Principal ML Engineer/Applied Scientist @ Grindr

This is a hybrid role based in our Palo Alto or San Francisco offices and will require you to be in office Tuesdays and Thursdays.

What’s so interesting about this role?

At Grindr, our mission is to show a user the right match, in the right place, at the right time. We tailor our dating platform for a diverse and global audience, so customers world-wide with different tastes and backgrounds can find their best match on every visit. We grow our relationships with our users by leveraging our deep understanding of them to provide relevant and timely recommendations. We believe the current customer experience is only scratching the surface of innovative experiences that are made possible as dating continues to shift online, and that science is at the center of delivering a step-function change for our CX.

We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced Machine Learning Engineer to join our team and help us shape the future of machine learning at Grindr. In this role, you will tackle new challenges in machine learning that will have a real impact on the way people discover and interact with the world around them in the LGBT community. You will collaborate with a world-class team of research scientists and engineers to develop new machine learning algorithms, systems, and applications that will bring step-function impact to the business metrics.

What’s the job? As a Principal ML engineer you will have deep subject matter expertise in the area of recommendations science. You will work with multiple teams of engineers and product managers to translate business and functional requirements into concrete deliverables. You will lead ground-breaking efforts in Generative AI to develop new approaches to Personalization, and provide thought leadership to scientists and engineers to invent and implement scalable ML recommendations supporting new Customer Experiences.

Lead cutting-edge algorithm development in machine learning and collaborate with other engineering teams to adopt the innovations into Grindr problems
Collect, analyze, and synthesize findings from data and build intelligent data-driven model
Scope and independently solve moderately complex problems; write clean, efficient, and sustainable code
Be an expert in matching algorithm and recommender systems machine learning models and own the implementation of dating recommendations in Grindr
Use machine learning, natural language processing, and graph analysis to solve modeling and ranking problems across dating, personalization, growth, discovery, ads and search

What we’ll love about you

BS in Computer science/Math or related field.
Mastery of at least one systems languages ( Python, Java, C++) and one DL framework (Pytorch, Tensorflow, Keras) and one data analysis libraries (Pandas, R)
Extensive experience building, deploying and maintaining end-to-end recommendation systems
Experience in building complex, real-time systems involving AI, ML, NLP, Recommender Systems, Ads with successful delivery to customers.
Computer Science fundamentals in data structures, algorithm design and complexity analysis.
5+ years working experience in engineering or R&D teams that build large-scale production-level ML-driven projects. Ability to take a project from requirements gathering and design to actual product launch
Strong track record of working with language modeling technologies. This could include the following: Developing generative and embedding techniques, modern model architectures, fine tuning / pre-training datasets, and evaluation benchmarks.
Strong coding and software engineering skills, and familiarity with software engineering principles around testing, code reviews and deployment and expertise with Git version control.

We’ll really swoon if you have

MS or PHD degree in Computer Science or Machine Learning.
Experience working on recommender systems and matching algorithms in dating industry
Expertise in large language models or demonstrated ability to develop this expertise quickly.
Exposure to architectural patterns of large scale software applications
Experience in shipping products to millions of customers or have started a new line of product
Experience with Hadoop/HBase/Pig or MapReduce/Sawzall/Bigtable/Hive/Spark
Demonstrated track record of peer-reviewed scientific publications that advance state-of-the art for applied science.

What you’ll love about us

Mission and Impact: Grindr is building the global gayborhood in your pocket. Your role will impact the lives of millions of LGBTQ+ people around the world. Through our success, we are making a world where the lives of our community are free, equal, and just.
Family Insurance: Insurance premium coverage for health, dental, and vision for you and partial coverage for your dependents.
Retirement Savings: Generous 401K plan with 6% match and immediate vest in the U.S.
Compensation: Industry-competitive compensation and eligibility for company bonus and equity programs.
Queer-Inclusive Benefits: Industry-leading gender-affirming offerings with up to 90% cost coverage, access to Included Health, monthly stipends for HRT, and more.
Additional Benefits: Flexible vacation policy, monthly stipends for cell phone, internet, wellness, food, and commuting, breakfast/lunch provided onsite, and yearly travel & leisure stipend.

About Grindr

Grindr is building the global gayborhood in your pocket. With more than 13.5 million monthly active users, Grindr has become a fundamental part of the LGBTQ+ community and is charting a path to make the world more free, equal, and just. Since 2015, Grindr for Equality has advanced safety, health, and human rights for millions of Grindr users and the global LGBTQ+ community in partnership with more than 100 community organizations in every region of the world.

Our next evolution is underway as a public company that continues to grow and build meaningful experiences for our users. From social issues to product innovations, we’re setting audacious goals for our community and the business, and leveraging the latest tech stacks and a culture of engineering excellence to make it happen. At the heart of our work in this new chapter is a shared set of operating principles centered around cultivating curiosity, thinking big, setting and expediting our ambitious goals, and growing through iteration; all while keeping our users #1.

Grindr is headquartered in West Hollywood, California, with offices in the Bay Area, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. With a track record of strong financial performance and plans for continued headcount growth, we’re building a team of talented, passionate, and open-minded people who want to disrupt the dating app space, innovate products, and advance LGBTQ+ culture. Come be a part of this exciting journey with us.

Grindr is an equal-opportunity employer

To learn more about how we handle the personal data of applicants, visit our Employee and Candidate Privacy Policy.

#LI-Hybrid

Grindr is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. This base pay range is for the U.S. and is not applicable to locations outside of the U.S. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs, location, and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role will also be eligible for equity, benefits, and a company bonus program.

Bay Area Base Pay Range

$263,450—$309,650 USD