Hiring a machine learning engineer for remote roles? Across 322 live machine learning engineer postings for remote roles, the market pays a $215K median salary (typically $185K–$260K). Recruiting from Scratch is the contingency technical recruiting firm for these hires — a 29-day average time to hire, 300+ placements, and a 2M+ candidate network.
A machine learning engineer builds, trains, and deploys machine-learning models and the production systems that serve them. Hiring one for remote roles means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 322 active machine learning engineer postings for remote roles:
| Percentile | Base salary |
|---|---|
| 25th | $185K |
| Median | $215K |
| 75th | $260K |
Based on 182 machine learning engineer postings for remote roles that disclose pay. Base only — equity is typically on top.
Remote roles pay about 6% above the US median for this role ($203K).
Across the 242 machine learning engineer postings for remote roles that spell out responsibilities:
The companies with the most live machine learning engineer openings for remote roles, with what each pays and screens for (medians shown only where at least 3 postings disclose pay):
| Company | Open machine learning engineer roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Top skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | $276K | PyTorch, Python, Go | |
| Torc | 8 | $249K | PyTorch, Python, Docker |
| 8 | $264K | SQL, Python, Java | |
| Affirm | 8 | $211K | Airflow, MLflow, Kubeflow |
| Grafana Labs | 7 | $114K | TypeScript, Salesforce |
| Zillow | 6 | $223K | Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow |
| Atlassian | 6 | — | PyTorch, Python, TensorFlow |
| Airbnb | 6 | $275K | Python, PyTorch, Java |
| Featherless.ai | 5 | — | PyTorch, Experiment Tracking, Python |
| Tenex | 4 | — | Python, Go, Rust |
Where the machine learning engineer demand sits across funding stages, across the 149 companies with the most live openings for remote roles:
| Stage | Companies hiring | Open roles | Median pay (disclosed) | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 7 | 12 | $260K | Clera, DUKU AI, Nexad |
| Series A | 12 | 21 | — | Featherless.ai, Quantiphi, Faculty |
| Series B | 12 | 22 | $186K | Roboflow, Motional, Quilter |
| Series C | 11 | 12 | $185K | Helm.ai, Built Robotics, Headspace |
| Series D+ | 39 | 59 | $187K | Grafana Labs, Tenex, Entefy |
| Public | 29 | 109 | $260K | Reddit, Pinterest, Affirm |
A further 39 of those companies have no funding stage on file and are not shown above.
Recruiting from Scratch is a contingency technical recruiting firm — no retainer and no upfront cost, so you pay only when you make a hire. The process: align on the role and must-haves → a curated shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified machine learning engineers (not resume volume) → a 29-day average time to hire versus the 49-day industry average → a 90-day replacement guarantee. Backed by 300+ placements, a 2M+ candidate network, and named hires at companies like Decagon and Mercor.
A machine learning engineer builds, trains, and deploys machine-learning models and the production systems that serve them.
What salary does a machine learning engineer for remote roles command in 2026?Across 322 live postings for remote roles, a $215K median salary (typically $185K–$260K) — base only; equity is typically on top. Most postings expect 5+ years of experience.
What should you look for when hiring a machine learning engineer?Depth in the skills these postings require (Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, AWS, GCP, Java, Kubernetes, Airflow), plus ML fundamentals paired with real production engineering — not just notebooks. Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified candidates, not resume volume.
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