{"id":2644669,"url":"https://alion.io/job/cognitiv-ml-data-infrastructure-engineer","title":"ML Data Infrastructure Engineer","company":{"id":21658,"name":"Cognitiv","domain":"cognitiv.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/cognitiv","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":63,"computed_at":"2026-10-15T05:46:00Z"}},"role":"DevOps","role_family":"DevOps","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Mateo, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":190000,"max":250000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":250000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Apache Kafka","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Embeddings","optional":false},{"name":"Feature Store","optional":false},{"name":"Flink","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Scala","optional":false},{"name":"Spark","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":true},{"name":"Docker","optional":true},{"name":"GCP","optional":true},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":true},{"name":"PyTorch","optional":true},{"name":"SLI/SLO/SLA","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-15T16:29:54Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-15","last_verified_at":"2026-10-16T02:41:42Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":0,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":0},"description":"Are you ready to revolutionize the advertising industry? \nAt Cognitiv, we are not just another AdTech company-we are industry trailblazers redefining media buying with our Deep Learning Advertising Platform. Since 2015, we have harnessed the power of cutting-edge deep learning technology and data science to transform how brands connect with their customers. Our mission? To bring intelligence to advertising and deliver unparalleled precision, relevance, and impact at scale. \nWith our innovative platform, advertisers enjoy unprecedented flexibility-whether it is activating Dynamic Deals through their preferred DSP, leveraging our managed service DSP, or utilizing our industry-first ContextGPT product. As a part of Cognitiv, you will be at the forefront of AI-driven advertising solutions, driving change and achieving remarkable growth in a rapidly evolving industry.\nNow, we’re growing!\nIn this role, you will work at the intersection of large-scale distributed systems, machine learning engineering, and platform architecture. You will own and evolve critical data capabilities within Cognitiv’s advertising ecosystem, with a primary focus on designing and delivering stable, highly scalable feature pipelines, as well as optimizing the performance and reliability of ad model training pipelines.\nThis is a senior individual-contributor role for an engineer who thrives on solving complex platform problems, raising the technical bar, and building systems that serve many teams at scale. You will partner closely with engineers, product managers, data scientists, infrastructure teams, and downstream data consumers to deliver platforms that are resilient, extensible, and easy to adopt.\nThis position will be located in San Mateo, CA with a hybrid work schedule of 3 days in office (Mon/Tue/Wed) and 2 days remote optional (Thursday/Friday).\nWhat You'll Do\nHigh-Performance Feature Engineering & Infrastructure: Architect, build, and maintain low-latency, high-throughput feature pipelines - batch, real-time streaming, and point-in-time correct historical features - to power our real-time bidding systems.\nAdvanced Embeddings & Generative AI Integration: Leverage LLMs and deep learning models to extract rich contextual and user-level embeddings into the core feature store/serving system, optimizing embedding generation, indexing, and online retrieval for sub-millisecond serving SLAs.\nModel Training Pipeline Optimization: Own and continuously enhance Cognitiv's ad model training pipelines, improving training speed, resource utilization, and throughput for large-scale deep learning models.\nSystem Scalability, Reliability & Efficiency: Establish technical standards for monitoring, testing, and CI/CD across feature and training infrastructure to ensure robust system SLAs/SLOs.\nPartner with Modeling & Data Science: Translate complex signals into production-ready features that directly boost model performance (e.g., CTR/CVR prediction).\nWho You Are\nMust haves:\nStrong Fundamentals / First Principles Thinking \n3-5+ years of hands-on Machine Learning Infrastructure / Data Platform experience supporting data-intensive platforms, including large-scale data pipelines, streaming systems, and storage layers.\nProficiency in one or more core programming languages - Python, Java, or Scala - for building, maintaining, and scaling robust ML and data pipelines.\nDomain expertise in AdTech.\nStrong expertise in modern big data technologies such as Apache Spark, Apache Flink, Apache Kafka, and other distributed data processing frameworks.\nExcellent team communication, cross-functional collaboration, and problem-solving skills, with a track record of partnering effectively with modeling and engineering teams.\nNice to haves:\nDomain expertise in AdTech\nHands-on experience with PyTorch for model architecture, training pipeline acceleration, or distributed training.\nProficiency with cloud & infrastructure technologies, including AWS/GCP, as well as containerization and orchestration platforms like Kubernetes (K8s) and Docker.\nCompetitive programming background, such as awards or achievements in OI (Olympiad in Informatics) or ACM/ICPC.\nTech Stack: Python, Java, Kafka, Flink, Spark, PyTorch, Kubernetes, AWS\nWhat Success Looks Like in Your First 30/60/90 Days\nFirst 30 days:\nRamp quickly on Cognitiv's feature pipelines, training infrastructure, and RTB systems.\nBuild strong context on current architecture, data flows, and known bottlenecks.\nEstablish relationships with Modeling, Data Science, and Infrastructure teams.\nIdentify early opportunities to improve pipeline reliability, training efficiency, or serving latency.\nFirst 60 days:\nIndependently own at least one core feature pipeline, embedding service, or training subsystem.\nShip a first measurable improvement - e.g., reduced serving latency, faster training throughput, or expanded monitoring/CI-CD coverage.\nAlign with Modeling and Data Science on the feature and training roadmap.\nBegin influencing technical direction for feature and training infrastructure.\nFirst 90 days:\nFully own a core area of the platform, such as embedding generation/retrieval, streaming infrastructure, or training pipeline performance.\nDeliver measurable business impact - e.g., reduced feature or serving latency, faster model training, or improved uptime/SLA adherence.\nRedesign or scale at least one key system to handle growing data volume or model complexity.\nOperate autonomously as a trusted technical partner to Modeling, Data Science, and Engineering.\nSalary: $190,000-$250,000 USD Base Salary + Equity\nWhat We Offer\nCompensation is based on experience, skills, and other factors. Base salary is just one part of your total rewards at Cognitiv-you’ll also receive equity and a comprehensive benefits package.\nHighlights include:\nMedical, Dental and Vision plan for US employees & Extended Health Benefits for Canadian employees\n12 weeks paid parental leave + 4 weeks WFH\nUnlimited PTO + Work-From-Anywhere August\nCareer development with clear advancement paths\nEquity for all employees\nHybrid work model & daily team lunch\nHealth & wellness stipend + cell phone reimbursement\n401(k) & RRSP with employer match\nParking (CA, WA, Vancouver offices) & pre-tax commuter benefits\nEmployee Assistance Program\nComprehensive onboarding (Cognitiv University)\n…and more!\nWhat You’ll Find at Cognitiv\nFestiv - We make work fun with cross-team games, events, and creative team bonding.\nResponsiv - You’ll be close to clients and leadership, influencing real outcomes.\nInclusiv - Diversity and individuality are celebrated across all levels.\nInventiv - We reward curiosity and embrace bold ideas.\nTransformativ - We support your growth with training, mentorship, and flexibility.\nCollaborativ - We operate across coasts, connected by purpose and teamwork.\nCognitiv is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all.\nNote on AI Use: Cognitiv may use AI technology to assist with certain administrative aspects of the hiring process, such as note-taking, interview documentation, and reporting. However, every resume and application is reviewed directly by our recruiting team. 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