Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Fraud

Plaid

Confirmed live today High trust

Quick summary

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

Market check

Salary context

Above market

How this pay compares to similar roles

Similar $223k
This role $272k
$167k most similar roles pay here $331k

This role pays more than 90% of similar roles. Most pay $190,350–$254,750 — the shaded band above. At the midpoint, this role pays about $272k versus about $223k 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 41 open roles on FindRole.

Listed pay typically runs $201,600–$272,400 across 41 roles with salary data.

Most-posted roles

View all roles at Plaid

At a glance

TL;DR · Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Fraud

As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Fraud on the Fraud Data team, you will develop machine learning systems that power fraud detection products by identifying patterns in network data. You will manage the full lifecycle of model development, from discovering new signals and building training datasets to deploying models into production while balancing latency and reliability. Your daily work involves designing experiments, tuning models using gradient-boosted trees and neural networks, and exploring how LLMs and Generative AI can improve fraud prevention. To succeed, you must possess strong Python and SQL skills along with experience in PyTorch, scikit-learn, and XGBoost. You will solve complex problems regarding class imbalance and data leakage to protect users from evolving threats while leading projects independently across the data science and product lifecycle.

What does a Machine Learning Engineer earn in California?

Median $246150 from 178 postings across 30 companies.

See salary data

What you'll do

  • Investigate fraud patterns and model errors to identify new signals and improve detection coverage.
  • Develop training datasets and predictive features while addressing issues like class imbalance and data leakage.
  • Design, train, and tune models using both traditional methods and modern neural network architectures.
  • Build data and training pipelines to support reproducible experiments and efficient feature iteration.
  • Deploy models in production while balancing detection quality, latency, cost, and reliability.
  • Explore the application of LLMs and Generative AI to improve fraud detection and investigation.
  • Lead ML projects independently from initial experimentation through coordination with Product and Engineering teams.

What we're looking for

  • 7+ years of professional experience in machine learning, applied science, or software engineering for ML.
  • Experience designing, training, tuning, and deploying models while measuring improvements in production performance or business metrics.
  • Strong ML and statistical fundamentals including feature engineering, experiment design, model evaluation, and diagnosing underperformance.
  • Proficiency in both traditional and modern ML methods, such as gradient-boosted trees and neural networks.
  • Experience constructing training datasets and addressing issues like label quality, data leakage, and class imbalance.
  • Strong Python skills, SQL proficiency, and hands-on experience with frameworks like PyTorch, scikit-learn, or XGBoost.
  • Experience independently leading ML projects from problem identification through deployment and cross-functional coordination.
  • Fraud or risk modeling experience, graph-based systems, and advanced modeling approaches like transformers (preferred).

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