Principal Machine Learning Engineer

Delan Associates, Inc

$120K — $160K *
Information Technology
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Professional experience in machine learning, data science, software engineering, analytics engineering, or applied AI.
  • 5+ years of hands-on experience with machine learning model development.
  • 3+ years of experience in deploying or operationalizing models in production environments.
  • Proficient in Python and SQL for model development and data manipulation.
  • Familiarity with ML and data platforms like Databricks, Spark, Azure, AWS, and Snowflake.
  • Strong understanding of ML lifecycle management including model evaluation and retraining.
  • Experience in translating business challenges into ML designs and requirements.

Responsibilities

  • Build, test, validate, and enhance machine learning models for decision support and risk detection.
  • Conduct exploratory data analysis and assess data quality for model readiness.
  • Develop ML models that ensure a balance between performance and business needs.
  • Create model-ready datasets from structured and semi-structured data sources.
  • Utilize tools like Python, SQL, and Databricks throughout the model lifecycle.
  • Transition models from prototype to production quickly and efficiently.
  • Communicate model insights and performance effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Benefits

  • Hands-on work with cutting-edge machine learning technologies and frameworks.
  • Opportunity for significant technical leadership within the organization.
  • Engagement in diverse projects, including generative AI initiatives.
  • Exposure to both operational deployment and rapid prototype development.
  • Collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders for impactful decision-making.
Full Job Description
Principal Machine Learning Engineer to serve as a hands-on technical leader for machine learning, predictive modeling, scoring, decisioning, and applied AI initiatives. This role will primarily focus on building, validating, deploying, and improving machine learning models, while also bringing principal-level judgment to problem definition, model design, stakeholder engagement, and production readiness.

Hands-On Model Development

Build, test, validate, and improve machine learning models for scoring, prediction, prioritization, risk detection, engagement, intervention targeting, and decision support.

Perform exploratory data analysis, data quality assessment, feature engineering, model training, model selection, and performance evaluation.

Develop practical ML models that balance predictive performance, explainability, stability, maintainability, and business usefulness.

Work with structured, semi-structured, and operational data to create model-ready datasets and reusable features.

Use tools such as Python, SQL, Spark, Databricks, MLflow, scikit-learn, XGBoost, or similar platforms and libraries.

Move quickly from data exploration to prototype to validated model to production-ready capability.

Required Qualifications

Professional experience in machine learning, data science, software engineering, analytics engineering, applied AI, or related technical fields.

5+ years of hands-on machine learning model development experience, including feature engineering, model training, validation, evaluation, and iteration.

3+ years of experience deploying, operationalizing, or supporting models in production or business-critical environments.

Strong hands-on experience with Python and SQL.

Experience with modern ML and data platforms such as Databricks, Spark, MLflow, Snowflake, Azure, AWS, or similar technologies.

Strong understanding of model evaluation, calibration, thresholding, score interpretation, monitoring, drift, retraining, and production ML lifecycle management.

Experience translating ambiguous business problems into concrete ML designs, model requirements, validation plans, and measurable outcomes.

Ability to explain model behavior, model performance, assumptions, limitations, and tradeoffs to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Strong engineering discipline, including clean code, reproducibility, versioning, testing, documentation, and maintainability.

Ability to work independently as a senior hands-on contributor while also providing technical leadership and modeling judgment.

Scoring, Scorecards, and Transparent Models

Production ML and MLOps

Product and Rapid-Build Execution

Generative AI and AI Automation

Requirement Shaping and Stakeholder Partnership

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