Principal Machine Learning System Engineer

Role Description

As a Principal Machine Learning Systems Engineer on the Search Platform team, you set the technical direction for search infrastructure that powers Rovo, Jira, Confluence, and the broader Atlassian AI platform. You operate with broad organizational influence, driving outcomes across teams and functions without relying on positional authority.

• Technical Vision & Cross-Team Leadership:
  • Define and champion the multi-year technical roadmap for search serving, vector infrastructure, and agentic retrieval.
  • Identify architectural inflection points — such as the evolution from keyword to semantic search, or the shift toward retrieval-for-agents.
  • Build organizational consensus around the right path forward.
  • Earn alignment through technical credibility, clear reasoning, and the ability to make complex tradeoffs legible to engineers, product managers, and senior leadership alike.
• Leading Without Authority:
  • Drive high-impact initiatives across teams that do not report to you.
  • Influence peers, partner teams, and stakeholders by framing problems compellingly.
  • Co-author shared technical strategies and create forums — deep dives, design reviews, working groups — where the best ideas win on merit.
  • Navigate ambiguity and competing priorities across the Search Platform, ML Platform, AI Gateway, and Rovo product teams.
• Agentic Search & Retrieval Architecture:
  • Own the technical strategy for retrieval systems that ground Rovo agents and AI workflows.
  • Anticipate how agentic use cases will stress existing search architecture and proactively design for those requirements before they become blockers.
• Platform Scalability & Operational Excellence:
  • Set the standard for production ML serving, cost discipline, and reliability across the search stack.
  • Drive FinOps-oriented decisions — such as vector cluster right-sizing and query embedding caching — that deliver material infrastructure savings without sacrificing SLO targets.
• Engineering Craft & Mentorship:
  • Raise the technical bar across the organization through code review, design feedback, and sponsoring the growth of senior engineers toward principal-level impact.

Qualifications

• Experience in machine learning systems engineering.
• Strong technical leadership skills.
• Ability to influence without authority.
• Experience with search infrastructure and retrieval systems.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

Requirements

• Proven track record of driving high-impact initiatives.
• Experience in cross-team collaboration and leadership.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and competing priorities.
• Strong understanding of production ML serving and operational excellence.

Benefits

• Health and wellbeing resources.
• Paid volunteer days.
• Equitable and competitive compensation programs.
• Potential eligibility for bonuses, commissions, and equity.

Company Description

At Atlassian, we're motivated by a common goal: to unleash the potential of every team. Our software products help teams all over the planet and our solutions are designed for all types of work. Team collaboration through our tools makes what may be impossible alone, possible together.

• We believe that the unique contributions of all Atlassians create our success.
• We never discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status.
• To provide you the best experience, we can support with accommodations or adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process.