Senior ML Engineer

About SmartAsset:

SmartAsset is an online destination for consumer-focused financial information and advice, whose mission is helping people make smart financial decisions, reaching over an estimated 59 million people each month (as of January 2025) through our educational content and personalized calculators and tools. To extend our mission, we also operate SmartAsset Advisor Marketing Platform (AMP), which helps connect consumers with fiduciary financial advisors.SmartAsset has earned recognition on the Inc. 5000 (#2574 in 2023) and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ (#250 in 2022) lists. Currently, SmartAsset ranks on Y Combinator’s list of Top 100 Companies. A successful $110 million Series D funding round in 2021 valued the company at over $1 billion.

*Other than application and licensing fees, SmartAsset did not provide compensation for the aforementioned awards.

About the team: 

The Machine Learning Engineering team designs, builds, and integrates the core platform that unlocks cutting-edge capabilities for financial advisors, including features driven by generative AI. Our engineers are relentlessly evolving this platform, empowering groundbreaking applications and features that truly help financial professionals better connect with their clients and grow their businesses.

About the Job:

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Machine Learning Engineer to join our growing team. In this role, you will be instrumental in crafting and scaling foundational backend systems across predictive systems and generative AI. You will work across the entire software development lifecycle, from architectural design to deployment and ongoing operations, contributing significantly to our core infrastructure and data strategies, and working hand-in-hand with cross-functional partners like LLM Engineers, Product Owners, and Data Scientists to bring our vision to life.

Responsibilities: 

• Design, develop, and maintain high-performance, scalable, and secure backend services, primarily using Python and frameworks like FastAPI
• Translate ambiguous business and technical requirements into concrete software designs and actionable tasks for cross-functional teams
• Work with OLTP databases, including schema design, migration strategies, and performance optimization
• Integrate SmartAsset services with internal and external APIs, including third-party platforms and existing AWS infrastructure
• Ensure secure ingress and egress of data within our private network environments
• Contribute to the design and implementation of our CI/CD pipelines to ensure continual improvements to our cycle time 
• Manage and optimize AWS services, including IAM roles and policies
• Gain a deep understanding of how our Python applications integrate with our Kubernetes (EKS) and future ECS-based infrastructure
• Operate and maintain production applications at scale, ensuring high availability, performance, and reliability
• Design and implement data collection pipelines specifically for Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Contributed to shared data architecture and data governance practices to ensure the persistence of structured data suitable for analytics and model training
• Explore, integrate, and tune various LLM-related technologies, such as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, and addressing potential scaling challenges
• Investigate and implement agentic technologies, such as tool calling frameworks (e.g., AutoGen), to enhance LLM capabilities
• Rapidly prototype user interfaces for internal tools and data exploration, leveraging frameworks like Streamlit, Gradio, or other similar tools that facilitate quick iteration and integration without persistent websockets

Skills/Experience you have: 

• Proven experience as a ML Engineer with a strong focus on Python development
• Experience with cloud platforms, specifically AWS, including IAM, EKS/ECS, and other core services
• Strong expertise with OLTP/relational databases such as Aurora, Postgres, MySQL etc
• Experience with DevOps toolsets such as Terraform, Open-Telemetry, etc. will be a big plus
• Strong experience in developing and maintaining large-scale, production-grade applications
• Experience in writing clean, maintainable, and testable code following best practices and industry standards
• Experience building integrations with internal and external service providers
• At least 5 years of relevant working experience.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field

Skills/Experience preferred: 

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Experience with machine learning and deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.
• Experience with LLMs, RAG, embedding vector databases, or agentic technologies.
• Familiarity with productionizing apps built with prototyping frameworks such as Streamlit or Gradio
• Knowledge of data governance and structured data principles
• Experience with Feature Stores or ELT processes

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer 
• Must be able to communicate via phone calls and/or video conferences (mainly for concierge and sales roles) 

Available Benefits and Perks: 

• All roles at SmartAsset are currently and will remain remote - flexibility to work from anywhere in the Contiguous US.
• Medical, Dental, Vision - multiple packages available based on your individualized needs
• Life/AD&D Insurance - basic coverage at 100% company paid, additional supplemental available 
• Supplemental Short-term and Long-term Disability
• FSA: Medical and Dependant Care 
• 401K
• Equity packages for each role
• Time Off: Vacation, Sick and Parental Leave
• EAP (Employee Assistance Program)
• Financial Literacy Mentoring Program
• Pet Insurance
• Home Office Stipend

SmartAsset is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact us at Recruiting@smartasset.com.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington, and New York City residents $137,000 - $180,000 + RSUs + benefits.

Salary at SmartAsset is determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location within the contiguous United States.