ServiceNow

Principal Machine Learning Engineer

ServiceNow$240K — $420K *
Enterprise Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 9+ years in software engineering with strong knowledge in data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
  • Hands-on experience designing and operating production-grade agentic systems.
  • Proficient in Python; familiarity with Go, Java, or C++ is a bonus.
  • Experience with frontier AI SDKs such as Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI.
  • Knowledge of RAG and retrieval patterns in production environments.
  • Proven track record in technical leadership, emphasizing architecture and code quality.
  • Preferred experience in large-scale search, retrievability, and MLOps.

Responsibilities

  • Design and deploy multi-agent systems for reliable production use.
  • Develop agents that utilize ServiceNow's robust data layers for informed decision-making.
  • Ensure safety and governance in autonomous systems through compliance measures.
  • Collaborate with search teams to optimize agent data retrieval processes.
  • Integrate and evaluate frontier models for multiple production use cases.
  • Provide technical leadership and raise standards in agentic design across teams.
  • Create scalable and robust architectures for deployment on various infrastructures.

Benefits

  • Health plans including flexible spending accounts.
  • 401(k) Plan with company match.
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
  • Flexible time away plan.
  • Family leave programs.
Full Job Description
Job Description

AI Engineering and Delivery is the customer-obsessed engineering group building the agentic AI and enterprise-scale search systems that power Now Assist, AI Agents, and the AI-driven experiences our customers rely on every day. We build AI as foundational platform infrastructure - prioritizing robustness, performance, safety, and real-world customer impact at scale.

About the Team

Emerging tech is a small senior group inside AI Engineering and Delivery. We turn early bets on AI and emerging tech into strategic capability for our customers, our people, and ServiceNow. We are working to unlock features that will be helping our platform and products evolve in line with the Fast paced world of Agentic AI - prioritizing robustness, performance, safety, and real-world customer impact at scale. You will design, build, and help build out production-grade agentic AI systems embedded across ServiceNow's platform - autonomous agents that reason over real enterprise data, take action across workflows, and stay safe at Fortune 500 scale.

Your core focus areas:
  • Agentic architecture. Design and ship multi-agent systems - orchestration, tool use, planning loops, memory, and failure recovery - that operate reliably in production, not in notebooks.
  • Enterprise-grounded reasoning. Build agents that leverage ServiceNow's data layer - CMDB, Workflow Data Fabric, and Knowledge Graph - to make decisions with context no frontier model has on its own.
  • Trust, safety, and governance. Own the guardrails: observability, human-in-the-loop controls, and compliance infrastructure that make autonomous systems safe to deploy at scale.
  • Retrieval and grounding. Work closely with our search team to ensure agents are grounded in accurate, low-latency retrieval - RAG pipelines, hybrid search, re-ranking, and evaluation - as a critical dependency of agentic quality.
  • Model integration and evaluation. Integrate frontier models (Anthropic, Google, OpenAI) into the Sense 12 Decide 12 Act 12 Govern architecture; evaluate trade-offs across cost, latency, and capability for production use cases.
  • Technical leadership and strong bias for action. Set the architectural patterns the group works from. Own the hard design calls, run the design reviews, and raise the bar on agentic design and production AI discipline across engineers and principals.
  • Designing scalable and robust architectures that will support at scale deployment across hyperscalers and our own infrastructure.
  • Work on emerging model capabilities and applying them to real world customer problems on a short timeline


Qualifications

To be successful in this role you have:
  • 9+ years of software engineering with strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
  • Hands-on depth designing, shipping, and operating agentic systems in production - multi-agent orchestration, tool calling, planning loops, memory, and failure recovery. Not prototypes.
  • Production-grade Python. Systems language (Go, Java, or C++) is a plus.
  • Working experience with frontier AI SDKs (Anthropic, Google, or OpenAI) - prompt engineering, structured outputs, and model evaluation in production settings.
  • Familiarity with RAG and retrieval patterns in production - vector stores, hybrid search, and retrieval evaluation metrics.
  • Track record of technical leadership: architecture ownership, code quality bar-raising, and mentoring engineers on production AI practices.
  • Nice to Have
  • Deeper specialization in search and retrieval at scale or MLOps/model observability.
  • Published work or open-source contributions in agentic systems or retrieval.
  • Exposure to LLM fine-tuning or inference optimization in production

Why join us

Intelligence is commoditizing. Context and execution are not. With 100B+ workflows, 6.5T transactions a year, and 85% of the Fortune 500 on our platform, we are building the system that makes AI actually work inside the enterprise - Sense, Decide, Act, Govern.

