Principal ML Engineer

This range is provided by Grindr. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

$/yr - $/yr

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.

At Grindr, we’re at the dawn of an AI-driven evolution, and you’ll be the senior technical leader shaping the vision. This is your chance to harness cutting‑edge machine learning to redefine how millions of people in the LGBTQ+ community around the world connect —whether it’s an entertaining chat, a casual encounter or long‑term relationship. We’re doubling down on ML as the future of Grindr, and in these early days, you’ll drive strategy and execution that leaves a mark on a one‑of‑a‑kind platform at global scale.

• Early‑Stage Impact:
  It's still early days for ML at Grindr, so you'll be charting the roadmap and building foundational systems surrounded by high‑impact, greenfield work, setting the stage for our long term ML strategy.
• Recommendations That Reshape:
  Architect and scale recommendation platforms that match millions to their next big moment, adapting to a range of intents with impact you can feel.
• Conversations That Connect:
  Use LLMs to uncover insights, and define best practices for conversational AI at Grindr, helping users find their spark with precision and flair.

• Architect and oversee large‑scale recommendation systems to serve millions, balancing performance and innovation.
• Leverage the latest LLMs to process vast conversation data and enhance user connections.
• Prototype, iterate, and ship production‑ready ML solutions that solve real problems for our user.
• Provide technical leadership across teams, collaborating with engineering, data science and product teams to turn bold ideas into tangible results.
• Evaluate, influence, and integrate emerging AI tools and techniques at an organizational level to keep Grindr’s tech stack ahead of the curve.

• 10+ years of experience building ML systems with a focus on 0‑to‑1 system development, platform‑scale architecture, and creating new capabilities from scratch. Experience with recommendation systems or similar is a plus.
• Proven ability to deliver at scale, with fluency in Python and popular ML frameworks.
• A scrappy mindset—you tackle messy challenges head‑on and get real results.
• Experience using data and deployment technologies (Snowflake, Airflow, Kubernetes, Docker, Helm, Spark, PySpark)
• Experience building machine/deep learning models with at least one common framework such as PyTorch, Tensorflow, or Keras.
• Experience with any public cloud environment – AWS, GCP or Databricks.

• Expertise in building and maintaining LLM workflows for nuanced, human‑driven tasks.
• A track record of leading the development of recommendation platforms that hit the mark for diverse user needs.
• Thrives in a fast‑paced, outcome‑driven environment with lots of cross‑functional collaboration.
• A proven history of setting technical direction, driving adoption of ML systems across organizations, and owning products end‑to‑end from early‑stage concept to full‑scale rollout.

• 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 &…