Machine Learning & Data Engineer

About The Company
Twilio is a leading cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build, scale, and operate real-time communication applications. With a global presence and a remote-first work culture, Twilio empowers developers and organizations to create personalized customer experiences across various channels, including voice, messaging, video, and email. The company is committed to innovation, inclusion, and delivering solutions that make communication seamless and effective. Twilio’s dedication to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment ensures that talent from all backgrounds can thrive and contribute to the company's mission of transforming how the world interacts.
About The Role
We are seeking a highly skilled Principal Machine Learning & Data Engineer to join our team remotely in the US. In this strategic role, you will lead the design, development, and maintenance of Twilio’s internal machine learning and data platform that underpins all customer interactions. Your expertise will be critical in architecting cloud-native pipelines, model-serving infrastructure, and developer tooling to enable our product teams to innovate rapidly and safely at scale. The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of distributed systems, cloud architecture, and MLOps best practices, with a passion for building scalable, reliable, and secure data infrastructure. This role offers an exciting opportunity to influence the technical direction of Twilio’s core systems and contribute to a vibrant, inclusive remote work environment.
Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or an equivalent practical experience
• 7+ years of experience building and operating production data or machine learning systems at scale
• Expert proficiency in Python and at least one compiled language such as Java, Scala, Go, or C++
• Hands-on experience with distributed data frameworks like Spark or Flink, SQL/NoSQL data stores, and streaming platforms such as Kafka or Kinesis
• Proven track record of designing cloud-native architectures on AWS, including infrastructure management with Terraform
• Deep knowledge of container orchestration tools such as Kubernetes or EKS, service mesh networking, and autoscaling strategies
• Experience implementing MLOps tools like MLflow, Kubeflow, SageMaker, or Vertex AI
• Strong understanding of model lifecycle management, including feature engineering, model drift detection, and retraining processes
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to lead projects and influence cross-functional teams
• Graduate degree focused on machine learning, distributed systems, or applied statistics (preferred)
• Contributions to open-source ML or data infrastructure projects (preferred)
• Knowledge of privacy-enhancing technologies and secure multi-tenant system design (preferred)
• Experience in conversational AI, real-time communications, or large-language-model deployment (preferred)
• Understanding of compliance-heavy environments such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, with secure design practices (preferred)
• Published research, patents, or conference presentations in ML systems or data engineering (preferred)

Responsibilities

• Architect and continuously improve Twilio’s end-to-end machine learning and real-time data platforms, ensuring high reliability, security, and cost efficiency
• Design and implement scalable feature stores, streaming and batch data pipelines, and low-latency model-serving infrastructure on AWS
• Apply MLOps best practices by automating testing, CI/CD processes, monitoring, and rollback procedures for frequent deployments
• Participate in system design reviews, threat modeling, and performance tuning to optimize high‑volume communication workloads
• Lead cross-functional engineering initiatives, translating complex requirements into actionable roadmaps
• Mentor and develop staff and senior engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and technical guidance
• Collaborate with Product, Security, and Compliance teams to ensure adherence to privacy standards such as HIPAA, SOC 2, and GDPR
• Promote a culture of experimentation, data-driven decision making, and continuous process improvement

Benefits

• Competitive salary aligned with experience and location
• Comprehensive health insurance plans
• Generous paid time off and holidays
• Parental leave and wellness leave policies
• Retirement savings plan with company contributions
• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• Participation in equity and bonus programs (eligibility varies)
• Remote work flexibility and support for home office setup

Equal Opportunity
Twilio is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and related conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, political beliefs, or other protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with applicable laws. We participate in E-Verify where required and are dedicated to ensuring fair and equitable hiring practices for all candidates.