Senior Machine Learning Engineer, SAP Application AI Team

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging - but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly motivated Senior Machine Learning Engineer to join our team and work directly with customers on challenging business problems. In this role, you will apply advanced machine learning and data science techniques to develop rapid prototypes, deliver business value, and push the boundaries of what is possible with AI. You will work across customer projects, strategic product development, and research initiatives making a real-world impact from day one.

This position is ideal for an experienced AI professional with a strong technical foundation, business acumen, and a passion for bridging research innovation with practical business applications. In this position, you will work on cutting-edge AI projects with direct customer impact.

What You Bring

Education & Experience

Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, or related field

7+ years of experience in machine learning, data science, or AI research (industry, research lab, or advanced academic projects)

Technical Skills

• Strong background in machine learning, deep learning, data mining, and/or optimization
• Proficiency with Python and machine learning libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn)
• Extensive experience working with real-world datasets, data preprocessing, and model deployment
• Expertise working with cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Solid understanding of MLOps, CI/CD for ML, monitoring

  Core Competencies

• Ability to translate abstract business challenges into concrete AI solutions
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and mathematical modeling skills
• Curiosity and initiative in exploring new AI techniques and applications
• Ability to collect and process necessary data utilizing big data infrastructures and data processing/transformation tools such as Databricks
• Write production-grade Python code
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, especially in customer-facing environments
• Commitment to ethical and explainable AI practices
• Significant experience with agile software development methods

What You Build

Collaborating with product & engineering leaders, executives, customers and other senior stakeholders, you will plan, direct, and deliver prototype and production grade AI solutions for strategic business problems.

Mathematical Modeling & Algorithm Design

• Translate complex business problems into mathematical or computational models.
• Design, implement, and optimize machine learning algorithms and data mining workflows

Rapid Prototyping & Customer Engagement

• Collaborate directly with customers to understand business needs, define requirements, and deliver proof-of-concept as well as production-grade AI solutions
• Build, integrate, and test AI-driven prototypes and applications for real-world use cases

AI Development & Research

• Support internal teams by designing and implementing novel machine learning algorithms
• Apply recent research breakthroughs to practical problems to create measurable business value
• Contribute to continuous improvement of system scalability, performance, and explainability

Communication & Collaboration

• Clearly communicate complex results and insights to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Visualize and document findings to ensure transparency and reproducibility
• Work cross-functionally with product, engineering, and research teams to drive AI adoption
• Due to the global nature of the team and the customers we serve, the team is completely results-oriented, where team members work during their own local working hours while allowing time to meet with their fellow team members, managers, and customers at mutually convenient times.

Where you Belong

The Intelligence Team within Application AI is the team responsible for performing advanced R&D and AI application development for SAP Autonomous Suite. Our solutions work across SAP business applications to deliver on the company’s autonomous enterprise promise. We are a group of globally distributed AI scientists and engineers that collaborate in a multidisciplinary environment with customers, product managers, and full-stack engineers. In this role, you will gain exposure to diverse problem domains; no two projects are the same. We foster a culture of innovation where new ideas are encouraged and valued.

Bring out your best

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone - regardless of background - feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: [email protected].

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 450478 | Work Area: Software-Design and Development | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid