Principal ML Engineer

Typeface
Palo Alto, US
On-site

Who this role is best for

Aimed at senior ML engineers with 15+ years of experience and deep expertise in generative AI systems, comfortable with hybrid work in Palo Alto.

Best fit for

  • Experts in multimodal generative AI systems with a history of scaling ML platforms.
    — “Deep expertise in ML systems and infrastructure, including training, evaluation, and inference at scale
  • Leaders who mentor senior engineers and elevate technical standards across organizations.
    — “Track record of mentoring senior engineers and elevating engineering excellence

Things to consider

  • Requires 3 days per week in-office at Palo Alto HQ.
    — “We collaborate in-office 3 days a week
  • Must demonstrate influence over executive leadership and cross-functional teams.
    — “Demonstrated ability to influence senior leadership and align cross-functional stakeholders

How to stand out

  • Showcase your contributions to widely adopted ML platforms or open-source projects.
    — “Bonus: Contributions to the field (publications, patents, open-source, or widely adopted systems)
  • Emphasize experience aligning ML investments with business priorities.
    — “Drive company-level ML strategy, aligning technical investments with product and business priorities
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · CompanyLevel · Principal

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • technical vision for generative AI
  • scalable ML platforms
  • company-level ML strategy
  • high-impact initiatives
  • mentor senior engineers
Typical background
15+ years of experience in ML systemsMaster’s or PhD in Computer Science

Skills & requirements

Required

Machine LearningLarge-scale ML SystemsGenerative AIML InfrastructurePythonSystems-level Programming

Preferred

LlmsMultimodal SystemsInfluence Senior Leadership

Stack & domain

PythonCC++Ml SystemsGenerative AiLlmsMultimodal SystemsInfluenceMentorshipAIMachine Learning

About the role

Original posting from Typeface via Greenhouse

About Typeface

We help the world’s biggest brands move from brief to fully personalized campaigns — in days, not months. 

Founded by Abhay Parasnis and backed by Microsoft, GV, Salesforce, Lightspeed, Madrona and Menlo, we’re building category-defining technology at the intersection of creativity and AI with real impact. Join us to help shape the future of enterprise marketing. 

What You’ll Do

As a Principal Machine Learning Engineer, you will operate at the company level—defining technical strategy, driving architectural decisions, and shaping the future of generative AI at Typeface. 

You will lead the design of large-scale ML systems and shared platforms that power all generative capabilities across agents, text, image, audio, and video. This role requires a strong combination of deep technical expertise, product intuition, and the ability to influence teams and leadership. 

How You'll Make an Impact

Define and drive the long-term technical vision for generative AI across Typeface’s product ecosystem 

Lead architecture and design of scalable ML platforms (training, evaluation, inference, safety) used across multiple teams 

Drive company-level ML strategy, aligning technical investments with product and business priorities 

Influence and partner with executive leadership, product, and design to shape high-impact initiatives 

Mentor senior engineers and raise the technical bar across the ML organization 

Architect and lead development of large-scale generative AI systems powering agentic orchestration and multimodal content generation 

Define and evolve shared ML infrastructure and platforms for training, fine-tuning, evaluation, and serving 

Drive cross-team initiatives spanning multiple ML systems and product areas 

Establish best practices for ML system evaluation, safety, reliability, and performance at scale 

Identify and incubate 0→1 opportunities in generative AI with high business impact 

Make high-leverage technical decisions that unlock velocity across teams 

Mentor and guide engineers across levels, influencing design and execution beyond your immediate team 

What You Bring

15+ years of experience building and scaling machine learning systems, with demonstrated impact at the Principal level 

Master’s or PhD degree in Computer Science or a related field

Proven track record of driving multi-team or company-level technical strategy 

Experience leading large, ambiguous, high-impact initiatives (platforms and/or 0→1 systems) 

Deep expertise in ML systems and infrastructure, including training, evaluation, and inference at scale 

Strong background in Generative AI / LLMs / multimodal systems 

Demonstrated ability to influence senior leadership and align cross-functional stakeholders 

Track record of mentoring senior engineers and elevating engineering excellence 

Proficiency in Python and systems-level programming (C/C++ or equivalent) 

Bonus: Experience building ML platforms used across multiple products or teams 

Bonus: Prior role as a Staff+ / Principal / Senior Staff engineer at a leading AI or technology company 

Bonus: Contributions to the field (publications, patents, open-source, or widely adopted systems) 

Bonus: Experience in enterprise SaaS or high-growth startup environments 

Location

This is a hybrid role based in our Palo Alto HQ. We collaborate in-office 3 days a week. 

Base Salary

The base salary range for this role is $230,000-$260,000. Actual compensation may vary based on level, experience, and skillset as assessed in the interview process. 

Benefits

Competitive compensation — including salary, equity, and 401(k)

Full medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family

HSA and FSA options to support your financial wellness

Flexible time off — including parental leave

Well-being programs — resources to support your mental and physical health

Daily lunch & snacks

Mentorship & impact — work closely with top AI leaders on products that ship 

Equality Opportunity Statement

We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, medical condition, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We comply with applicable laws in every jurisdiction where we operate.

Why You’ll Love Working Here 

Build something big — Be part of a fast-growing startup defining a new category: marketing orchestration powered by Agentic AI.

Your work will matter — Trusted by Fortune 100 companies, our platform delivers 10x content velocity and 90% faster campaigns.

A+ team — Collaborate with veterans from Adobe, Microsoft, Google, and top AI companies.

Backed by the best — GV, Salesforce Ventures, Microsoft, Lightspeed, Madrona and Menlo ($165M raised).

Recognized for innovation — TIME Best Inventions, Fast Company Next Big Thing in Tech, Gartner Cool Vendor, Adweek AI Company of the Year, LinkedIn Top Startup, Webby Award (AI Work & Productivity). 

 

Source: Typeface careers (Greenhouse)

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