Principal Machine Learning Engineer

Job title: Principal Machine Learning Engineer

About the Role

As a Principal Machine Learning Engineer, you will drive the development and implementation of cutting-edge ML algorithms, training sophisticated models, and collaborating with product, engineering, and analytics teams to build AI functionalities into Atlassian products and services. You will design system and model architectures, conduct rigorous experimentation, and guide emerging ML engineers to realize AI's transformative potential across Atlassian offerings.

What You'll Do

• Drive complex decisions that impact the work of teams and set technical direction across quarters.

• Tackle the largest and most complex problems, from technical design to launch.

• Set the direction of systems and capabilities, balancing progress and perfection.

• Design, develop, and deploy production-grade ML models (e.g., ranking, retrieval, LLM-based systems) to optimize user experience and business outcomes.

• Conduct experimentation and model evaluations, backing decisions with data.

• Develop robust feature engineering practices for offline training and online inference at scale.

• Oversee end-to-end deployment of ML solutions into production with continuous evaluation and monitoring.

• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and engineering teams to integrate AI/ML capabilities into products.

• Partner across engineering teams on company-wide programs spanning multiple projects.

• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Mentor and guide junior and senior engineers, fostering a culture of innovation and learning.

• Actively share knowledge through mentoring and coaching beyond direct reports.

• Contribute to programs of work that scale across the department.

• Identify and bridge gaps across teams using experience and expertise.

• Make quick, data-driven decisions, balancing speed, risk, and impact, and limit ambiguity by prototyping.

• What We're Looking For

• Demonstrated track record leading ML engineering efforts and setting technical direction across multiple quarters.

• Experience designing system and model architectures and delivering production ML solutions (ranking, retrieval, LLM-based systems).

• Expertise in rigorous experimentation, model evaluation, and data-driven decision making.

• Strong feature engineering capabilities and experience with offline training and online inference at scale.

• Experience end-to-end deploying ML solutions with monitoring and continuous improvement.

• Excellent collaboration with product, design, and engineering teams, and ability to communicate complex concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Experience mentoring and coaching engineers and contributing to scalable programs.

• Strong decision-making and prioritization skills, with ability to balance speed, risk, and impact.

• Compensation & Benefits

• Salary ranges (USD, yearly): Zone A: 209,700 - 273,775; Zone B: 188,730 - 246,398; Zone C: 174,051 - 227,233. Atlassian offers a wide range of perks and benefits designed to support you and your family, including health and wellbeing resources, paid volunteer days, and more.