Hiring a machine learning engineer in San Francisco? Across 644 live machine learning engineer postings in San Francisco, the market pays a $236K median salary (typically $200K–$278K). 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 in San Francisco means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 644 active machine learning engineer postings in San Francisco:
A sample of the companies with live machine learning engineers openings in San Francisco:
| Company | Actively hiring |
|---|---|
| Waymo | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Apple | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| ServiceNow | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| machine learning engineers in San Francisco | |
| Tesla | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Roblox | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| General Motors | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Wayve | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Unity Technologies | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Startup | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Atoms | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
| Reducto | machine learning engineers in San Francisco |
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 in San Francisco command in 2026?Across 644 live postings in San Francisco, a $236K median salary (typically $200K–$278K) — 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, data pipelines, AWS, Kubernetes, Java, GCP), 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.
How does Recruiting from Scratch hire machine learning engineers?On a contingency model — no retainer, no upfront cost, pay only on a hire — with a 29-day average time to hire (industry average 49 days), a 90-day replacement guarantee, and named hires at companies like Decagon and Mercor.
Recruiting from Scratch also publishes salary benchmarks and recruiting-firm rankings for machine learning engineers.
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