At Special Projects Engineering, we don’t just work outside the box—we reinvent it, patent it, and train models to optimize its assembly line. We’re a small, high-caliber team based in Seattle, focused on applying advanced machine learning to bold, high-impact challenges. Our projects span autonomous systems, predictive infrastructure, synthetic biology, defense automation, and the occasional napkin-sketch moonshot.

If it’s never been done before, we’re probably already prototyping it.

What You’ll Do

As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, you’ll play a key role in building intelligent systems that live beyond the lab. You’ll partner directly with the CTO and a multidisciplinary team to bring novel ideas from concept to deployment — across a diverse range of domains.

Your responsibilities will include:

Designing and implementing ML models that are robust, scalable, and production-ready.
Working with raw, unstructured data: from images and audio to sensor streams and text.
Developing systems for perception, prediction, decision-making, or control — depending on the mission.
Rapidly prototyping solutions while maintaining a balance between research rigor and engineering pragmatism.
Collaborating with hardware, embedded, and systems teams to deploy models in real-world environments.
Helping define our internal ML tooling, infrastructure, and long-term capabilities roadmap.

What We’re Looking For

5+ years of experience in ML engineering, applied AI, or research-to-product pipelines.
Expert-level Python skills; familiarity with C++ or Rust is a plus.
Deep experience with modern ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX).
Strong understanding of the ML lifecycle — from data handling and training to evaluation and deployment.
Proven track record in real-world ML applications like computer vision, NLP, reinforcement learning, or multimodal modeling.
Comfortable owning projects end-to-end in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
Bonus: experience with robotics, edge deployment, distributed ML, or unconventional sensors.