What19s shipping as we speak: AI Specialists autonomously resolving cases across IT, CRM, HR, and Security. Action Fabric opening our full system of action to any external agent via MCP - Anthropic19s Claude Cowork is the first design partner. Project Arc with NVIDIA bringing governed autonomous desktop agents into production. Build Agent live inside Cursor, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot. AI Control Tower with kill-switch capabilities and cross-vendor agent governance. These are production systems at Fortune 500 scale, not roadmap slides.

You19d work across multiple problem spaces at the frontier of what we do.

You will build the substrate that connects all four: SENSE (any data) 12 DECIDE (any AI model) 12 ACT (any workflow) 12 GOVERN (identity + governance). The architectural inflection point is now.

For positions in this location, we offer a base pay of $240,100 - $420,200, plus equity (when applicable), variable/incentive compensation and benefits. Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure. Please note that the base pay shown is a guideline, and individual total compensation will vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies, and work location. We also offer health plans, including flexible spending accounts, a 401(k) Plan with company match, ESPP, matching donations, a flexible time away plan and family leave programs. Compensation is based on the geographic location in which the role is located and is subject to change based on work location.

Additional Information

Work Personas

We approach our distributed world of work with flexibility and trust. Work personas (flexible, remote, or required in office) are categories that are assigned to ServiceNow employees depending on the nature of their work and their assigned work location. Learn more here. To determine eligibility for a work persona, ServiceNow may confirm the distance between your primary residence and the closest ServiceNow office using a third-party service.

About ServiceNow

ServiceNow provides cloud-based solutions that define, structure, manage, and automate services for enterprise operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and other countries. The company offers service management solutions, including incident, problem, change, request, and cost management as well as service catalogs; and IT, HR, facilities, and field service management solutions. It also provides IT operations management solutions covering service mapping, delivery, and assurance solutions; business management solutions such as financial management, project portfolio suite, vendor performance management, and performance analytics as well as governance, risk, and compliance; and application development services.

ServiceNow Careers

Join the dynamic team at ServiceNow, a global leader in digital workflow solutions, where innovation and leadership converge to shape the future of work. At ServiceNow, we offer more than just job opportunities; we provide a platform for professional growth and a chance to be part of a culture that values diversity, creativity, and continuous learning.

Work You’ll Do

Embark on a career journey with ServiceNow and contribute to the world’s leading enterprises' digital transformation. Our team is at the forefront of developing cutting-edge technologies that improve how people work. With ServiceNow, you will use your skills to impact businesses and industries profoundly, driving efficiency and innovation.

Join Our Market-Leading Team

ServiceNow is not just another technology company. We are a team that thrives on diversity and leadership, fostering an inclusive environment that promotes growth and development. Our commitment to diversity training ensures that every team member can achieve their potential.

Innovative Work

ServiceNow is home to more than 10,000 dedicated professionals who lead the charge in digital workflows and enterprise solutions. As part of our team, you will engage in projects that merge technology with practical applications, creating revolutionary products that advance how services are delivered and managed.

Career Development

At ServiceNow, your career trajectory is filled with boundless opportunities. We support your growth with robust training programs, leadership development courses, and access to global challenges. Whether you are looking for an internship, full-time position, or leadership role, ServiceNow equips you with the tools to excel.

Be Part of a Great Team

Working at ServiceNow means being part of a community that values teamwork and innovation. Our collaborative environment encourages networking and sharing ideas, making our workplace vibrant and dynamic. The benefits of joining ServiceNow extend beyond comprehensive health and wellness; they include fostering professional connections and friendships that last a lifetime.

Explore Job Opportunities and Internships

Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a recent graduate, ServiceNow offers a range of employment options to suit your career goals. From internships that provide real-world experience to full-time positions that challenge you to leverage your expertise, we are committed to hiring the best talent.

Stay Connected

Join Our Team Search open positions that match your skills and interests. At ServiceNow, we look for passionate, curious, and solution-driven team players. Explore the possibilities that await you at a company that is committed to your professional success.

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ServiceNow Careers

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Learn more about ServiceNow
Size
16,881 employees
Market Cap
$76.5 billion
Industry
Net Income
$118.5 million
Founded
2004
5 Year Trend
+33.5%
Revenue
$4.5 billion
NASDAQ

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