Applied AI Engineer

In this role, you will:

Contribute to the technical roadmap for applied AI across personalization, ranking, search, recommendations, and GenAI/LLM systems; help connect modeling work to business metrics (engaged learners, conversion, retention, revenue)
Build components of end‑to‑end ML systems: candidate sourcing, embedding platforms & ANN retrieval, multi‑stage ranking (early/late), and value modeling with guardrails for fairness and integrity
Implement LLM‑based features: build RAG pipelines, apply instruction‑/preference‑tuning techniques (e.g., SFT/DPO), optimize prompts, and improve latency/cost‑aware inference; contribute to offline evals + human‑in‑the‑loop and online success metrics
Help develop "Learner 360" representations by working with behavior signals, explicit inputs, and conversational context to create robust embeddings reused across surfaces
Support evaluation infrastructure: contribute to the eval harness for both ranking and generative systems (offline metrics like NDCG/AUC/BLEU/BERTScore; quality/safety scorecards), and help close the loop with online A/B experiments
Ship reliable systems at scale: ensure training‑serving consistency, implement drift detection, follow canarying/rollback protocols, participate in on‑call rotation for model services, and maintain strong CI/CD for features & models
Collaborate with and learn from senior ML/SWE teammates; write high‑quality code and follow best practices for experimentation rigor and reproducibility
Work closely with Product, Design, Legal, and Data Science on objectives, tradeoffs, and responsible AI practices
Stay current with ML research (RecSys, LLMs, multimodal) and propose new methods that could improve learner outcomes

What you bring to the table:

6+ years of industry experience in applied ML/AI or ML‑heavy software engineering
BS/MS in CS, ML, or related quantitative field (or equivalent experience)
Experience building ranking/personalization or search systems (retrieval, Two‑Tower/dual encoders, multi‑task rankers) and contributing to online metric improvements (e.g., CTR, session depth, retention)
Hands‑on experience with LLM/GenAI systems: data curation, fine‑tuning (SFT/PEFT, preference optimization), prompt engineering, evaluation, and productionization considerations (latency/cost/safety)
Strong skills in Python/PyTorch, data and feature engineering, distributed training/inference on GPUs, and familiarity with modern MLOps (model registry, feature stores, monitoring, drift)
Solid experiment design (offline/online), metrics literacy, and ability to translate product goals into modeling solutions
Strong collaboration skills and eagerness to learn from senior engineers; some experience mentoring junior teammates is a plus

Bonus points if you have:

EdTech or consumer mobile experience; conversational tutoring or learning science‑informed modeling
Publications/open‑source with RecSys/LLMs (e.g., RecSys, KDD, NeurIPS, ICLR, ACL), or contributions to safety/guardrails tooling
Experience building on a modern MLOps stack (feature mgmt, orchestration, streaming, online inference at scale)

Compensation, Benefits & Perks:

Quizlet is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Salary transparency helps to mitigate unfair hiring practices when it comes to discrimination and pay gaps.  Total compensation for this role is market competitive, including a starting base salary of $178,000 - $330,000 depending on location and experience, as well as company stock options
Collaborate with your manager and team to create a healthy work-life balance
20 vacation days that we expect you to take!
Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance (100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, Dental, VSP Choice)
Employer-sponsored 401k plan with company match
Access to LinkedIn Learning and other resources to support professional growth
Paid Family Leave, FSA, HSA, Commuter benefits, and Wellness benefits
40 hours of annual paid time off to participate in volunteer programs of choice