Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Zendesk's people have one goal in mind: to make Customer Experience better.

The Enterprise Machine Learning team drives organizational value through scalable ML solutions and data-driven insights, fundamentally changing how business decisions are made. We collaborate closely with stakeholders, applying the latest advances in machine learning, deep learning, and large language models (LLMs) to create highly impactful outcomes. Our commitment is to advance the state of AI, statistical modeling, and robust system design to enhance and expand our core business capabilities.

As an ML Engineer, you will build and ship LLM-powered applications on solid data foundations - from agent architectures and evaluation frameworks to production ML systems that drive measurable business outcomes. You will own problems end-to-end: identifying what to build, designing intelligent systems, measuring whether they work, and iterating based on what you learn. Your business acumen allows you to translate complex analytical approaches into actionable insights and stakeholder-friendly narratives, strengthening partnership and adoption across the enterprise.

• Own business metrics (e.g. churn reduction, AI attach rate, seller productivity) and form an opinionated point of view on what we should build next to move them

• Deeply understand our users - how they work, where they struggle, what they need - and advocate for building the right things, not just building things right

• Define success criteria for the intelligent systems you ship, measure whether they're working for users, and iterate until they are

• Design, build, and evaluate LLM-powered applications - agents, RAG systems, text-to-SQL, recommendation engines - owning the full lifecycle from prototype to production

• Establish feedback loops for intelligent systems: instrument, measure outcomes, learn what's working, and continuously improve

• Develop Python backend services and APIs that connect AI capabilities with modern web applications

• Build and maintain the data infrastructure (Snowflake, dbt, Airflow) that powers our AI products

• Effectively articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical partners, bridging gaps between technical teams and business operations

• Leverage AI-assisted development workflows (Claude Code, Cursor, or similar) to accelerate delivery and code quality

• Stay abreast of the latest advancements in LLMs, agent architectures, evaluation frameworks, and AI-assisted development

• 3+ years' experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field

• BA/BS in Computer Science, Data Science, or related discipline (advanced degree is highly preferred)

• Experience owning business outcomes through intelligent systems - you've shipped an ML model, recommendation engine, or AI feature, established feedback loops, learned what's working, and continuously improved it based on user impact

• Opinionated about what to build next - you form a point of view grounded in user understanding and data, not just execute on a backlog

• User-focused: you talk to users, understand their workflows, and let that understanding drive your technical decisions

• Deep understanding of the "data → insights → action" workflow and how to measure whether your systems are driving outcomes

• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with a track record of building trusted business partnerships

• Hands-on experience building and evaluating LLM-powered applications (agents, ML models, or similar)

• Understanding of agent architectures, prompt engineering, and evaluation frameworks 

• Strong Python programming skills for both AI application development and backend services/APIs

• Strong SQL skills and experience with cloud data warehouses

• Familiarity with web development concepts and backend API design

• Nice-to-have: Experience with Snowflake, dbt, Airflow, or similar data infrastructure tools

• Nice-to-have: Experience with AI-assisted development workflows (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar)

• Nice-to-have: Experience with frontend technologies and UX design, particularly React

• Exceptional ability to simplify and communicate complex data science concepts to technical and non-technical audiences alike

• Experience working cross-functionally with engineers, analysts, and product leaders

• Steadfast commitment to continuous learning, collaboration, and fostering an inclusive, innovative team environment

• Opportunity to work at the intersection of analytics, AI, and software engineering

• A chance to evolve from traditional data science to building intelligent, LLM-powered applications

• An environment that values innovation, ownership, and professional growth

• The chance to work on high-visibility, high-impact projects alongside a passionate team

Zendesk builds software for better customer relationships. It empowers organizations to improve customer engagement and better understand their customers. Zendesk products are easy to use and implement. They give organizations the flexibility to move quickly, focus on innovation, and scale with their growth. 

More than 100,000 paid customer accounts in over 150 countries and territories use Zendesk products.  Based  in  San  Francisco,  Zendesk  has operations  in  the  United  States,  Europe,  Asia,  Australia,  and  South  America.

Interested in knowing what we do in the community? Check out the Zendesk Neighbor Foundation to learn more about how we engage with, and provide support to, our local communities.  

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

By submitting your application, you agree that Zendesk may collect your personal data for recruiting, global organization planning, and related purposes.  Zendesk's Candidate Privacy Notice explains what personal information Zendesk may process, where Zendesk may process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over Zendesk’s use of your personal information.  

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The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your specific accommodation request.