Machine Learning Software Engineer

Machine Learning Software Engineer (Remote)

*No Visa Sponsorship is available for this position.

About the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a tech-centered conservation organization with a mission to advance the understanding and protection of birds and biodiversity. By engaging millions of people across the globe who watch birds, producing scientific and technical resources, and partnering across governments, non-profits, and industry we are working to solve big environmental challenges. We rely on a small, dedicated team of engineers to curate more one than billion bird sightings and take creative approaches to building apps that help communities in all corners of the globe connect to birds and monitor bird populations. 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 and Merlin as a platform to advance their conservation goals.

The Opportunity

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is seeking a creative, mission-driven Machine Learning Software Engineer to join the team that develops machine learning models incorporated into Merlin Bird ID, a mobile app that helps millions of people worldwide identify birds using automated detection and classification of birds in images, audio, and video. This role will join a team that shares the mission of connecting people to nature and conservation through birds. As part of a team of software engineers, content creators, machine learning researchers, and conservation scientists this role will be critical to integrate machine learning models into products for a global community of birders, researchers, and conservation practitioners.

This role will join an engineering team to design, implement, and maintain complex applications and datasets for training Merlin’s machine learning models and integrating models into apps and websites (in both online and offline contexts). This position will work at the intersection of machine learning research, global community participation in data collection, and production software systems, to deliver innovative public-facing software designed to engage people in birds and support conservation decision-making.

The Machine Learning Software Engineer will be expected to: 1) manage software engineering projects with multiple, concurrent development efforts, interact with both internal and external collaborators and architect application solutions, 2) serve as a primary technical liaison between internal engineering teams, supporting coordination and integration of application infrastructure to meet strategic objectives, 3) develop production applications, and 4) participate actively in the design and evolution of CLO technical systems, including the integration of machine learning research into production systems. 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is an inclusive community, and we recognize that diverse, inclusive communities create more innovative and impactful work to address global challenges and benefit humanity and nature. The Cornell Lab is committed to fostering a healthy workplace that values diverse perspectives and backgrounds as well as supporting growth and advancement opportunities. The Lab welcomes staff who are still learning in their careers and who are motivated to take on new challenges.

What We Need

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and three (3)+ years of relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Experienced in machine learning and software development in research and production environments.
• 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, parallel.
• Experience with AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Experience with databases, both sql and non-sql.
• Experience building frontend user interfaces with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS and integrating with APIs and web services.
• Demonstrated experience in managing complex information technology projects, including needs assessment, team organization, definition of standards and workflows, task planning and tracking, establishment of realistic goals, and delivery of products on time and within budget.
• Experience defining project requirements, including hardware and software.
• Experience using software development, deployment and project management tools.
• Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to clearly communicate complex technical issues to leadership team, and to participate effectively as needed in management meetings at all levels.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively. Ability to build working relationships to solve problems and achieve common goals.
• Must be able to handle multiple concurrent tasks and priorities, and adapt to changing priorities, situations and demands.
• 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 preferred with more than seven (7) years’ experience.
• Prior use and thorough understanding of Merlin, eBird, or other Cornell Lab tools and resources.
• Understanding of and interest in conservation, birds, bird monitoring protocols, and related vocabulary.
• Experience with the following enterprise components: web servers (e.g., Apache HTTP Server) including virtual host and SSL certificate management; Java application servers (e.g., Apache Tomcat); content management systems (e.g., WordPress); servers providing GIS functionality (e.g., GeoServer); relational databases (e.g., Postgres); single sign-on systems; LDAP servers; automation servers (e.g., Jenkins); analytics and user tracking (e.g., Firebase, HubSpot).
• Knowledge of security issues, disaster recovery, monitoring, virtualization, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise storage technologies.
• Experience writing grants and seeking external funding to support technical infrastructure.

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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