Platform Engineer

Department: Technology

Location: San Francisco

Compensation: $160K – $200K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

Our Mission and Vision

Unlearn exists to transform clinical development by making every trial smarter. We harness data, AI, and digital twins to enable faster, more robust studies that bring life-saving treatments to patients faster. This mission drives everything we do as we partner with biopharmaceutical companies to redesign how clinical trials are planned, run, and analyzed.

We are defining the future of clinical development with unmatched scientific credibility, replacing uncertainty with AI-powered precision so decisions are clearer and trials are stronger. We don’t just disrupt the pharmaceutical industry, we create lasting change.

We believe AI will define the future of medicine, and we are committed to building that future responsibly, rigorously, and in close collaboration with our partners in clinical development.

About Our Team

We come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from machine learning to marketing—but regardless of where we come from, Unlearners share some common traits:

• Unlearners are ambitious; we aren’t intimidated by big, challenging goals.

• Unlearners are disciplined experimenters; we break down our big goals into smaller chunks and meet as often as necessary to track our velocity and iterate quickly.

• Unlearners are gritty; we never give up, setbacks just make us try harder.

• Unlearners are receptive to new ideas; in fact, we hate being stuck with the status quo

• Unlearners are storytellers; sharing information with each other and with the world is super important, too important to be boring. And, last but not least,

• Unlearners are team-oriented; we put the mission first, the company second, the team third, and individuals last.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Unlearn was founded in 2017 by a team of world-class machine learning scientists. We have raised venture capital from top tier investors such as Altimeter, Insight Partners, Radical Ventures, 8VC, DCVC, and DCVC Bio, and completed our $50 million Series C in January 2024.

If our purpose and culture resonate with you, we invite you to apply.

The Role

We are seeking a high-caliber Platform Engineer to join our mission. At our core, we believe that world-class AI and software is only as good as the platform it runs on. We are looking for a software engineer who views MLOps and infrastructure as a software problem.

In this role, you will build the Clinical AI Platform for our science and product teams, creating internal tools, automated workflows, data tools, pipelines, and infrastructure that allow out teams to deliver value to our customers. You will be the architect of a resilient, high-performance ecosystem designed specifically for the unique demands of clinical data and high-compute AI workloads.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute Data Platform and MLOps initiatives, driving technical decisions and ensuring alignment with business priorities and timelines

• Develop and implement infrastructure roadmaps, effectively communicating progress, challenges, and resource needs to leadership

• Architect and implement scalable platform solutions that support both internal development and production deployments

• Establish and maintain infrastructure best practices that balance reliability, efficiency, security, and compliance requirements

• Partner with product engineers and scientists to understand their data and platform needs and translate them into actionable solutions

• Ensure infrastructure decisions and implementations align with security best practices and regulatory requirements

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience building software platforms, data engineering, or MLOps initiatives

• Track record of successfully delivering complex infrastructure projects and driving technical decisions

• Strong communication skills with experience presenting technical concepts to leadership and stakeholders

• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS; Azure and GCP a plus), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform)

• Proven ability to architect and implement MLOps solutions in production environments

• Strong programming, scripting, and automation skills

• Familiarity with Data Engineering tools (dbt) and pipelines (Dagster) in a plus

• Familiarity with compliance requirements in regulated industries, such as healthcare or life sciences is a plus

Nice to Haves

• Experience with MLFlow and Databricks

• AI/ML Awareness: Familiarity with the unique infrastructure needs of AI (e.g., NVIDIA Triton, Slurm, or Ray)

What We Value

• Pragmatism over Dogma: You choose the right tool for the job, not just the trendiest one.

• Ownership: You don't just "deploy" code; you take pride in the long-term reliability and scalability of what you build.

• Empathy: You build for your "customers"—the internal engineers—and prioritize their productivity and happiness.

Benefits & Perks

The following benefits and perks are for full time roles only.

• Generous equity participation

• 100% company-covered medical, dental, & vision insurance plans

• 401k plan with matching

• Flexible PTO plus company holidays

• Annual company-wide break December 24 through January 1

• Commuter benefits

• Paid Parental Leave

Unlearn is an equal opportunity employer. 

At Unlearn, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, because inclusion and diversity are essential to achieving our mission. If you’re excited about this role, and your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless.