Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Fraud

Plaid

Confirmed live yesterday High trust

Quick summary

Work type
On-site
Location
San Francisco, CASeattle, WANew York, NY
Salary
$228,960–$315,360 / yr
Posted
49 days ago
Freshness
Confirmed live yesterday

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $221k
This role $272k
$159k $332k
below market most similar roles pay here above market

This role pays more than 88% of similar roles. Most pay $188,087–$254,750 — the blue band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $272k versus about $221k for comparable roles.

Based on 240 similar postings.

Employer

About Plaid

Plaid is a financial technology company that builds a data network powering digital finance applications, enabling consumers to securely connect their financial accounts to apps and services. Industry: Financial Technology & Data Infrastructure

Plaid currently has 71 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $190,800–$262,800 across 71 roles with salary data.

Most-posted roles

View all roles at Plaid

At a glance

TL;DR · Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Fraud

The Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Fraud joins the Fraud Data team to build machine learning systems that identify and stop fraud across the network. This role involves leading projects from initial experimentation through production deployment, where you will investigate fraud patterns, identify new signals, and develop training datasets. You will design, train, and tune models using traditional and modern methods, including gradient-boosted trees and neural networks, while exploring LLMs and Generative AI for fraud prevention. Key responsibilities include building data and training pipelines, managing class imbalance, and balancing detection quality with latency and cost. Required skills include Python, SQL, and frameworks like PyTorch, scikit-learn, and XGBoost. You will solve complex problems regarding fraud patterns, delayed feedback, and the tradeoff between detection and user friction.

What does a Machine Learning Engineer earn in California?

Median $231575 from 194 postings across 35 companies.

See salary data

What you'll do

  • Investigate fraud patterns and model errors to identify new signals and expand detection coverage.
  • Develop training datasets and predictive features while addressing class imbalance and data leakage.
  • Design, train, and tune models using gradient-boosted trees, neural networks, and other modern ML methods.
  • Build data and training pipelines to support reproducible experiments and efficient model iteration.
  • Deploy models in production while balancing detection quality, latency, cost, and reliability.
  • Lead ML projects independently from initial experimentation through model release and production monitoring.
  • Explore the application of LLMs and Generative AI to improve fraud detection and investigation.

What we're looking for

  • 7+ years of professional experience in machine learning, applied science, or software engineering for ML.
  • Hands-on experience designing, training, tuning, and deploying models while measuring production performance or business metrics.
  • Strong ML and statistical fundamentals including feature engineering, experiment design, and model evaluation.
  • Proficiency in Python, SQL, and ML frameworks such as PyTorch, scikit-learn, or XGBoost.
  • Experience constructing training datasets and addressing label quality, data leakage, and class imbalance.
  • Experience independently leading ML projects from problem definition through deployment and cross-functional coordination.
  • Experience with traditional and modern ML methods, including gradient-boosted trees and neural networks.
  • Fraud or risk modeling experience, including familiarity with fraud patterns and delayed feedback (preferred).

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