Job Description
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Zendesk's people have one goal in mind: to make Customer Experience better.
The Enterprise Machine Learning team drives organizational value through scalable ML solutions and data-driven insights, fundamentally changing how business decisions are made. We collaborate closely with stakeholders, applying the latest advances in machine learning, deep learning, and large language models (LLMs) to create highly impactful outcomes. Our commitment is to advance the state of AI, statistical modeling, and robust system design to enhance and expand our core business capabilities.
Role Overview
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As a Senior AI Engineer, you will be a cornerstone of our technical strategy, leading the charge in building and deploying sophisticated AI systems, with a heavy focus on Large Language Models (LLMs) and Agentic Architectures.
You will not just build models; you will architect the future of our intelligent ecosystem. You will bridge the gap between deep technical implementation and high-level business strategy, ensuring that every line of code translates into measurable enterprise value. Your unique ability to weave complex AI concepts into actionable, stakeholder-ready narratives will be key to driving adoption and scaling our AI-first vision across the entire organization.
Key Responsibilities
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- Take full accountability for business KPIs (e.g., churn, AI adoption) by deeply understanding user workflows to ensure we build the right solutions, not just technically sound ones.
- Design, build, and deploy production-grade LLM applications—including agents, context engineering, and text-to-SQL—owning the entire journey from prototype to global scale.
- Establish rigorous evaluation frameworks and automated feedback loops to measure system accuracy, capture user outcomes, and drive relentless iteration.
- Develop high-performance Python services and APIs that seamlessly integrate advanced AI capabilities into our modern web ecosystem.
- Architect and maintain the underlying data foundations using Snowflake, dbt, and Airflow to ensure our AI products are powered by robust, reliable data.
- Act as a technical translator for non-technical partners, demystifying complex AI concepts to bridge the gap between engineering and business operations.
- Champion the latest advancements in LLMs and agentic architectures while leveraging AI-assisted development tools (Cursor, Claude Code) to maximize delivery velocity.
What We are Looking For
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Education & Experience
- 3+ years' experience in AI engineering, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field
- BA/BS in Computer Science, Data Science, or related discipline (advanced degree is highly preferred)
Business Acumen & User Focus
- A proven track record of shipping production-grade intelligent systems (ML models, AI features, or recommendation engines) and refining them through rigorous feedback loops and real-world user impact.
- You form data-driven opinions on the product roadmap, grounded in a deep understanding of user needs and behavioral data.
- Experience engaging directly with users to deconstruct their workflows, ensuring your technical architecture is always driven by solving actual friction points.
- Exceptional ability to build trusted relationships with cross-functional partners, acting as a strategic consultant who bridges the gap between complex AI logic and business operations.
Technical Expertise
- Proven expertise in architecting and benchmarking LLM-native applications, including autonomous agents and LLM workflows.
- F luency in agentic design patterns, advanced prompt/context engineering, and rigorous model evaluation methodologies.
- Strong Python skills tailored for both high-performance AI logic and scalable backend service architecture.
- Advanced SQL capabilities with extensive experience navigating and optimizing large-scale cloud data environments.
- Strong command of backend API design and a solid understanding of the full web development lifecycle.
