Sr ML Engineer

About the job About Us Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. The company is dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by providing the best way to pay and be paid. At Visa, employees have the opportunity to create impact at scale by tackling meaningful challenges, growing their skills, and seeing their contributions make a difference worldwide. Joining Visa means engaging in work that matters to you, your community, and the global economy. Progress starts with you. About The Role We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Machine Learning Engineer to join our Merchant Data Platform (MDP) AI/ML team. In this role, you will be instrumental in building the next generation of an AI-powered merchant ecosystem that leverages advanced machine learning and generative AI techniques. Your work will focus on enhancing merchant data quality, unlocking actionable insights, and powering critical business decisions across Visa’s extensive global network. The ideal candidate will design, develop, and deploy scalable ML models and pipelines that improve data standardization, entity resolution, and attribute inference. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, data engineers, and platform teams, to translate complex business problems into innovative ML solutions. Your expertise will contribute to creating high-performance systems capable of handling real-time data processing at scale, ensuring reliability, efficiency, and continuous improvement of models and data quality frameworks. This role also involves mentoring junior engineers, refining MLOps practices, and participating in the evolution of our AI/ML infrastructure. The position offers a unique opportunity to influence Visa’s technological landscape and contribute to the development of data-driven products that deliver significant business value worldwide. Qualifications The ideal candidate will possess a minimum of 2 years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree or 5+ years of professional experience in machine learning and data science. Strong proficiency in Python and familiarity with ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or equivalent are essential. Candidates should have hands-on experience with distributed systems, big data technologies like Spark, and cloud platforms, demonstrating the ability to develop and deploy scalable ML pipelines. A solid understanding of core ML principles, including model evaluation, feature engineering, and data pipeline construction, is required. Experience with real-time inference systems, MLOps tooling, and data quality frameworks is highly desirable. Excellent problem-solving skills, the ability to work independently on ambiguous challenges, and strong collaboration skills are necessary to succeed in this role. Preferred qualifications include experience with generative AI, large language models (LLMs), infrastructure automation, and developing scalable products for cybersecurity or other enterprise applications. Responsibilities Design, develop, and deploy scalable machine learning models and pipelines to enhance merchant data, including entity resolution, attribute inference, and data standardization. Create end-to-end ML solutions encompassing data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, deployment, and monitoring to ensure high performance and reliability. Apply advanced techniques such as NLP, LLMs, and probabilistic modeling to address challenges like merchant name normalization, brand hierarchy mapping, and data deduplication. Collaborate with product managers, data engineers, and platform teams to translate business needs into effective ML-driven solutions and influence product development strategies. Develop and maintain data quality frameworks and observability systems to monitor model performance, detect data drift, and improve accuracy over time. Optimize ML models and systems for latency, throughput, and cost efficiency, especially in real-time and large-scale environments. Contribute to and improve MLOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, feature stores, model lifecycle management, and experimentation frameworks. Mentor junior engineers, review code and design documents, and promote best practices within the team to foster technical excellence. Benefits Visa offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the well-being and professional growth of its employees. Eligible employees can access medical, dental, and vision insurance plans, along with a 401(k) retirement savings plan, FSA/HSA options, and life insurance coverage. The company also provides paid time off, wellness programs, and resources to promote a healthy work-life balance. Employees may also benefit from performance-based bonuses and equity options, depending on their role and location. Work hours vary based on departmental needs, with a requirement of at least three days in the office per week, as determined by the hiring manager. The position involves travel estimated at 5-10% of the time, facilitating collaboration across teams and regions. Visa fosters an inclusive environment that encourages continuous learning, innovation, and career development. Equal Opportunity Visa is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status. The company also considers qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with EEOC guidelines and applicable local laws. Visa values diversity and believes that a diverse workforce drives innovation and success. Desired Skills and Experience Machine Learning, Data Engineering, MLOps, Data Analysis, Big Data, AI