Back to jobs
Senior Software Engineer, ML Inference
Bellevue, WA
Are you ready to revolutionize the advertising industry?
At Cognitiv, we are not just another AdTech company—we are industry trailblazers redefining media buying with our Deep Learning Advertising Platform. Since 2015, we have harnessed the power of cutting-edge deep learning technology and data science to transform how brands connect with their customers. Our mission? To bring intelligence to advertising and deliver unparalleled precision, relevance, and impact at scale.
With our innovative platform, advertisers enjoy unprecedented flexibility—whether it is activating Dynamic Deals through their preferred DSP, leveraging our managed service DSP, or utilizing our industry-first ContextGPT product. As a part of Cognitiv, you will be at the forefront of AI-driven advertising solutions, driving change and achieving remarkable growth in a rapidly evolving industry.
Now, we’re growing!
The Role
We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer focused on ML inference to help build and scale the systems that power Cognitiv’s ML-driven products.
In this role, you’ll work on performance-critical inference systems that enable real-time decision-making at scale. You’ll collaborate closely with ML Researchers, Product, and other Engineers to design, implement, and optimize production ML services used by some of the world’s biggest brands.
This is a hands-on engineering role with meaningful technical ownership and room to grow in scope and influence.
Location: Hybrid - MTW out of our Bellevue WA office.
What You’ll Do
- Build and optimize ML inference systems used in production, leveraging both industry-standard frameworks and in-house technology.
- Implement performance-critical components in C++ and PyTorch/LibTorch with a focus on latency, throughput, and reliability.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with ML Research, Product, and Engineering partners to bring models from experimentation into production.
- Improve existing systems by identifying performance bottlenecks, reliability gaps, and scalability issues.
- Contribute to design discussions and technical reviews for inference-related services.
- Write high-quality, production-ready code with strong testing, monitoring, and documentation.
- Support the full development lifecycle of services you work on, from design through deployment and iteration.
- Mentor and support teammates through code reviews and knowledge sharing.
Tech Stack
- PyTorch / LibTorch
- C++17 or later
- Managed languages: C#, Java
- Cloud platforms: AWS, GCP, or Azure
- ML optimization techniques: parallelism, quantization, tiling, etc.
- Modern ML inference tooling and trends (e.g., ExecuTorch)
Who You Are
- Experienced ML Engineer: ~4+ years working with ML systems in production, including hands-on experience with PyTorch or LibTorch.
- Strong Systems Engineer: ~4+ years of professional C++ experience with attention to performance and memory efficiency.
- Inference-Focused: Experience optimizing models and inference pipelines for real-world constraints like latency and scale.
- Collaborative Communicator: Comfortable explaining technical tradeoffs and working closely with cross-functional partners.
- Ownership-Driven: Able to take responsibility for the services you build and improve them over time.
- Technically Educated: Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Engineering, Math, Physics, or a related field.
Bonus Points If You Have
- Experience with GPU or hardware-accelerated inference (e.g., NVIDIA TensorRT)
- Experience with Docker and Kubernetes
- Familiarity with Infrastructure-as-Code tools (Terraform, Ansible)
- Exposure to advanced ML architectures (e.g., two-tower models, teacher-student learning)
- Experience with Rust
- Familiarity with MLOps tooling (monitoring, lifecycle management, automation)
- Experience using AI-assisted development tools
Salary: $160,000 - $210,000 USD Base Salary + Equity
What We Offer
Compensation is based on experience, skills, and other factors. Base salary is just one part of your total rewards at Cognitiv—you’ll also receive equity and a comprehensive benefits package.
Highlights include:
- Medical, dental & vision coverage (some plans 100% employer-paid)
- 12 weeks paid parental leave
- Unlimited PTO + Work-From-Anywhere August
- Career development with clear advancement paths
- Equity for all employees
- Hybrid work model & daily team lunch
- Health & wellness stipend + cell phone reimbursement
- 401(k) with employer match
- Parking (CA & WA offices) & pre-tax commuter benefits
- Employee Assistance Program
- Comprehensive onboarding (Cognitiv University)
- …and more!
What You’ll Find at Cognitiv
- Festiv – We make work fun with cross-team games, events, and creative team bonding.
- Responsiv – You’ll be close to clients and leadership, influencing real outcomes.
- Inclusiv – Diversity and individuality are celebrated across all levels.
- Inventiv – We reward curiosity and embrace bold ideas.
- Transformativ – We support your growth with training, mentorship, and flexibility.
- Collaborativ – We operate across coasts, connected by purpose and teamwork.
Cognitiv is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all.
Apply for this job
*
indicates a required field