--- title: 'Staff Machine Learning Engineer, AI Generation Engine at SandboxAQ' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-machine-learning-engineer-ai-generation-engine-sandboxaq-united-states-d6rzbj25ackr' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-09' --- # Staff Machine Learning Engineer, AI Generation Engine at SandboxAQ - **Company:** SandboxAQ - **Location:** United States - **Compensation:** $157k–$294k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2026-01-09 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/sandboxaq/f760ffd1-3795-4fb1-bb33-8478d4bab7f6/application **Skills:** Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, NumPy, Pandas, MLOps, CI/CD for ML, Weights & Biases, MLflow, Automated testing, Version control, GCP, AWS, Financial simulation, Risk simulation > The Staff Machine Learning Engineer leads the end-to-end ML lifecycle for AI-first SaaS products, leveraging Large Quantitative Models and agentic frameworks. Responsibilities include designing data pipelines, developing novel ML models, and ensuring scalable production deployment while collaborating with cross-func... ## Job description ## ABOUT SANDBOXAQ SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors. We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders. At SandboxAQ, we’ve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we’re building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact. ## THE OPPORTUNITY The AI Generation Engine (SAIGE) team is responsible for rapidly designing, prototyping, and validating AI-first SaaS products that leverage SandboxAQ’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) and emerging agentic frameworks. The team operates at high velocity, bridging cutting-edge AI research and production-grade software to unlock new use cases across the company. SandboxAQ's AI Generation Engine (SAIGE) team is seeking a highly accomplished Machine Learning Engineer to take ownership of the end-to-end ML lifecycle, from initial data exploration and model development to scalable production deployment. This role is central to designing and rapidly building AI-first products that incorporate Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) and sophisticated agentic frameworks. We are looking for a hands-on engineer who is passionate about owning the entire lifecycle of model development. This requires significant industry experience in bringing machine learning models from conception and experimentation to production and deployment in a robust, scalable manner, including (but not limited to): Data Acquisition and Curation, Infrastructure, Pre-Training, Evaluations, and Fine-Tuning. This person will be one of the founding engineers to join the SAIGE team and will be the bridge between cutting-edge AI concepts and functional, real-world MVPs. As a Machine Learning Engineer on the SAIGE team, your primary goal will be to rapidly iterate on different potential solutions to build and evaluate new models, focusing on speed and tangible outcomes. You'll be part of a diverse team consisting of software engineers, ML experts, products managers and user experience researchers, where they will play a key role in efficient and effective enablement of the cutting-edge technologies being developed at SandboxAQ. ## KEY RESPONSIBILITIES - Design, construct, and manage robust data pipelines for the training, validation, and continuous retraining of Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) and agentic frameworks. - Develop, implement, and rigorously test novel ML models and algorithms, defining appropriate metrics to ensure model performance aligns with high-level product objectives. - Lead the effort in cleaning, transforming, and engineering features from complex and large-scale datasets to optimize LQM performance and predictive accuracy. - Conduct deep analysis of model behavior, performance, and failure modes, tuning hyper-parameters and optimizing model architecture for efficiency, speed, and accuracy in a production context. - Collaborate closely with AI researchers, product managers, and SWEs to translate high-level business objectives into actionable ML development and deployment roadmaps. - Champion and enforce exceptional engineering standards for code quality, system efficiency, and security in a prototyping environment - Drive technical execution with high autonomy, making critical design and implementation decisions independently ## ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE - BS in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent field of study - 8+ years of postgraduate experience in software development - Experience developing highly-available, performant, scalable ML systems, including large-scale data processing pipelines. - Strong expertise in Python (including the ML stack: PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, NumPy, Pandas) - Long, successful history of driving the full ML lifecycle: from initial data exploration and hypothesis testing to architecture, model training, evaluation, and production deployment. - Deep proficiency in MLOps and software best practices, including CI/CD for ML, experiment tracking (e.g., Weights & Biases, MLflow), automated testing, and version control for both code and datasets. ## HIGHLY DESIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE - MS or PhD in Software Engineering, Computer Science or equivalent experience - Financial simulation or technical experience, risk simulation - Equivalent experience includes tech leadership in a complex space, driving technical design and execution cross-collaboratively across multiple teams and organizations - Experience with scalable software development on cloud computing platforms (e.g., GCP, AWS) WHY JOIN US? We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support your health, financial well-being, and life outside of work. - Compensation: Competitive base salary, performance-based incentives or bonuses (where applicable), and equity participation. - Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents with generous employer premium contributions, retirement savings with company matching, paid parental leave, and inclusive family-building benefits. - Work-Life Balance: Flexible paid time off, company-wide seasonal breaks, and support for flexible work arrangements that enable sustainable performance. - Career Development: Opportunities for continuous learning and growth through on-the-job development, cross-functional collaboration, and access to internal learning and development programs. ## SANDBOXAQ WELCOMES ALL We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging and respect, where diverse perspectives are actively sought and valued. Our multidisciplinary environment provides ample opportunity for continuous growth - working alongside humble, empowered, and ambitious colleagues ready to tackle epic challenges. Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. Accommodations: We provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in job application procedures for open roles. If you need such an accommodation, please let a member of our Recruiting team know. Read: Guidance for candidates on using AI Tools in interviews https://www.sandboxaq.com/ai-in-interviews ## About SandboxAQ ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: SandboxAQ develops Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) that combine AI and quantum techniques to solve real-world challenges in drug discovery, materials, navigation, cybersecurity, and other high-impact sectors. - **Entity Type**: Private (Late Stage; raised $1.6B total, including Series E, venture rounds, and grants) - **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, United States - **Founded**: 2021 (spun out from Alphabet in 2022) - **Founders**: Jack Hidary (CEO); Eric Schmidt serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors ## Core Business - **Primary Industries**: AI/Quantum software, life sciences (drug discovery), cybersecurity, financial services, navigation/defense, materials science - **Target Customers**: B2B, serving large enterprises and government organizations in pharma, energy, defense, finance, and logistics - **Mission**: Revolutionize industries with groundbreaking solutions at the intersection of AI and quantum technology ## Products & Services - **AQBioSim**: AI simulation platform for accelerating molecular design and reducing failure rates in drug discovery (SaaS) - **LQMs for Cybersecurity**: Cryptography management and quantum-safe security solutions (e.g., post-quantum cryptography, key management) - **AI Navigation & Sensing**: Precise positioning and navigation systems resistant to jamming/spoofing, leveraging AI and quantum sensors (SaaS + hardware integration) - **Materials & Chemistry Modeling**: LQMs that predict atomic-level properties to unlock new compounds for chemicals and materials (SaaS) - **Financial Services LQMs**: Models for risk analysis, portfolio optimization, and fraud detection (SaaS) ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed; total funding reached $1.6 billion - **Key Metric**: Total Funding: $1.6B (13 rounds); Annual Revenue (estimated): $9M (via disclosed financial data) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: T. Rowe Price, Eric Schmidt, Breyer Capital, Guggenheim Partners, Marc Benioff, Thomas Tull, Paladin Capital Group, Nvidia (backed via grant/award) - **Growth Signals**: - Headcount: ~296 employees (+10.6% YoY) - Operating in 16 countries (US, Canada, UK, France, Spain, Switzerland, etc.) - Acquired Good Chemistry (Jan 2024) and Cryptosense (Sep 2022) to expand capabilities - Recent funding: $95M venture round (July 2025), additional private equity round (Feb 2026) - US government awarded $500M (Nvidia-backed) for finding new outcomes (likely defense/pharma contract) - Recognized with multiple industry awards (Fierce Innovator in Life Sciences 2025, Wash100 Award, etc.) ## Competitive Advantages - **Quantitative AI (LQMs)**: Models that understand the physical world (molecules, materials, navigation) – distinct from purely data-driven LLMs - **Alphabet Spinout Heritage**: Foundational technology and talent from Google’s parent company - **Multidisciplinary Team**: Physicists, chemists, cryptographers, AI researchers – rare combination - **Strong Government & Enterprise Ties**: Direct contracts with US defense and pharma, plus deep investor network - **Integrated Portfolio**: One platform covering simulation, cybersecurity, and sensing – creating cross-selling opportunities ## Strategic Focus - **Scale LQM Applications**: Expand from drug discovery into climate, energy, and defense - **Deepen Government Partnerships**: Capitalize on $500M US award and develop mission-critical navigation/security systems - **Build Ecosystem**: Open APIs and partnerships with cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Databricks) to embed LQMs into existing workflows - **Talent Acquisition**: Aggressively hiring ML engineers, computational chemists, and research scientists to maintain technical lead ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Emphasizes inclusion, service leadership, and fearlessness. Described as “the most humble player in the AQ industry” with a growth mindset. - **Remote/Hybrid Policy**: Flexible work environment; home office stipend and connectivity stipend provided; regular offsites for collaboration. - **Benefits**: Best-in-class medical, dental, vision; 100% paid maternity/paternity leave; 401k with company match; wellness stipend; learning & development programs; flexible time off including winter break and volunteering days. - **Engineering Culture**: Hands-on work at the frontier of AI and quantum; cross-disciplinary teams (physics, chemistry, neuroscience, cryptography); opportunity to publish research and attend conferences. - **Growth Opportunities**: Residency program for early-career scientists; stock options; clear career progression in a fast-growing late-stage startup. ## Sources 1. [sandboxaq.com](https://www.sandboxaq.com/) 2. [sandboxaq.com/company/about-us](https://www.sandboxaq.com/company/about-us) 3. [sandboxaq.com/careers](https://www.sandboxaq.com/careers) 4. [linkedin.com/company/sandboxaq](https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandboxaq) 5. 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