Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Remote Type: Fully Flexible

Time Type: Full time

Job Description

Job Description

Zendesk’s people have one goal in mind: to make Customer Experience better. 

The Enterprise Machine Learning team drives organizational value through scalable ML solutions and data-driven insights, fundamentally changing how business decisions are made. We collaborate closely with stakeholders, applying the latest advances in machine learning, deep learning, and large language models (LLMs) to create highly impactful outcomes. Our commitment is to advance the state of AI, statistical modeling, and robust system design to enhance and expand our core business capabilities.

Role Overview:

As a Senior ML Engineer, you will serve as a technical and strategic member within the team, driving the development and deployment of advanced data science and machine learning solutions—particularly those harnessing LLMs and deep learning. You will architect and scale ML systems, foster effective cross-functional collaborations, and ensure that business value is embedded in every technical decision. Your business acumen allows you to translate complex analytical approaches into actionable insights and stakeholder-friendly narratives, strengthening partnership and adoption across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and develop robust data infrastructure using industry-standard tools like Snowflake, dbt, and Airflow, creating the foundation for our AI products

• Build scalable, reliable data systems—from data ingestion, data curation, data modeling to insight generation and visualization

• Develop Python backend services that connect our data infrastructure with modern web applications

•  Collaborate with ML engineers, analysts, and business stakeholders to understand needs and deliver practical solutions with measurable business impact

• Effectively articulate complex data concepts to non-technical partners, bridging gaps between technical teams and business operations

• Drive adoption of best practices in data engineering and analytics, including testing, documentation, and observability

• Monitor and optimize data pipelines and analytics workflows in production, ensuring reliability and performance

• Stay abreast of the latest industry advancements in data engineering, analytics, LLMs, and web application development

What We are Looking For:

• Education & Experience:

  • 3+ years’ experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field

  • BA/BS in Computer Science, Data Science, or related discipline (advanced degree is highly preferred)

• Technical Expertise:

  • Strong SQL skills and hands-on experience with Snowflake or similar cloud data warehouses

  • Proficiency with dbt for data transformation and modeling

  • Experience with Airflow or similar workflow orchestration tools

  • Strong Python programming skills for both data analysis and backend development

  • Experience building and optimizing data pipelines that feed analytics and ML applications

  • Familiarity with web development concepts and backend API design

  • Experience handling and analyzing large datasets in cloud environments

  • Nice-to-have: Experience with frontend technologies, particularly React

• Business Acumen:

  • Deep understanding of the "data → insights → visualization → action" workflow

  • Demonstrated success in translating business needs into analytical solutions

  • Strong stakeholder engagement skills, with a track record of building trusted business partnerships

• Communication & Collaboration:

  • Exceptional ability to simplify and communicate complex data science concepts to technical and non-technical audiences alike

  • Experience working cross-functionally with engineers, analysts, and product leaders

  • Steadfast commitment to continuous learning, collaboration, and fostering an inclusive, innovative team environment

Why You Will Thrive Here:

• Opportunity to work at the intersection of data analytics, AI, and software engineering

• A chance to evolve from traditional data analytics to building intelligent, LLM-powered applications

• An environment that values innovation, ownership, and professional growth

• The chance to work on high-visibility, high-impact projects alongside a passionate team

About Zendesk

Zendesk builds software for better customer relationships. It empowers organizations to improve customer engagement and better understand their customers. Zendesk products are easy to use and implement. They give organizations the flexibility to move quickly, focus on innovation, and scale with their growth. 

More than 100,000 paid customer accounts in over 150 countries and territories use Zendesk products.  Based  in  San  Francisco,  Zendesk  has operations  in  the  United  States,  Europe,  Asia,  Australia,  and  South  America.

Interested in knowing what we do in the community? Check out the Zendesk Neighbor Foundation to learn more about how we engage with, and provide support to, our local communities.  

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

By submitting your application, you agree that Zendesk may collect your personal data for recruiting, global organization planning, and related purposes.  Zendesk's Candidate Privacy Notice explains what personal information Zendesk may process, where Zendesk may process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over Zendesk’s use of your personal information.  

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Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your specific accommodation request.