Staff Machine Learning Engineer

About the role

The Machine Learning Staff Engineer will take technical ownership of the core ranking system at Taskrabbit. This system is crucial for routing every job request on the platform.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture, model design, experiment strategy, and production reliability of the core ranking system end-to-end.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for Product, Data Science, Risk, and Commerce on matching and ranking questions.
• Build automated retraining pipelines, rollback capability, and skew detection to ensure safe experimentation and prevent silent model drift.
• Address position bias and other systemic biases in the ranking pipeline to produce cleaner training data and unlock downstream experimentation.
• Leverage filter-based signals from high-booking user cohorts to drive direct conversion lift from untapped behavioral data.
• Surface return-client signals, prior Tasker preferences, and preference modeling to improve IAR for the highest-value booking segment.
• Identify where ML can add value beyond the ranking system and scope those opportunities for the broader team.
• Motivate and elevate the people around you, giving kind, direct feedback and helping others grow without creating dependency.

Requirements

• BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Operations Research, or a related quantitative field.
• 8+ years of industry experience building and deploying production-grade ML systems, with a track record of owning a system end-to-end.
• Deep expertise in ranking, recommender systems, or two-sided marketplace ML.
• Experience with debiasing, A/B experimentation at scale, and the subtleties of feedback loops in production systems.
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL.
• Hands-on experience with ML libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, LightGBM/XGBoost) and modern data infrastructure (Kafka, Airflow, Snowflake/BigQuery, Docker/Kubernetes).
• Familiarity with dbt is a plus.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proficiency in using AI coding tools (e.g., Claude Code, Augment, or similar) across the full software development lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Experience with large language models and modern deep ranking architectures.
• Ability to motivate and elevate the team, giving kind, direct feedback and helping others grow without creating dependency.

Skills

• Technical leadership and architectural skills.
• Experience with debiasing and A/B experimentation at scale.
• Strong proficiency in Python and SQL.
• Hands-on experience with ML libraries and data infrastructure.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD pipelines.
• Proficiency in AI coding tools.

Benefits

At Taskrabbit, our approach to compensation is designed to be competitive, transparent, and equitable. Total compensation consists of base pay + bonus + benefits + perks. The base pay range for this position is $170,000 - $225,000. This range is representative of base pay only, and does not include any other total cash compensation amounts, such as company bonus or benefits. Final offer amounts may vary from the amounts listed above and will be determined by factors including, but not limited to, relevant experience, qualifications, geography, and level.

You’ll love working here because:

• Taskrabbit is a Hybrid Company. We value flexibility and choice but also stay committed to regular in-person connection.
• The People. You will be surrounded by some of the most talented, supportive, smart, and kind leaders and teams -- people you can be proud to work with!
• The Diverse Culture. We believe that we make better decisions when our workforce reflects the diversity of the communities in which we operate. Women make up half of our leadership team and our diversity representation is above that of the tech industry average.
• The Perks. Taskrabbit offers our employees with employer-paid health insurance and a 401k match with immediate vesting for our US based employees. We offer all of our global employees generous and flexible time off with 2 company-wide closure weeks, Taskrabbit product stipends, wellness + productivity + education stipends, IKEA discounts, reproductive health support, and more. Benefits vary by country of employment.
• Taskrabbit’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: An Active Commitment to Equity within our Company and Platform. We are an inclusive community where all who share our mission and values belong. Our diverse team represents the communities we serve, breaking down systemic barriers, and transforming lives- one action at a time.