Seeking a Staff ML Engineer to drive the creation of AI-powered learning products at the heart of the platform. The role emphasizes developing agentic AI systems using foundation models to deliver intelligent, adaptive educational experiences. Success is defined by launching consumer-facing AI products that integrate cutting-edge research and technology.
Responsibilities
- Design and implement agentic AI systems that enable multi-step reasoning, tool integration, and orchestration for consumer learning applications.
- Evaluate and integrate foundation models—such as LLMs and multimodal systems—based on trade-offs between performance, latency, cost, and safety requirements.
- Develop evaluation and observability frameworks to maintain AI product quality at scale, incorporating automated testing, human review loops, and live monitoring.
- Build robust, production-ready AI pipelines with components like prompt management, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), caching, and fallback mechanisms.
- Work closely with Product, Design, and Engineering teams to turn ambiguous goals into clear technical strategies and deliver end-to-end features.
- Stay actively engaged with advancements in foundation models, including new architectures, techniques, and agentic frameworks, and apply them to product development.
- Support and grow the AI engineering team by sharing best practices, leading technical design reviews, and creating reusable patterns for agentic systems.
Requirements
- Minimum of 7 years of software engineering experience, including at least 3 years focused on building products using large language models or foundation models.
- Proven experience delivering consumer-facing AI products that incorporate agentic behaviors such as tool use, multi-step reasoning, orchestration, and planning.
- Strong practical knowledge of the foundation model landscape, including providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, as well as prompt engineering, RAG, evaluation tools, and orchestration frameworks.
- Solid foundation in software engineering principles, including system and API design, production observability, and writing clean, maintainable Python code.
- Demonstrated ability to stay current with AI advancements and apply new research, models, or techniques to shipped products.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across Product, Design, and Engineering teams.
Nice to Have
- Experience in fine-tuning or distilling models using methods such as supervised fine-tuning (SFT), direct preference optimization (DPO), or reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF).
- Background in educational technology, consumer media, or content-centric platforms.
- Record of published research or contributions to open-source projects in AI/ML.
- Hands-on experience designing multi-agent systems or working with advanced orchestration frameworks.
Tech Stack
Large Language Models (LLMs), Multimodal models, Foundation models, Prompt engineering, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Orchestration frameworks, Python, Agentic systems, Evaluation frameworks, Observability tools, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google models, Open-source LLMs
Benefits
- Remote-first work environment with collaborative spaces in San Francisco and Kitchener, Ontario
- Employees based in multiple U.S. states
- Culture-driven workplace that values innovation and learning
- Opportunity to develop valuable skills through daily work
- Access to courses taught by world-class instructors and creators
Compensation
Not specified
Work Arrangement
hybrid — San Francisco, Kitchener, Ontario, Several U.S. states — Remote-first with collaborative workspaces available
Team
small AI engineering team working closely with product, design, and engineering leadership
- Learning is central to the work environment
- Diversity of thought is valued
- Equal opportunity workplace
- Inclusive culture committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of personal characteristics
- Committed to reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities
Additional Information
- The company operates as a streaming platform featuring classes taught by globally recognized experts in fields such as Arts & Entertainment, Business, Design & Style, Sports & Gaming, and Writing.
- It is developing next-generation learning products with AI as a core component, focusing on intelligent and adaptive user experiences.
- This role is central to the company's strategic direction, not a peripheral initiative.
- The AI engineering team is small and composed of highly skilled individuals.
- The position demands strong engagement with the latest AI research and models, but ultimate success is measured by shipping functional products.
- Equal employment opportunity is provided regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.
- Reasonable accommodations are available for qualified individuals with disabilities.
