Staff Machine Learning Engineer (Modeling), Support at Block

Block is one company built from many blocks, all united by the same purpose of economic empowerment. The blocks that form our foundational teams — People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security, Platform Infrastructure Engineering, and more — provide support and guidance at the corporate level. They work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines to develop inclusive People policies, forecast finances, give legal counsel, safeguard systems, nurture new initiatives, and more. Every challenge creates possibilities, and we need different perspectives to see them all. Bring yours to Block.The RoleBlock's Support ML Modeling team is a central driver of innovation in customer support experiences across our entire ecosystem—including Cash App, Square, and other business units. We are dedicated to advancing the state of intelligent, automated support through machine learning and generative AI. From customer-facing chatbots to smart internal tools for agents, our team builds high-impact, scalable systems that improve support quality, efficiency, and accessibility.We're building the future of support at Block: one powered by AI, voice interfaces, and smart automation. We're looking for candidates with a passion for intelligent systems, practical ML experience, and a desire to build product-driven solutions. Our ideal candidate is a leader in the field, with a proven track record of building ML systems that can accelerate our ability to scale our conversational AI initiatives.You WillLead the end-to-end delivery of multiple ML initiatives, from planning and design through rollout, documentation, and long-term maintenancePartner strategically with risk, product, engineering, design, and operations leaders to define and drive long term ML roadmaps, informed by domain expertise and industry trendsGuide the team's direction, identifying new ML/AI opportunities and advising leadership on strategic tradeoffs and opportunitiesDrive R&D efforts exploring next-generation chatbot architectures using LLMs, RAG, fine-tuning, and real-time inferenceDesign, deploy, and maintain ML models powering conversational agents including support chatbots across Cash App, Square, and other Block productsDevelop ML-powered tools and real time recommendation systems that enhance support agent effectiveness and customer outcomesAct as the technical representative for your team's systems and programs, clearly communicating work and results to stakeholders, cross-functional partners, and external audiencesYou Have10+ years of experience in machine learning, applied AI, or product ML roles, with deep technical expertiseDemonstrated leadership capabilities, with the ability to influence and align cross-functional teams while directly shaping the work of peers through communication, context sharing, and technical guidanceA track record of delivering organizational wide impact, shaping systems, frameworks, or initiatives that raise the bar across multiple teams or functionsProven ability to ship end to end ML features from problem framing through deployment and long-term maintenanceDemonstrated experience with language models, dialog systems, or generative AI in productionStrong foundation in NLP, deep learning, or ML infrastructure best practices.Excellent communication skills, with the ability to represent the team's work to leadership and stakeholdersEnthusiasm for R&D and pushing the boundaries of applied AI to transform conversational systemsTechnologies We Use and TeachPython, PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAXWe're working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is an equal opportunity employer evaluating all employees and job applicants without regard to identity or any legally protected class. We will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and "fair chance" ordinances.We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we're doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.While there is no specific deadline to apply for this role, U.S. roles are typically open for an average of 55 days before being filled by a successful candidate. Please refer to the date listed at the top of this job page for when this role was first posted.Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S. locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information.  Zone A:$276,800—$415,200 USDZone B:$276,800—$415,200 USDZone C:$276,800—$415,200 USDZone D:$276,800—$415,200 USD