Lead Machine Learning Engineer - ML Infrastructure
Who we are
About the role
You should apply if
You want to impact the industries that run our world
You are a life-long learner
You believe customers are more than a number
You are a team player
ML Platform & Infrastructure
- Set the technical strategy and own end-to-end delivery of Samsara's ML platform (training, experimentation, batch/online inference, edge) - making architectural decisions and being the accountability point across all platform layers for multiple Safety AI product teams.
Experimentation & Measurement
- Drive the design, launch, and iteration of Safety AI features (CV models, EcoDriving insights, LLM-based reporting) - not just enabling others to ship, but co-owning outcomes including safety metrics, reliability, and cost at production scale.
Inference & Edge Deployment
- Design and operate
scalable online and batch inference systems
(Ray, Spark), including deployment patterns, observability, SLOs, and unified training-to-production workflows.
- Partner with firmware and edge teams to
package, validate, and deploy models to Samsara devices
Reliability, Security & Operations
- Own
reliability, observability, and security
for ML systems across cloud and edge, including on-call practices, incident response, and infrastructure hardening.
- Own or co-own
end-to-end technical delivery
Leadership & Culture
- Be the technical authority for ML infrastructure architecture across Safety AI - setting direction that cross-functional teams (applied ML, firmware, security, data platform) execute against, mentoring senior engineers and applied scientists, and ensuring platform decisions are made at the right level of abstraction with the right trade-offs.
- Drive strong
developer experience
through documentation and best practices, while contributing to and representing Samsara in open source communities (Ray, Spark, RayDP).
- Champion and role model Samsara's cultural principles:
Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team
Minimum requirements for the role
- 10+ years in machine learning engineering, with demonstrated tech lead ownership of at least two major ML platform domains (distributed training, data/research infrastructure, cloud inference, or feature engineering) serving multiple product teams at scale.
- Proven record of shipping ML-powered features end-to-end - from design through production and iteration - with measurable impact on product or business metrics (not just building internal tooling).
- Hands-on Ray and Kubernetes expertise in production environments; Spark experience strongly preferred. Able to be a credible peer to the most senior engineers on the team.
- Deep understanding of ML fundamentals beyond pipelines: evaluation methodology, dataset design, ablation, drift, and the ability to review and redirect modeling approaches - you bridge research and engineering, not just serve them.
- Demonstrated cross-org technical leadership around platform decisions, and influencing roadmap and go/no-go calls based on throughput, latency, and cost trade-offs.
- Experience navigating science-engineering tension - knowing when to hold the platform line and when to adapt for research velocity, and communicating that clearly to both sides.
An ideal candidate also has
- Prior contributions to open source projects (Ray, Spark, RayDP, or Kubernetes).
- Experience with enterprise security/compliance in ML environments.
- Background working with edge/on-device ML and firmware/embedded teams.
The range of annual base salary for full-time employees for this position is below. Please note that base pay offered may vary depending on factors including your city of residence, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This role is also eligible for an initial RSU grant with no vesting cliff, and ongoing refresh opportunities tied to performance, subject to plan terms and conditions. Learn more about our total rewards and benefits below.
Annual Base Salary $200,200 - $357,500 USD
Total Rewards
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