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Distinguished Software Engineer, Recommendation Systems (AI/ML)

Meta

Menlo Park, CAJob$347–403K/yrSeen 1w agoSeen in employer's feed 3 days ago

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At a glance

Compensation
$347–403K/yr
Location
Menlo Park, CA
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Meta seeks a Distinguished Software Engineer with deep machine learning expertise to advance AI-powered recommendation products. The role operates across foundational ML research and large-scale user products, shaping applied AI, modeling, and infrastructure direction. The engineer will tackle difficult product problems, establish long-term technical direction, and help expand what engineering teams can deliver through AI-native approaches.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Applied AI/MLRecommendation SystemsAI-Native WorkflowsAI-Native ToolingMetrics DefinitionData-Driven Decision-MakingReliability Risk AssessmentPrivacy Risk AssessmentIntegrity Risk AssessmentTechnical StrategyOrganizational AlignmentWritten CommunicationResponsible AI PracticesRisk AssessmentBias MitigationQuality ReviewsAccuracy ReviewsDeveloper ToolingAutomationRankingGenerative AIComputer VisionNatural Language ProcessingPrompt EngineeringContext EngineeringHarness EngineeringAgent Orchestration

Qualifications

Bachelor's in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Relevant Technical Field or Equivalent Practical Experience8+ Years Applied AI/ML ExperienceIndustry-Recognized ML ContributionsPublicationsOpen-Source Projects

Full job description

Summary:

Meta is seeking a Distinguished Software Engineer with deep machine learning expertise to drive transformative advances in Meta's AI-powered products. In this role, you will operate at the intersection of foundational ML research and large-scale user products, shaping the technical direction of applied AI, machine learning modeling, and infrastructure across the organization. You will identify and solve the hardest user problems, and leverage AI-native approaches to unlock step-change improvements in Meta's recommendation products.

Required Skills:

Distinguished Software Engineer, Recommendation Systems (AI/ML) Responsibilities:

  1. The role: Top applied AI/ML expert in a Recommendation Product

  2. Work on the hardest applied AI problem in the product

  3. Set a 2–3 year north-star architecture for the product

  4. Apply AI-native workflows and tooling as a force multiplier to accelerate AI/ML advancement in the product and expand the scope of what engineering teams can deliver

  5. Define new metrics and data-driven decision-making principles for long-term ML projects, connecting operational metrics to organization-level business outcomes

  6. Proactively identify systemic reliability, privacy, and integrity risks in ML systems and build robust technical safeguards, partnering with compliance and policy teams to ensure responsible AI deployment

  7. Mentor engineers across the organization on applied AI/ML, debugging complex product problems, and building production-grade AI systems, establishing yourself as a sought-after technical coach and technical leader

Minimum Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

  1. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience

  2. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, a relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience

  3. 8+ years of experience in applied AI/ML with a track record of delivering measurable product outcomes

  4. Experience defining technical strategy and gaining organizational alignment across multiple engineering teams and cross-functional stakeholders

  5. Experience communicating complex ML system designs and trade-offs in writing to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive leadership

Preferred Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

  1. Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)

  2. Experience building AI-native developer tooling or automation that measurably accelerates ML experimentation and production improvement cycles

  3. Experience applying ML to multiple product domains such as ranking and recommendation, generative AI, computer vision, or natural language processing

  4. Track record of industry-recognized contributions to machine learning applications, such as publications and open-source projects

  5. Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, harness engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies

Public Compensation:

$347,000/year to $403,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits

Industry: Internet

Equal Opportunity:

Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Meta participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law. Please note that Meta may leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in connection with applications for employment.

Meta is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at [email protected].

How this job compares

Set against the 8,458 open Software Engineering jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$347–403K/yr
  • California median$189–275K/yr1,248 salary ranges
  • US median$150–247K/yr6,426 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $375K, is 64% above the California median midpoint ($229K) — in the top quarter of Software Engineering salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 1,694 open Software Engineering jobs in California and 8,458 across the US. 10% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 8 years of experience; Software Engineering postings that state a minimum ask for 7 years at the median (6,647 postings).
Education
2,213 of the 8,458 open Software Engineering jobs (26%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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