ML Engineer (Python Backend) - Sr. I/II

Location: US/Europe Remote or Bay Area

Welcome to the AI/ML team at Albert Invent! A fast-growing and innovative company revolutionizing the chemical industry through a cutting-edge data management and AI platform. As a Python ML Software Engineer, you will play a critical role in our mission to streamline workflows and provide robust, scalable solutions that support AI/ML capabilities for thousands of researchers worldwide.

We are seeking a highly motivated and talented individual with a passion for backend engineering and data systems. In this role, you will have the opportunity to unleash your creativity, intelligence, and curiosity to build scalable services and data engineering solutions that empower researchers and chemists at leading chemical and materials organizations to push the boundaries of innovation.

At Albert Invent, we value collaboration, creativity, and a drive to make a real impact in the world. If you are looking for a dynamic and exciting work environment, where you can contribute to the growth of a rapidly growing startup and make a real difference in the chemical industry, then we encourage you to apply!

Position Overview: We are seeking an exceptional ML Engineer with a focus on backend ML systems to join our AI/ML team. This role prioritizes designing and developing scalable, fault-tolerant backend services, while maintaining a strong focus on scalable ML systems. You will play a critical role in building robust infrastructure to support high-performance applications and tools, enabling seamless data integration and transformation to power AI/ML capabilities.

Performance Objectives: Here is what you will be doing as a ML Engineer at Albert Invent:

· Scalable Backend Service Development:

o Design, build, and maintain scalable, fault-tolerant backend services in Python

o Develop microservices architectures to ensure high availability and low latency.

o Optimize system performance to handle large-scale data and application demands.

· Data Engineering and Integration:

o Develop and maintain data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, and storage to enable AI/ML workflows.

o Support the creation of data engineering abstractions that align with backend service requirements.

o Collaborate with platform and ML engineers to design systems that facilitate the integration of AI/ML models with backend services.

· System Reliability and Fault Tolerance:

o Implement robust error-handling, monitoring, and alerting mechanisms to ensure system resilience.

o Develop solutions to minimize downtime and maximize service reliability.

o Troubleshoot and resolve system bottlenecks and failures.

· CI/CD and Deployment Pipelines:

o Design, implement, and maintain CI/CD pipelines for backend services and data engineering workflows.

o Ensure seamless code integration, testing, and deployment processes.

o Promote automation and best practices to enhance the development lifecycle.

• Adoption of Emerging Technologies:
• • Stay informed on the latest trends and tools in backend engineering and data engineering.
  • Introduce and implement new technologies to improve service scalability, data integration, and developer productivity.

· Collaboration and Cross-Functional Teamwork:

o Work closely with AI/ML, data engineering, and platform teams to understand and deliver on technical requirements.

o Contribute to architectural decisions that impact the overall platform ecosystem.

What You’ll Bring:

• A strong passion for backend engineering and scalable data systems.
• An ability to prioritize system scalability and fault tolerance while focusing on data engineering excellence.
• A collaborative mindset and excellent communication skills.
• A commitment to quality and innovation in backend and data engineering.

Required Qualifications:

• A degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related field with 5-8 years of industry experience (Bachelor’s) or 4-6 years of industry experience (Master’s or PhD) backend software development, emphasizing expertise in building scalable, fault-tolerant services and robust data engineering solutions.
• Advanced knowledge of the modern Python web application development (e.g., FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, Pydantic)
• Experience with relational and NoSQL database systems.
• Strong understanding of distributed systems and microservices architecture.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

Preferred/Bonus Points:

• Knowledge of Chemistry/Materials Science, Materials Informatics, or related fields.
• Experience with strongly typed/compiled languages for web application development (e.g., Go, Rust, Scala)
• Familiarity with Ray or other ML Training and distributed computing frameworks.
• Expertise in system monitoring and observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana).
• Experience with data engineering tools (e.g., Airflow, Delta Lake, Dask).
• Experience with Unix scripting and version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Prior experience working in AI/ML-focused environments using tools such as Ray, Torch, Kubeflow.
• Proven track record of building and managing CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience mentoring junior developers/engineers in best practices

Culture:

· The Albert Invent team uses an iterative/agile development methodology, and you will be a key contributor in the entire development cycle.

· At Albert, we put a great deal of emphasis on collaboration and maintaining an open working environment—having great coworkers is one of the biggest determinants for enjoying your work, and we take our enjoyment of work very seriously.

· Your opinions matter. We are driven by technology and innovation, and we look to the smartest, most passionate people on the team as the source of ideas.

About Albert Invent

Albert Invent is a fast-growing private company that develops an innovative SaaS data management system for the chemical industry. Our platform is a data first ecosystem designed to organize chemical workflows and enable the direct (and automated) collection of clean and structured data to enable data driven engineering in the chemical industry. Our platform is currently in use by thousands of scientists worldwide at some of the world’s largest chemical and materials manufacturers.

Albert’s mission is to improve the way chemical researchers interact with data and AI to help drive innovation and accelerate the development of novel materials. We see a world where every innovator is equipped with the tools, insights, and freedom they need to do their best work. Work that enables them to invent the future faster.