Principal Machine Learning Engineer

About the Position

As a Principal Machine Learning Engineer in the Confluence AI organization at Atlassian, you will help shape the next generation of AI-powered experiences across Confluence. This hands-on principal-level role is ideal for an engineer who can turn fast-moving advances in machine learning into high-quality product experiences that reach customers at scale.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for machine learning and AI initiatives that power Confluence experiences.
• Design, build, and evolve production-grade ML systems, evaluation workflows, experimentation loops, and supporting infrastructure.
• Lead the development of customer-facing AI capabilities by translating ambiguous product opportunities into practical technical strategies, measurable outcomes, and shipped experiences.
• Drive advances in areas such as model behavior, retrieval, ranking, prompt and workflow design, automated evaluation, quality measurement, and system reliability.
• Partner closely with engineering, product, design, analytics, and platform teams to align on priorities, influence roadmaps, and deliver cross-organizational initiatives.
• Identify systemic product or model failure modes, develop interventions, and close the loop between technical improvements and customer impact through experimentation and data-driven iteration.
• Make high-leverage architectural decisions across application layers, balancing model quality, latency, cost, safety, maintainability, and user experience.
• Contribute as a deeply hands-on engineer when needed, including prototyping, implementation, debugging, and guiding complex production rollouts.
• Raise the bar for principal-level engineering by mentoring other engineers, leading design reviews, improving technical quality, and establishing reusable patterns that benefit multiple teams.
• Help build the foundations that allow Confluence AI teams to ship deeper, more integrated AI experiences across editor surfaces, content types, and collaborative workflows.

Requirements

• Machine Learning: Strong depth in machine learning.
• AI: Expertise in AI technologies.
• Product Instinct: Ability to identify high-value opportunities.
• Systems Thinking: Ability to think holistically about systems and processes.

We Offer

• Competitive Salary: Base pay ranges from $196,461 - $309,025 per year, depending on the geographic pay zone.
• Benefits: Eligible for additional benefits, bonuses, commissions, and equity.
• Flexible Work Location: Option to work in an office, from home, or a combination of both.
• Professional Growth: Opportunities for mentoring, leading design reviews, and establishing reusable patterns.

About the Company

At Atlassian, we empower teams to deliver their best work through our suite of products, including Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket. We offer a flexible work environment that allows our employees to choose where they work, whether in an office, from home, or a combination of both. We are committed to designing equitable, explainable, and competitive compensation programs.

For more information on our geographic pay zones, please visit go.atlassian.com/payzones.

---

Apply for this job and join our Talent Community to stay updated on company and career opportunities.