SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Salary: CAD 185,000 - 225,000 / annual
Join Xero's AI Products group as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to lead the design and implementation of large-scale, production-grade distributed systems powering AI features for millions of daily users. You will own critical architecture decisions ensuring systems remain flexible, cost-effective, and robust while managing technical debt across the AI Products estate.
Your primary focus is building production infrastructure that safely transitions machine learning models from research into reliable, scalable systems. You'll work closely with Applied Scientists, product managers, and analysts to integrate modern AI technologies—including Large Language Models—into product features. The role emphasizes software engineering excellence: designing and operating highly scalable distributed systems using Python, SQL, Spark, Dask, and AWS/Kubernetes environments.
Key responsibilities include:
- Architecting and operating production Python services at scale with full operational ownership (on-call, incident response, technical debt management)
- Building distributed processing pipelines using Spark, Dask, or similar technologies
- Integrating ML models and LLM-based features into production systems
- Mentoring junior engineers and championing engineering excellence across the AI Products team
- Collaborating across Xero to enhance data usability and apply modern AI research responsibly
Required experience: 5+ years building and operating production services at scale; deep understanding of distributed processing principles and SQL; demonstrated track record owning services/pipelines in production with operational responsibility; comfort working alongside researchers to productionize ML work. Familiarity with MLFlow, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Airflow, or Prefect is valued but production engineering depth is prioritized over research exposure.
Xero offers a flexible hybrid model in Toronto with modern office spaces, collaborative boost days, and world-class benefits including health, wellness, retirement programs, generous leave, and professional development budgets.
