Machine Learning Engineer

About Zest AI:   Zest AI has been perfecting AI for consumer lending decisions since 2009. Our Model Management System helps lenders make better decisions and better loans—increasing revenue, reducing risk, and automating compliance. Our mission is to make fair and transparent credit available to everyone and our software creates some of the most inclusive risk models in the industry. Using Zest-built machine learning software, financial institutions can dramatically expand credit access to deserving people with no added risk. Learn more at Zest.ai and connect with us on Twitter @Zest_AI or our Insights blog.   Zest is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion and encourages professionals from underrepresented groups in technology and financial services to apply.

Our technology teams at Zest AI thrive on solving challenging problems that have a big impact on people's daily lives. We build tools to improve consumer lending by meeting the needs of financial institutions and their customers around the world. By leveraging a combination of machine learning and vast amounts of data, we seek to challenge traditional credit scoring models, while expanding the use of our proprietary technology across the fintech industry. Our team is committed to continuously leveraging and adapting the latest advances in AI/ML to benefit those we serve.

Machine Learning Engineers at Zest AI build software that enables our customers to quickly create, adopt, and operate machine learning models in production. For example, some work might be focused on scale (automating model builds/deployments), while other work might be addressing a specific capability (better model power, clearer model explainability, more desirable fairer model alternatives).

In this role you will: 

• Create experiments and develop prototypes, with the goal of developing robust and efficient production-ready software.
• Collaborate with product management, sales/engagement management, and engineering departments to understand company needs and devise ML/AI-powered solutions.
• Drive technical projects forward, holding a tremendous amount of responsibility and direct impact to the business. 
• Build internal and external tools that will increase the productivity of teams leveraging the ML/AI-based systems.

• Build demos, guidance documentation, and assist with training to help increase proficiency for our internal/external customers.
• Test and apply cutting-edge ML/AI research to develop new and improved products, processes, or technologies.

We are looking for: 

• MS or PhD in a quantitative field (Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, etc.). MLE experience should include 3~5 years.
• Strong fundamentals in programming, statistics, mathematics, and ML algorithms (neural networks, tree-based methods, optimizers, super/unsupervised learning, feature engineering, etc.). Strong experience with Python required.
• Familiar with ML/AI frameworks (TensorFlow, XGBoost, Scikit-learn, etc.), and modular/modern OOP software design practices.
• Good development practices/ability regarding memory, disk I/O, and CPU/GPU management.
• History of research publications and/or implementations of state of the art techniques - preferably viewable through open source channels (arXiv, GitHub, etc.).
• Passionate about ML/AI and how it can improve the world.

Perks and benefits:

• People – the best part of Zest
• Robust healthcare plans, matching 401K and unlimited vacation time
• Weekly companywide “all hands” meetings 
• Virtual weekly happy hours, sometimes casual and other times with a focus around topics like racial discrimination and LGBTQ+ history
• Employee care packages to make WFH more enjoyable

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