Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Recommendation & AI Platform at NewsBreak

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong data-redactor-tag="strong">About NewsBreak</strong></p> <p>Founded in 2015, NewsBreak is the Content Intelligence platform shaping the future content economy. With over 40 million monthly active users, our flagship platform delivers highly personalized local news and information powered by advanced AI, recommendation systems, and adtech.</p> <p>Recognized by&nbsp;<em data-stringify-type="italic">Fast Company</em> as #32 on the Top Workplaces for Innovators, we're proud to be Great Place to Work® certified and home to a dynamic team of technologists, product innovators, and business leaders who are passionate about solving meaningful challenges at scale.</p> <p>Together, we reached unicorn status in 2021, and we remain committed to continuing this high-growth trajectory with the right team to fulfill our mission: building the infrastructure layer for content intelligence.</p> <p>If you’re inspired to dream big, innovate fast, and make a difference, we’d love to hear from you! For more information, visit&nbsp;<a class="c-link" href="http://www.newsbreak.com/about" target="_blank" data-stringify-link="http://www.newsbreak.com/about" data-sk="tooltip_parent">www.newsbreak.com/about</a></p></div><p><strong>About the Role</strong></p> <p>We are seeking a <strong>Staff Machine Learning Engineer</strong> to provide <strong>technical leadership</strong> for our recommendation systems and AI initiatives.</p> <p>In this role, you will define technical direction for <strong>large-scale personalization systems</strong>, lead complex projects across teams, and drive the adoption of <strong>AI / LLM technologies</strong> in both product capabilities and engineering workflows.</p> <p>This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy <strong>system-level thinking</strong>, mentoring others, and turning ambiguous problems into scalable solutions.</p> <p><strong>What You’ll Work On</strong></p> <p><em>Technical Leadership &amp; Architecture</em></p> <ul> <li>Lead the design of <strong>next-generation recommendation system architectures</strong> at scale.</li> <li>Drive best practices for <strong>model lifecycle management</strong>, experimentation, and system reliability.</li> <li>Partner with product, infra, and data teams to align technical strategy with business goals.</li> </ul> <p><em>Advanced Recommendation &amp; AI Systems</em></p> <ul> <li>Own complex initiatives across <strong>retrieval, ranking, re-ranking, and multi-objective optimization</strong>.</li> <li>Lead the application of <strong>LLMs and foundation models</strong> in recommendation, content intelligence, and user modeling.</li> <li>Evaluate emerging AI technologies and guide their adoption into production systems.</li> </ul> <p><em>AI-Native Engineering</em></p> <ul> <li>Champion <strong>AI-native development practices</strong>, including LLM-assisted coding, experimentation, and analysis.</li> <li>Help establish standards and shared tooling for AI-driven engineering.</li> </ul> <p><em>0 </em>→<em> 1 Innovation &amp; Scaling</em></p> <ul> <li>Lead <strong>0–1 AI initiatives</strong>, from ideation and technical validation to production rollout and scaling.</li> <li>Ensure successful prototypes evolve into maintainable, scalable platforms.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What We’re Looking For</strong></p> <p><strong>Minimum Qualifications</strong> - <strong>8+ years of industry experience</strong> building large-scale ML or recommendation systems. - Deep expertise in <strong>recommendation systems and applied machine learning</strong> in production environments. - Strong system design skills and the ability to influence architecture across teams. - Proven track record of <strong>technical leadership</strong> and cross-team collaboration.</p> <p><strong>Bonus / Plus Qualifications</strong> - Demonstrated success applying <strong>LLMs or foundation models</strong> to recommendation or content systems in production. - Experience leading <strong>0 → 1 AI platform or product initiatives</strong>. - Passion for improving engineering velocity through <strong>AI-assisted development workflows</strong>.</p> <p><strong>Benefits</strong></p> <p>We offer a competitive benefits package:</p> <ul> <li>Health, dental, and vision care for you and your family</li> <li>Top-tier 401(K) plan with company matching</li> <li>Paid time off and paid holidays</li> <li>Paid parental leave</li> <li>FSA and commuter benefits programs</li> <li>Team activity budget</li> </ul><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description">The US base salary range for this full-time position is listed below. Pay may vary based on a number of factors including job-related skills, level, experience, geographic location and relevant education or training. At NewsBreak, we design our overall rewards package to attract top talents. Depending on the position, the role may also be eligible for discretionary bonus and options. Your recruiter can share more details during the hiring process.</div><div class="title">Annual Base Pay Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$230,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$300,000 USD</span></div></div></div><div class="content-conclusion"><p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/15apsJLgHq1p5NJR3fzFmdctKX4QIzzf2/edit?usp=sharing&amp;ouid=110601223912453011659&amp;rtpof=true&amp;sd=true" target="_blank">CPRA Privacy Notice for California Candidates</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p></div>