Machine Learning Engineering Manager, Public Sector

Overview

At Scale, our Public Sector Machine Learning team develops and deploys cutting-edge AI systems into mission-critical government environments. From advanced computer vision pipelines to agentic LLM frameworks, our work directly supports national security and defense partners. We are looking for a Machine Learning Engineering Manager to lead this team of world-class ML engineers and help shape the future of AI in the public sector.

As a Machine Learning Engineering Manager, you will combine strong technical expertise with people leadership. You'll guide the team in delivering production-grade ML systems across modalities while ensuring alignment with product, research, and government partner needs. Leveraging large language models, computer vision, reinforcement learning, and agentic AI, you will lead research projects and harden them into scalable production systems. This role requires someone who can balance hands-on technical oversight, mentorship, and execution strategy in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow a team of ML engineers delivering production-ready AI systems for public sector customers.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship on projects spanning agentic LLM frameworks, reinforcement learning, generative AI, and computer vision.
• Collaborate with research, product, and infrastructure teams to align technical roadmaps with organizational and customer priorities.
• Drive operational excellence : establish best practices for model development, deployment, evaluation, and monitoring in secure, high-stakes environments.
• Partner with public sector stakeholders to translate mission needs into scalable ML solutions.
• Work closely with public sector customers to scope and deliver AI applications.
• Ensure effective prioritization and resourcing across multiple programs and customer engagements.
• Cultivate a strong engineering culture that values collaboration, innovation, accountability, and impact.
• Support career development, performance reviews, and hiring to expand the team.

Qualifications

Nice to have

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position, determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to : Comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

The base salary range for this full-time position in San Francisco, New York, and Seattle is : $229,000 — $286,000 USD.

The base salary range for this full-time position in Washington DC is : $206,000 — $257,000 USD.

Please note : Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role.

About Us

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. We work closely with industry leaders and government agencies to accelerate the development of AI applications and deliver real impact.

We are an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance, please contact us during the application process. We comply with the U.S. Department of Labor's Pay Transparency and other relevant policies. We collect and use personal data as described in our privacy policy.

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