Dropbox is a Virtual First company. For this role, we are currently only authorized to hire candidates from the following provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.

Role Description

As a Senior Machine Learning Engineer, you will play a key role in advancing Dropbox’s mission to create a more enlightened way of working. You will be involved in shaping the future direction of the organization and pushing the boundaries on what the world thinks is possible. Leveraging cutting-edge AI/ML technologies, you will design, build, deploy, and refine large-scale machine learning systems. Your work will power Dropbox Dash’s universal AI search and AI-assisted organization features, transforming how millions of Dropbox users collaborate, stay organized, and focus on the work that truly matters.

Collaborating closely with cross-functional teams, you'll leverage your ML expertise to tackle audacious challenges. Your contributions will directly impact millions of users, as every line of code you write furthers our mission to revolutionize the way people work and collaborate.

Our Engineering Career Framework is viewable by anyone outside the company and describes what’s expected for our engineers at each of our career levels. Check out our blog post on this topic and more here .

Responsibilities

Design, build, evaluate, deploy and iterate on large scale Machine Learning systems and LLM systems across cloud and mobile/edge environments.

Understand the Machine Learning stack at Dropbox, and build systems that help Dropbox personalize their users’ experience. Develop and maintain production-quality code for serving machine learning models at scale.

Lead end-to-end LLM workflows: data curation, prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)pipelines, tool use/agents, and fine-tuning (e.g., instruction tuning, LoRA/adapters) with rigorous evaluation.

Optimize for latency, cost, and quality using techniques like quantization, distillation, caching, batching, and autoscaling; tailor models for on-device vs. cluster execution.

Establish robust offline/online evaluation: experiment design, A/B testing, guardrails and safety checks, hallucination mitigation, and automated monitoring/observability with clear SLOs.

Communicate technical trade-offs, risks, and impact to cross-functional stakeholders; write clear design docs, roadmaps, and decision records.

Mentor teammates, contribute to code reviews and best practices, and help shape the technical direction of ML and AI at Dropbox.

Many teams at Dropbox run Services with on-call rotations, which entails being available for calls during both core and non-core business hours. If a team has an on-call rotation, all engineers on the team are expected to participate in the rotation as part of their employment. Applicants are encouraged to ask for more details of the rotations to which the applicant is applying.

Requirements

BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or other quantitative fields or related work experience

8+ years of experience in engineering with 5+ years of experience building Machine Learning or AI systems

Professional working experience in ML modeling for at least one of the following: Recommender Systems, Search, or Ranking.

Strong industry experience working with large scale data

Strong collaboration, analytical and problem-solving skills

Familiarity with the state-of-the-art in Large Language Models

Proven software engineering skills across multiple languages including but not limited to Python, Go, C/C++

Experience with Machine Learning software tools and libraries (e.g., PyTorch, Scikit-learn, numpy, pandas, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications

PhD in Computer Science or related field with research in machine learning.

Experience with one or more of the following: Natural Language Processing, Deep Learning, Recommender Systems, Learning to Rank, Speech Processing, Learning from Semi-structured Data, Graph Learning, Large Language Models, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation.

Experience building 0→1 ML products at large (Dropbox-level) scale or multiple 0→1 products at smaller scale including experience with large-scale product systems.

Compensation Canada Pay Range $199,800—$270,300 CAD

The range listed above is the expected annual salary/OTE for this role, subject to change.

Salary/OTE is just one component of Dropbox’s total rewards package. All regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or a sales incentive (target included in OTE) as well as stock in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Company Description

Dropbox isn’t just a workplace—it’s a living lab for more enlightened ways of working. We're a global community of bold visionaries and resourceful doers who are shaping the future of Dropbox—and with it the future of work. Our Virtual First model combines the autonomy of a distributed workplace with the power of human connection, making space for both meaningful work and meaningful relationships. With our start-up mindset and enterprise-level opportunities, you can be who you are and grow into who you’re meant to be. Here, you can own your impact to make work more intuitive, joyful, and human—for you as a Dropboxer and for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. If you're ready to push boundaries—and yourself— Dropbox is ready for you.

Team Description

The Dropbox Engineering Team builds the technology that creates more enlightened ways of working for hundreds of millions of people. Every day, our platforms—including Dropbox Dash, Dropbox Sign, and our core sync engine—handle over a billion files for users worldwide, creating engineering challenges as great as the opportunity for impact. Our software engineering team uses a range of technologies to solve interesting problems, including Python, React, Node.js, JavaScript, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, and Android development. We think like a startup but build for an enterprise, exploring new possibilities that transform how people work. If you're excited about turning complex technical challenges into intuitive solutions at scale, join our Engineering team.

Areas of work include Machine Learning Engineers, Infrastructure Engineer, Product SWE Frontend and Backend, Mobile Software Engineers (iOS and Android), Engineering Manager, Data Engineer, Software Development Engineer in Test, Security Engineering, Site Reliability Engineer, Technical Program Managers, Network Engineer, Datacenter Engineer, Technical Supply Chain Manager and more.

Benefits

Dropbox is committed to investing in the holistic health and wellbeing of all Dropboxers and their families. Our benefits and perks programs include, but are not limited to:

Competitive medical, dental and vision coverage*

Retirement savings through a defined contribution pension or savings plan**

Flexible PTO/Paid Time Off, paid holidays, Volunteer Time Off, and more, allowing you time to unplug, unwind, and refresh

Income Protection Plans: Life and disability insurance*

Business Travel Protection: Travel medical and accident insurance*

Perks Allowance to be used on what matters most to you, whether that’s wellness, learning and development, food and groceries, and much more

Parental benefits including: Parental Leave, Fertility Benefits, Adoptions and Surrogacy support, and Lactation support

Mental health and wellness benefits

Additional benefits details are available upon request.

• Where group plans are not available, allowances may be provided

**Benefit, amount, and type are dependent on geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy

Dropbox supports responsible use of AI for preparation, but misrepresentation of skills or experience is not permitted. See our AI philosophy .

Dropbox is an equal opportunity employer. We are a welcoming place for everyone, and we do our best to make sure all people feel supported and connected at work. A big part of that effort is our support for members and allies of internal groups like Asians at Dropbox, BlackDropboxers, enABLE, TODOS (Latinx), Pridebox (LGBTQ), Vets at Dropbox, and Women at Dropbox.