Alation is pioneering the next era of data intelligence — powered by AI agents and trusted data. Organizations around the world rely on Alation to drive self-service analytics, cloud transformation, data governance, and AI innovation. Our technology helps enterprises connect people and data to make faster, smarter, and more confident decisions. With more than $340M in funding – valued at over $1.7 billion and more than 650 customers, including 40% of the Fortune 100.

As data becomes the foundation of every business, Alation is leading the way in helping organizations unlock their full potential. By bringing intelligence, automation, and trust to every interaction, we empower customers to scale data-driven innovation with confidence and speed.

Joining Alation means being part of a winning team shaping the future of AI-powered data intelligence. We move fast, think big, and deliver results together.

Job Description

Please note that we do not offer work visa sponsorship at any point for this role.

We’re looking for an AI/ML Engineer (Software Engineer II) who’s eager to build intelligent systems that help real businesses work smarter. You’ll work closely with senior engineers and enterprise customers to design and prototype AI applications powered by Alation’s data ecosystem.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys coding, experimenting with large language models, and learning how to turn ideas into real-world systems. You’ll get hands-on experience with modern AI frameworks while developing your skills in data, software engineering, and customer collaboration. One more thing...we work in a hybrid model—you’ll join us in our Redwood City office to collaborate, connect, and enjoy a team atmosphere!

What You’ll Do

Prototype AI Agents: Experiment with modern LLM and agent frameworks (e.g., LangChain, Pydantic-AI) — evaluate, benchmark, and refine performance with guidance from AI experts and researchers.
Collaborate with customers: Partner with technical stakeholders to understand real-world use cases and co-design practical solutions.
Build AI-powered applications: Develop agentic systems that combine structured data, language models, and automation to deliver measurable results.
Code with care: Write clean, well-structured Python code for integrations, pipelines, and intelligent systems.
Grow through teamwork: Work directly with product and platform teams to share insights from real deployments and help improve Alation’s AI platform.
Contribute reusable tools: Help create templates and patterns that speed up future implementations.

Required

1 - 3 years of related experience in a startup or rapidly growing and evolving business.
B.S. in Computer Science or related field (M.S. in Computer Science or related field preferred)
Strong Python fundamentals, with experience writing and debugging production-quality code.
Curiosity and an understanding of LLMs or AI system development — from prompting to evaluation.
Comfort working with SQL and relational data; familiarity with tools like Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift is a plus.
Interest in working across the full lifecycle — from problem framing and prototyping to testing and deployment.
Clear communication skills and an ability to collaborate with both engineers and non-technical teams.
A growth mindset — you like learning new frameworks, exploring ideas, and solving open-ended problems.

Preferred

Experience deploying AI or ML systems in production (e.g., observability, monitoring, and iterative improvement).
Background in forward deployed engineering, solutions engineering, or AI consulting roles.
Familiarity with data infrastructure and MLOps concepts — APIs, orchestration, containerization, and cloud environments.
Understanding of enterprise data governance and access control principles.

Compensation Pay Range

$123,313.00 - $166,473.00

Salary Information

The base salary range is specific to the United States. The salary of the final candidate selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to internal equity, experience, education, work location, specialty and training. If the final candidate has a different level of experience, the base salary target range may be lower or higher than what is published.

Alation, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to that individual’s race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The Company will strive to provide reasonable accommodations to permit qualified applicants who have a need for an accommodation to participate in the hiring process (e.g., accommodations for a job interview) if so requested.

This company participates in E-Verify. Click on any of the links below to view or print the full poster. E-Verify and Right to Work.

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AI/ML Engineer

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