Senior Machine Learning Engineer (cornell)

Job Description

Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Remote)

*No Visa Sponsorship is available for this position.

About the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a globally recognized leader in technology, data management, and large-scale citizen science supporting birds and biodiversity conservation. We curate more than a petabyte of digital assets, one billion bird sightings, and leverage innovative big data analysis tools and machine learning to produce web applications and services to empower a global community of bird and nature enthusiasts, researchers, conservationists, and educators. The Lab is in an incredible growth phase and navigating exciting challenges to scale our data-driven tools and services for conservation communities in all corners of the globe. eBird collaborates with hundreds of regional organizations in more than 80 countries who are using eBird, Merlin Bird ID, Birds of the World, and other resources as a platform to advance their conservation goals.

The Opportunity

The Senior Machine Learning Engineer will use their skillsets in science, technology, and engagement to empower people and partners in conserving birds and biodiversity. Their vision and prototyping work will demonstrate what is possible when machine learning is applied to the world’s greatest conservation challenges. These innovations are the hook for engaging millions of people with birds.

We are seeking a visionary technologist and entrepreneurial leader driven to blend research, technology, and community engagement, catalyzing conservation efforts and fostering global appreciation for healthy ecosystems.

Ideal candidates will be enthusiastic about leveraging machine learning to tackle extremely difficult engineering and community challenges in a collaborative setting. They will pioneer novel approaches for biodiversity classification, detection, and analysis. This position will lead the vision for Merlin Sound ID, Merlin Photo ID, MerlinVision, and related machine learning services embedded in the Merlin app and eBird/Macaulay Library production services.

Key responsibilities include:
 

• Machine Learning Engineering – Lead and direct innovative research that will keep the Lab at the forefront of advances in the field of machine learning. Guide engineers in training and evaluating models, and building associated training datasets.
• Innovation Engineering - Develop machine learning prototypes and concepts that integrate into the Merlin app and other related products.
• Software Engineering - Facilitate the transition of prototypes into production versions within a collaborative software engineering team environment.
• Leadership and Mentorship - Recruit, develop, and mentor a team of researchers and engineers to support these initiatives.

While position responsibilities vary, all people leaders are expected to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment by being trustworthy; respecting all individuals; being flexible; supporting work/life integration as well as healthy boundaries; inviting new ideas, alternatives, and perspectives; speaking up and acting if others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and recognizing the contributions of others. 

Join us in shaping the future of conservation technology and making a lasting impact on global biodiversity and ecosystem health.

What We Need

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree in in computer science or related field with a focus in machine learning, computer vision, or related sub area of machine learning or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• At least seven (7) years of experience in machine learning and computer vision.
• Demonstrated experience in algorithm development and structured programming ability.
• Experience developing software tools and algorithms to process images or acoustic data.
• Extensive Python experience, including knowledge of numpy, pandas, Tensorflow and/or Pytorch.
• Extensive experience working with large numerical and audiovisual datasets in Python.
• Extensive Linux command line experience; comfortable with SSH, SCP, RSYNC, Parrallel.
• Experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Experience with databases, both SQL and Non-SQL.
• Experience building frontend user interfaces and integrating with APIs and web services.
• Experience applying signal and image processing techniques and theory to visual or acoustic pattern recognition problems.
• Proven experience in the integration of large-scale, multi-layered research projects into a production engineering system.
• Proven experience in developing and implementing technical requirements, specifications and documentations for data processing systems through the application of engineering and scientific procedures.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Must enhance the performance of a team through productive collaboration.
• Must have a record of repeated success in conducting research and managing projects with both short-term and long-term goals. Demonstrated record of scientific publications.
• Must have a record of successfully reporting and meeting schedules and milestones of engineering/technology development projects that involve multiple stages and several participants.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and wellbeing.
• Demonstrated skill in understanding of cultural differences.  

If you have all those things, great! We have a few more things that we would prefer you to have, but it’s ok if you don’t.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in Computer Science or related field.
• Experience with mobile application development such as Swift, Objective-C, Java, and/or Kotlin.
• Substantial experience working with natural world fine-grained detection and classification focused on machine learning.
• Knowledge of birds, conservation, or natural science.
• Prior use and understanding of Merlin, eBird, and other Cornell Lab tools and resources.

Application Information:

• A Cover Letter and Resume are required for further consideration for this position. When applying through our system, please remember to attach your application materials (Cover Letter and Resume) in PDF format.
• Visa Sponsorship of any kind is not available for this position.

What We Offer

Rewards and Benefits

• This position is based in Ithaca, New York, however, the successful applicant may perform this role remotely anywhere within the United States. Employees who work remotely may receive multiple W-2 Forms depending on their work location.
• The New York Convenience of employer guidelines require New York State individual tax reporting and withholding for this position. Additional individual state income tax filings may also be required if working temporarily outside of New York State.
• Cornell receives national recognition as an award-winning workplace for our health, wellbeing, sustainability, and diversity initiatives.
• Our benefits programs include comprehensive health care options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands. We invite you to follow this link to get more information about our benefits: https://hr.cornell.edu/benefits-pay.
• Follow this link to learn more about the Total Rewards of Working at Cornell: https://hr.cornell.edu/jobs/your-total-rewards.
• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1.
• Cornell's impressive educational benefits include tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program, tuition aid for external education, and Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program.

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• Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position

• Unique applicable skills

• Academic Discipline

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Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University’s heritage. We are a recognized employer and educator valuing AA/EEO, and we do not tolerate discrimination based on any protected characteristic, including race, ethnic or national origin, citizenship and immigration status, color, sex/gender, pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, age, creed, religion, actual or perceived disability (including persons associated with such a person), arrest and/or conviction record, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender expression and/or identity, an individual’s genetic information, domestic violence victim status, familial status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also recognize a lawful preference in employment practices for Native Americans living on or near Indian reservations in accordance with applicable law. 

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