pinterest to describe our flexible approach to living and working. Visit our PinFlex landing page to learn more.
Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Applied Science
As part of Pinterest Labs, you'll work on tackling new challenges in machine learning and artificial intelligence along with a world-class team of research scientists and machine learning engineers. In this role, you will play a central part in transforming how content is discovered on Pinterest by driving the research, architecture, scale and production deployment of Generative Recommendation System (GenRec) and Reinforcement Learning solutions. You will conduct research that directly applies across Pinterest engineering teams, engage in external collaborations and mentoring, and perform research in the intersection of recommendation systems, LLMs, VLMs, and reinforcement learning.
What you’ll do:
- Contribute to cutting-edge AI/ML research that can be applied to Pinterest challenges across Ads, Discovery, Growth, and Search.
- Identify, scope, architect, build, and deliver full, novel ML solutions from 0 to 1 at scale. Identify timelines and obtain resources needed.
- Identify new and upcoming research opportunities by interacting with external and internal collaborators. Own long-term research strategy and plans to expand the impact of Applied Science.
- Act as a technical leader in the applied AI space. partner with Product, Engineering, and Data Science to translate complex engineering solutions into product impact.
What we’re looking for:
- MS/PhD in Computer Science, or equivalent industry experience
- Minimum 6 years of relevant industry experience
- Hands-on experience with large-scale recommendation system and reinforcement learning applications; experience with LLM/VLM post-training is a plus
- Technical leadership and experience in driving ambiguous research problems into production deliverables
- Publications at top ML conferences (e.g. KDD, NeurIPS, RecSys, etc.)
- Cross-functional collaborator and strong communicator
In-Office Requirement Statement:
- We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
- This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times/quarter and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.
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At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.
Our Commitment to Inclusion:
Standard company text repeated across Pinterest's postings is omitted here.