Staff Machine Learning Engineer
Summary
Staff Data Scientist leading end-to-end applied ML and data science initiatives—modeling, pipelines, deployment, and monitoring—at a vacation rental company, with deep focus on pricing, demand forecasting, and optimization using Python, SQL, and cloud/ML tooling.
At Evolve, we’re on a mission to make vacation rental easy for everyone. Our high-performing, customer-obsessed team runs on curiosity, communication, and accountability—working together to create exceptional experiences for our owners and guests. Whether solving big challenges, delivering outstanding results, or celebrating wins, we approach every day with purpose and passion. If you’re ready to join a mission-driven company where every teammate has the opportunity to thrive, Evolve might just be the place for you.
Why this role
Evolve's Data Product team builds data and machine-learning products that improve owner acquisition and retention, pricing, revenue performance, and how teams make decisions. We're hiring a Staff Machine Learning Engineer to own how those models get to production and stay there: the training and inference systems, the deployment and monitoring patterns, and the engineering standards the rest of the team builds on.
You'll be Evolve's first and most senior ML engineer. You'll turn working models into durable production systems: design feature and training pipelines, batch and online inference, deployment, monitoring, and retraining; integrate models into products and operating workflows; and measure adoption and business impact. You'll be a key decision-maker on ML infrastructure strategy, choosing what we build, what we buy, and what we standardize on. You'll partner with data scientists on the modeling itself, including forecasting, price-elasticity, and optimization work for pricing and revenue, and on LLM-based products.
This is a hands-on individual-contributor role for someone who wants to set technical direction, not just execute it. You'll define pragmatic engineering standards for a lean data science team, mentor engineers and data scientists, and partner closely with Product, Engineering, Data Engineering, Revenue Management, and business leaders. The mix of initiatives will shift with company priorities; end-to-end ownership and measurable business use will not. This role reports to Anto Kajajian.
What you'll do
- Build and operate ML systems end to end: data and feature pipelines, training and evaluation, batch or online inference, deployment, monitoring, retraining, failure handling, and iteration after launch.
- Define how ML ships at Evolve: the patterns for packaging, deploying, versioning, monitoring, and retraining models on Snowflake, dbt, Python, AWS, and our Kubernetes-based deployment stack, plus the CI/CD, logging, and observability standards (GitHub, Sumo Logic) the team builds on.
- Shape ML infrastructure strategy as a key decision-maker: evaluate build-versus-buy options, choose platform components, and set the roadmap for how the team's production footprint grows.
- Productionize LLM-based products: evaluation harnesses, guardrails, cost and latency management, and the operating patterns that keep them reliable after launch.
- Lead the technical direction and hands-on delivery of one or two prioritized ML initiatives at a time.
- Translate business opportunities into clear technical approaches, success measures, and plans for adoption and impact evaluation.
- Partner with data scientists on forecasting, price-elasticity, and optimization models for pricing and revenue decisions, owning the path from prototype to production and instrumenting the experiments that measure impact.
- Establish reusable standards for testing, reproducibility, versioning, observability, documentation, and responsible model operation; review designs and code across the team.
- Partner with Product, Engineering, Data Engineering, Revenue Management, and other business owners to make technical tradeoffs and integrate models into products and operating workflows.
- Mentor engineers and data scientists, raise the team's engineering judgment, and create leverage beyond your own projects while remaining hands-on.
What makes you a great fit
- Typically 8+ years building and operating production ML or data-intensive systems, with several of those years owning systems that business decisions depended on.
- Evidence of Staff-level scope: you have led ML systems from idea through sustained production use, set technical direction beyond one project, and created leverage for other engineers and data scientists.
- Expert Python and strong software engineering fundamentals: testing, code review, CI/CD, packaging, dependency management, and observability. Strong SQL and comfort working with large datasets in a cloud warehouse.
- Experience designing and running production ML systems: training pipelines, batch or online inference, deployment, monitoring, retraining, incident response, and iteration after launch.
- Hands-on experience with cloud infrastructure (AWS or equivalent), containers and orchestration (Kubernetes or equivalent), and the tradeoffs involved in choosing and operating ML platform components.
- Enough modeling and evaluation judgment to be a real partner to data scientists: offline and online evaluation, leakage, drift, and basic experiment design.
- Ability to connect technical decisions to business outcomes and communicate tradeoffs clearly to technical, product, business, and executive audiences.
