[Hiring] Lead Engineer, Machine Learning @sephora.com

Role Description

Ready for a career glow up? As a Lead Machine Learning Engineer, you'll be the driving force behind the architecture, engineering, and deployment of cutting-edge AI/ML systems at enterprise scale. The work you do will impact beauty, as you redefine how we inspire and connect with our customers — building the next generation of intelligent, AI-powered experiences across the beauty space. You'll lead a team that's united in beauty, supported by those who are equally passionate about pushing the boundaries of applied AI, engineering excellence, and real-world product impact.

• Architect & Engineer Production-Grade AI/ML Systems: Design, build, and maintain scalable ML and Agentic AI systems using established engineering design patterns.
• Own End-to-End ML Solutions: Engineer and own batch and real-time model serving, agentic pipelines, RAG systems, and LLMOps infrastructure.
• Establish & Optimize ML Pipelines: Build scalable, efficient, and automated pipelines for data processing, feature engineering, model development, validation, evaluation, and deployment.
• Deliver High-Quality Code in a Continuous-Release Environment: Write clean, efficient, and well-structured code to deliver AI/ML products iteratively.
• Partner Cross-Functionally to Shape AI/ML Capabilities: Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Data Scientists, ML Engineers, and Business stakeholders.
• Drive Delivery Planning & Engineering ROI: Review and prioritize epics and projects with clear breakdown, dependency management, and delivery planning.
• Mentor, Grow & Inspire the Team: Mentor and develop ML Engineers and Data Scientists by promoting best practices in ML engineering.

Qualifications

• Deep ML Engineering Expertise: 5+ years hands-on experience in model development, training pipelines, feature stores, model serving, and MLOps/LLMOps.
• Strong Software Engineering Fundamentals: 8+ years proficiency in Python, distributed systems, API design, and cloud-native architectures.
• LLM & Generative AI Experience: 3+ years proven experience building and deploying LLM-powered applications.
• Agentic AI & Multi-Agent System Design: Hands-on experience with Agentic AI frameworks such as LangChain, LangGraph, Claude, or similar.
• Solid Foundation in Classic ML: Strong understanding of supervised/unsupervised learning, recommendation systems, reinforcement learning, and model evaluation methodologies.
• ML Infrastructure & Tooling Proficiency: Experience with Kubernetes, Docker, Databricks, MLflow, Vector databases, and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Technology-Agnostic Mindset & Continuous Learner: A passion for exploring new ideas and staying current with the latest advancements in AI/ML.
• Strong Communication & Cross-Functional Influence: Excellent communication skills with the ability to align stakeholders and influence technical direction.

Benefits

• The annual base salary range for this position is $172,350.00 - $212,800.00.
• Caring Community: Collaborate with teammates who are equally passionate about innovating.
• Fulfilling Path: Opportunities that will challenge, stretch, and develop your skills.
• Meaningful Work: Make an impact on beauty and see the positive change.
• Health: Choose a healthcare plan with medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Wealth: Competitive 401k with 4% match, FSA, HSA programs, and Student Debt Retirement plan.
• Balance: Empowered to find the perfect blend of work/life balance with PTO and flexibility.
• Growth: Access to training, development, and tuition reimbursement.
• Perks: 30% discount on merchandise/services and opportunities for free products.
• Support: Free mental health and financial coaching resources with 24/7 access.

Company Description

Sephora values a diverse and inclusive workplace and considers all applicants without regard to sex, pregnancy, race, color, national origin, gender (including gender identity and gender expression), age, religion, sexual orientation, military/veteran status, disability, or any other protected category.

Sephora is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities or other medical conditions.

Join Us and Belong to Something Beautiful.