Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Matching and Recommendations

At Bumble Inc., this Principal Machine Learning Engineer role focuses on defining and leading the technical direction for matching and recommendation systems that shape how people discover and connect. You’ll help drive measurable improvements across retrieval, ranking, personalization, experimentation, and marketplace optimization while staying hands-on throughout the full ML lifecycle.

This is a New York, NY onsite position, designed for senior engineers who can operate as an independent technical leader, influence strategy without direct authority, and champion responsible AI practices from model design through deployment.

What you’ll do

• Define and lead the technical strategy for AI and machine learning systems that power recommendations, ranking, and personalization across Bumble products, improving both user engagement and safety
• Design, develop, and deploy production-grade models using modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, with a focus on scalability and reliability in high-traffic environments
• Build and deploy production AI Agents that use raw and fine-tuned Large Language Models (LLMs), including sub-agents, tools, and MCP integrations
• Architect end-to-end ML pipelines, integrating data processing tools such as Spark and Airflow with training, evaluation, and deployment workflows
• Drive experimentation frameworks using A/B testing and offline evaluation to continuously improve model performance and product outcomes
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, and Data leadership to translate business challenges into impactful ML solutions
• Mentor and elevate senior individual contributors, supporting a culture of Excellence, Curiosity, and continuous learning across the ML community
• Own complex and ambiguous problem spaces from insight to impact, adapting approaches with an agile mindset
• Champion responsible AI practices by embedding fairness, transparency, and user safety into machine learning systems

What you bring

• Typically 10–15 years of experience, with openness to alternative backgrounds that demonstrate equivalent skills
• Deep expertise in machine learning, including hands-on experience building and deploying large-scale production systems
• Strong proficiency in Python and at least one major ML framework such as PyTorch or TensorFlow, with experience across areas like recommendation systems, ranking models, or NLP
• Expertise in prompting and fine-tuning LLMs, plus experience building production AI Agents
• Proven ability to design scalable data and ML pipelines using tools such as Spark and Airflow (or similar distributed systems)
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a senior individual contributor, influencing technical strategy and decisions without direct authority
• Experience partnering effectively across functions and taking ownership of outcomes in complex environments
• A track record of mentoring others, role modeling Respect and Excellence, and building inclusive, high-performing teams
• Strong AI fluency to independently design, evaluate, and optimize ML systems and guide others in responsible, effective AI use

Technologies you’ll work with

• Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow
• Large Language Models (LLMs), MCP
• Spark, Airflow
• A/B testing

Compensation

• USD 345,000 - 410,000 per year
• Final compensation will be determined based on qualifications, relevant experience, skill set, and other job-related considerations

Inclusion at Bumble Inc.

• Bumble Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and encourages people of all ages, color, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and non-binary people, veterans, parents, people with disabilities, and neurodivergent people to apply
• Reasonable adjustments are available to help you feel more confident throughout the process; you can share what you need
• You can include your pronouns in your application (for example, she/her, he/him, they/them)

How Bumble may use AI in the hiring process

• Bumble may use AI tools to support parts of recruitment such as recording, transcribing, summarizing conversations, and aligning job requirements by comparing resumes and job descriptions to highlight skills and potential matches
• All hiring decisions are made by people; AI is used only to support efficiency and improve candidate experience, not to evaluate or decide on candidacy
• Participation in AI-supported interviews and conversations is voluntary and does not affect candidacy
• If you prefer to opt out, tell your recruiter or interviewer at the start of a call or anytime during the interview or conversation
• Summaries and related data are retained only as long as needed under internal retention policies, and you can request deletion by contacting your recruiter

Fraudulent candidate detection

• Bumble’s applicant tracking system analyzes signals related to device, IP, email, and phone data to protect applicants and the hiring process
• These signals are used only for internal review and are not a definitive determination of identity or intent
• No applicant is rejected, advanced, or otherwise affected based solely on this analysis without human review