Senior Software Engineer

Job Title

Senior Software Engineer, 1

People Inc. is looking for a Senior Software Engineer 1 to join our AI/ML Engineering Platform team. As part of the AI/ML Engineering Platform team, you'll be working on widely used components that help users find ways to consume content on our sites. This includes using technologies such as Vertex AI pipeline, KServe, Kafka, Elasticsearch and Vector Database to leverage the power of AI and ML use cases and build capabilities to recommend related articles, and much more!

Hybrid 3x a week

This position is hybrid in-office in NYC, Des Moines, LA, Seattle, or Chicago, with the ability to work remotely for up to 2 days per week.

Accountabilities, Actions & Expected Measurable Results (70%)

You understand how to design and build scalable distributed systems, backend platforms, compatible with AI/ML infrastructure for search, retrieval, ranking, recommendation, and personalization use cases

• Design and build systems, manage scalable ML pipelines using Vertex AI Pipelines for training, evaluation and deployment to support ranking, retrieval, and recommendation personalization use cases
• Develop and maintain data pipelines that support feature generation, model training, and analytics workflows. Own vector generation via Milvus, storage, and retrieval workflows
• Implement model serving solutions using KServe and build APIs using FastAPI for low latency inference
• Build observability and monitoring for models and pipelines. Track performance, drift, failures, and data quality issues
• Collaborate with data scientists, product managers, and platform teams to define and deliver ML driven features
• Investigate production issues across data pipelines, models, and services. Identify bottlenecks and improve reliability and performance
• Create and maintain clear documentation for pipelines, models, APIs, and operational processes
• Develop internal tools and dashboards to provide visibility into data processing and model behavior for stakeholders
• Contribute to engineering standards, code quality, and best practices across Python-based services and ML systems
• Stay current with ML infrastructure, MLOps practices, and relevant tools. Bring in improvements where they add clear value
• Collaborate with product, data science, and frontend teams to deliver high quality search and feed experiences (30%)
• Own production systems. Debug issues across indexing, retrieval, ranking, and serving layers
• Create clear documentation for pipelines, models, APIs, and system design
• Contribute to best practices for Python based ML systems, API design, and scalable infrastructure
• Stay current with advancements in search, ranking, and recommendation systems. Apply them where they make practical impact

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field

You have a strong foundation in modern backend and ML engineering practices and continue to learn and evolve. You bring:

• 6+ years of experience building scalable backend systems and services
• 5+ years of experience developing software using object oriented languages, with strong proficiency in Python, Node.js, and Type Script
• Hands on experience with ES for search, indexing, and relevance tuning
• Experience with event driven systems using Apache Kafka for real time data pipelines and processing
• Strong understanding of version control systems including Git and platforms like Bitbucket
• Experience with observability and monitoring tools such as Grafana, Kibana, and APM
• Familiarity with cloud platforms including AWS and GCP, along with containerization using Docker and orchestration with…