- A self-directed, collaborative working style: you can prioritize across a broad problem space, receive and give direct feedback, influence without formal authority, and remain hands-on in a lean, remote team.
Helpful experience
- Snowflake, dbt, feature stores, model registries, workflow orchestration, and practical MLOps or model-governance patterns.
- LLM evaluation, retrieval-augmented generation, agents, or cost and latency optimization for LLM products in production.
- Demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, revenue management, price-elasticity estimation, causal inference, or optimization.
- Marketplace, travel, hospitality, or another domain where models influence high-frequency operating decisions.
- Standing up ML infrastructure or platform patterns at a company that did not have them yet.
- An advanced degree in a quantitative field, or equivalent depth demonstrated through applied work.
Compensation
Annual base salary range: $160,000–$208,000, depending on relevant experience. This role is also eligible for equity and a variable annual bonus based on both company and individual performance.
Location
All Evolve team members must live in one of our approved locations by their first day. We can hire from anywhere in the U.S. except D.C. and Hawaii. Some positions may also have restrictions based on compensation in the following states: California, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington. If you live in Colorado, you can work remotely anywhere in the state, at our downtown Denver office, or a hybrid of both! If you're planning to move soon, please let us know, and we'll be happy to review your application again.
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How we reward Evolvers
We’re intentional about offering benefits that empower every Evolver to thrive both professionally and personally because they’re more than perks—they’re investments in our customer-obsessed, high-performing team.
We believe in treating others as they want to be treated, providing benefits that deliver real value, and challenging the status quo to meet the diverse needs of our team. Whether it’s helping you take care of your health, plan for the future, or celebrate life’s milestones, our offerings are designed to support you every step of the way.
- Financial Wellness: Industry-competitive pay, equity in the company, and a 401(k) with a 4% immediate vesting match.
- Family Support: 16-18 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents and 10 weeks for non-birthing parents, plus infertility coverage.
- Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans, with 100% employer-paid dental and vision for individual coverage, a low-cost medical option, 10 free mental health visits, and pet insurance.
- Time to Recharge: Generous PTO, RTO (for full-time exempt employees), sick leave, holidays, and a personal holiday to celebrate what matters most to you.
- Travel Perks: Annual Evolve travel credit after one year and discounts on stays at all Evolve properties.
- Growth Opportunities: World-class onboarding programs, learning, and development resources to help you grow your impact.
- Connection: Employee Resource Groups celebrating our diverse communities at Evolve.
How we work together
With our core values as our guide, every Evolver helps shape the company we want to work for and the people we want to be. We’ve cultivated a culture of collaboration, care, and responsibility that we can all be proud of, and we’re excited to see what you’ll bring as your authentic self.
Still curious about who we are and what we do? Read more about our business and our culture at .
EEO
At Evolve, we are committed to diversity and inclusion. As an equal opportunity employer, all qualified candidates will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, military service or veteran status, physical or mental disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Evolve participates in e-Verify for all positions.
If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation at any point in the hiring process, please let your recruiter know.
Skills
As published by greenhouse · 12 questions · 5 written answers
Basics
First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Resume/CV, Cover Letter, Location
Short answers (3)
- Preferred First Name
- What are your total compensation expectations?
- Can you please share your Linkedin profile?
Pick from a list (4)
- Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship? "Please select the option that best describes your current US work authorization status"
- We are working towards opening remote opportunities across the entire U.S. We currently are able to hire across the U.S except in the following locations: District of Columbia, and Hawaii. There are also certain positions that may have hiring impacts in the following states: California, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island and Washington. If given the opportunity to join Evolve, please indicate the location of your residency on your first day of employment.
- I understand that upon offer I will be asked to complete and pass a basic criminal background check.
- I certify that all information provided in this employment application is true and complete. I understand that any false information or omission may disqualify me from further consideration for employment and may result in my dismissal if discovered at a later date. I understand that this application, verbal statements by management, or subsequent employment does not create an express or implied contract of employment nor guarantee employment for any definite period of time. If employed, I understand that I have been hired at the will of the employer and my employment may be terminated at any time, with or without reason and with or without notice. I have read, understand, and give my consent to these statements.
Written answers (5)
- Why do you want to work at Evolve?
- Which one of Evolve's 6 values do you connect with the most? Why?
- Please provide your GitHub username
- Tell us about a product, ML/AI solution, or technical initiative you owned from idea through production.
- Describe a time you had to make a difficult technical or product tradeoff with incomplete information.
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