Senior Software Engineer - AI/ML

Job Title: Senior Software Engineer – AI/ML

Location: Boston Office (Hybrid)

Who We Are

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators, and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K–12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions, and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students’ potential and extend teachers’ capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.

About this opportunity

We are seeking accomplished and forward-thinking Senior Engineers with expertise in ML and Python development to join our dynamic team dedicated to advancing Large Language Models (LLMs) based systems. As a Senior Engineer, you will be instrumental in designing, developing, and optimizing cutting-edge language processing solutions, pushing the boundaries of what language models can achieve.

What you will do

• Design, develop, and deploy large-scale multimodal information retrieval and content generation systems using open-source frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, ChromaDB, FAISS, FastAPI, Flask, and other foundation models.
• Design and develop data processing and MLOps pipelines.
• Implement techniques like instructional tuning, reinforcement learning from human feedback, and efficient fine-tuning (e.g., p-tuning, adaptors, LoRA) to optimize large language models for various retrieval-augmented generation scenarios.
• Rigorously evaluate and benchmark the performance of models and applications.
• Collaborate with architects to define the LLM-based systems' architecture, ensuring alignment with scalability, performance, and robustness objectives.
• Lead the acquisition, creation, and annotation of specialized datasets for training large language models across diverse functions.
• Define performance and quality indicators for various AI and system components across different platforms.
• Participate in interdisciplinary teams to innovate new products and enhance current features, encompassing design, code development, review, use case analysis, and test plan evaluation.
• Foster a culture of innovation, addressing and proposing solutions to challenges in a collaborative team setting.
• Design and implement high-quality, scalable software solutions, emphasizing the efficiency and effectiveness of LLM capabilities.
• Identify and optimize bottlenecks within the LLM-based systems to improve system responsiveness and throughput.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, such as machine learning researchers, software architects, and product managers, to define requirements and provide cohesive solutions.
• Conduct comprehensive code reviews ensuring adherence to best practices and software quality standards and promote continuous improvement in development processes.
• Produce and maintain technical documentation, including design specifications, code annotations, and user manuals.
• Address complex technical challenges related to language processing, system performance, and integration with strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

What you will need

• Bachelor's or Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of hands-on software development experience or Ph.D. with 2 years of experience.
• Proficient in Python programming with a strong foundation in coding practices, optimization, design, and architecture.
• In-depth knowledge of machine learning and deep learning principles, algorithms, and tools, with practical exposure to convolutional and recurrent neural networks and transformer models (such as BERT, BART, GPT/T5/Llama2, and LLMs).
• Hands-on experience with conversational AI technologies such as Natural Language Understanding, Natural Language Generation, Dialogue Systems (including system integration, state tracking, and action prediction), Information Retrieval, Question Answering, and Machine Translation.
• Ability to fine-tune LLMs for different information retrieval and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) applications using PyTorch/Tensorflow.
• Experience in developing large-scale multimodal information retrieval systems utilizing open-source frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, ChromaDB, FAISS, FastAPI, Flask, etc.
• Familiarity with search technologies.
• A thorough understanding of the MLOps lifecycle, including hands-on experience with MLOps processes, traceability, and versioning of datasets, and familiarity with database management and querying (using SQL, MongoDB, etc.).
• Familiarity with comprehensive MLOps platforms like Kubeflow, MLFlow, and AirFlow.
• Exceptional teamwork and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to work effectively and influentially in a dynamic setting.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and a creative mindset to address complex AI challenges.
• Demonstrated experience with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, and the skills to deploy scalable, reliable solutions therein.
• Exceptional ability to develop scalable, high-performance AI solutions that incorporate considerations for data privacy and security.
• Keen interest in exploring and implementing new tools, technologies, and techniques to enhance language processing capabilities.
• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving abilities, with a focus on delivering innovative solutions.

How We Work (Competencies)

• Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives
• Action Oriented: Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Optimizes Work Processes: Knowing the most effective and efficient processes to get things done, with a focus on continuous improvement.
• Manages Complexity: Making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.

Salary Range: $101k - 140k.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, family status, marital status, pregnancy, gender identity, ethnic/national origin, ancestry, age, disability, military status, genetic predisposition, citizenship status, status as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, Armed Forces service medal veteran, other covered veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment, and where employees are treated with respect and dignity. We actively participate in E-Verify.

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