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About This Role
Meta is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Systems/Hardware engineer to join our Release to Production (RTP) team. The RTP team is responsible for the end-to-end hardware lifecycle of all Meta servers, including prototyping, pre-production hands-on system validation, hardware debugging, and stress testing. As a Production Systems Engineer, you will work closely with various teams, including HW/SW co-design teams, hardware designers, networking teams, system manufacturers, component vendors, capacity engineering, production engineering, production services, and data center operations teams to enable new systems that will be deployed in our production data centers.
Production Systems Engineer, Fleet AI Systems Responsibilities:
- Support end-to-end system validation, and deployment for cutting-edge Compute and Storage hardware platforms, including CPUs, flash, and data center processing units (DPUs) in data center environments
- Proactively create experiments and tooling to diagnose and root cause hardware, firmware, and software failures across compute, storage, and networking systems using telemetry, logs, and hands-on debugging
- Design and implement robust system-level test plans, including functional, stress, and performance tests
- Drive component vendors and system manufacturers to resolve hardware and firmware issues identified during production operations
- Interface with external vendors and internal teams to understand the system architecture and develop Hardware Fault Management for various server products
- Drive new platform enablement, hardware validation, tooling specification, and integration, customer workload testing, and experiment creation to detect and diagnose hardware/firmware/software health issues
- Leverage understanding of RAS (reliability, availability, serviceability) to improve error reporting and error handling mechanisms for better operation quality and cost/efficiency
- Analyze production failure data to identify systemic trends and drive corrective actions with internal teams and external vendors
- Create and maintain dashboards and data visualizations to surface hardware health signals and track remediation progress across the fleet
- Drive necessary discussions with external and internal teams on test specifications and methodologies to improve test quality continuously, both within Meta, and in the broader industry
Minimum Qualifications:
- Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Degree must be completed prior to joining Meta
- If this is not a University Grad role, replace with: 'Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience.' If it is a UR role, add the work authorization statement and update the title accordingly
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, a relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
- 2+ years of work experience in one or more domains such as: ASIC development, compute, AI-ML hardware/software, storage, memory, network, server interconnect technologies, or similar
- Knowledge of architecture and components on one of the following products: server, PC, or laptop
- Development or debug experience in one or more areas: hardware fault management, error reporting, error handling on hardware products
- Experience with Python, C/C++ and/or similar languages, within a Linux environment, for server system management, automation, version control, CI/CD, or similar
- Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex technical issues
- Experience communicating technical findings and coordinating with cross-functional teams such as hardware design, firmware, and vendor engineering to drive issue resolution
- Experience working in a matrix organization
Preferred Qualifications:
- Hands-on experience in troubleshooting problems at the system level, crossing across multiple components, as well as hardware/firmware/software boundaries. Hands-on experience in managing/debugging Linux servers
- Understanding of the hardware development process and how it pertains to test strategy. Experience authoring test plans for hardware systems or components
- 5+ years of experience with a subset of one of the following domains: Compute Systems, Storage Systems, Accelerated Compute Systems/HPC, Kernel/Firmware Development and/or testing, Post Silicon Bringup
- Familiarity with debugging tools for systems-on-chip (SoCs) — e.g. JTAG, GDB, DSTREAM, Trace32
- Working/functional knowledge of common bus protocols such as I2C, SPI, USB, LPDDR, and/or PCIe
- 2+ years of experience scripting automation in Python or equivalent
- 3+ years of experience supporting ASIC development (silicon bringup, characterization)
- Experience with x86 or ARM-based CPUs and their subsystems (e.g., memory, inter-chiplet communications, RAS/DFT, power management), SSDs, or DPUs/SmartNIC
About Meta:
Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. People who choose to build their careers by building with us at Meta help shape a future that will take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today—beyond the constraints of screens, the limits of distance, and even the rules of physics.
Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Meta participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law. Please note that Meta may leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in connection with applications for employment.
Meta is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at [email protected].
$118,000/year to $170,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits
Individual compensation is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base hourly rate, monthly rate, or annual salary only, and do not include bonus, equity or sales incentives, if applicable. In addition to base compensation, Meta offers benefits. Learn more about benefits at Meta.
Salary Context
This $118K-$170K range is below the median for AI/ML Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $178K across 1623 roles with salary data).
View full AI/ML Engineer salary data →Role Details
About This Role
AI/ML Engineers build and deploy machine learning models in production. They work across the full ML lifecycle: data pipelines, model training, evaluation, and serving infrastructure. The role has evolved significantly over the past two years. Where ML Engineers once spent most of their time on model architecture, the job now tilts heavily toward inference optimization, cost management, and integrating LLM capabilities into existing systems. Companies want engineers who can ship production systems, and the experimenter-only role is fading fast.
Day-to-day, you're writing training pipelines, debugging data quality issues, setting up evaluation frameworks, and figuring out why your model performs differently in staging than it did on your dev set. The best ML engineers are obsessive about reproducibility and measurement. They instrument everything. They know that a model is only as good as the data feeding it and the infrastructure serving it.
Across the 9,079 AI roles we're tracking, AI/ML Engineer positions make up 76% of the market. At Meta, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week might include: debugging a data pipeline that's silently dropping 3% of training examples, running A/B tests on a new model version, writing documentation for a feature flag system that lets you roll back model deployments, and reviewing a junior engineer's PR for a new evaluation metric. Meetings tend to be cross-functional since ML touches product, engineering, and data teams.
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
Skills Required
Python and PyTorch dominate the requirements. Most roles expect experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and familiarity with ML frameworks like TensorFlow or JAX. RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) has become a top-3 skill requirement as companies integrate LLMs into their products. Docker and Kubernetes show up in about a third of postings, reflecting the production focus of the role.
Beyond the core stack, employers increasingly want experience with experiment tracking tools (MLflow, Weights & Biases), feature stores, and vector databases. Fine-tuning experience is valuable but less common than you'd think from reading Twitter. Most production LLM work is RAG and prompt engineering, not fine-tuning. If you have both, you're in a strong position.
Companies that are serious about AI/ML hiring tend to post specific infrastructure details in the job description: the frameworks they use, their model serving stack, their data pipeline tools. Vague postings that just say 'ML experience required' without specifics are often companies that haven't figured out what they need yet.
Compensation Benchmarks
AI/ML Engineer roles pay a median of $211,950 based on 13,048 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $193,200. This role's midpoint ($144K) sits 32% below the category median. Disclosed range: $118K to $170K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($256,000) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $111,000; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $229,300; Director: $272,300; VP: $235,830.
Meta AI Hiring
Meta has 52 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Research Scientist, Research Engineer, AI Safety. Positions span New York, NY, Austin, TX, US, Burlingame, CA, US. Compensation range: $170K - $347K.
Location Context
AI roles in Austin pay a median of $209,100 across 306 tracked positions.
Career Path
Common paths into AI/ML Engineer roles include Data Scientist, Software Engineer, Research Engineer.
From here, career progression typically leads toward ML Architect, AI Engineering Manager, Principal ML Engineer.
The fastest path into ML engineering is through software engineering with a self-directed ML education. A CS degree helps, but production engineering skills matter more than academic credentials. Build something that works, deploy it, and measure it. That portfolio project is worth more than a Coursera certificate. For career growth, the fork comes around the senior level: go deep on technical complexity (staff/principal track) or move into managing ML teams.
What to Expect in Interviews
Expect system design questions around ML pipelines: how you'd build a training pipeline for a specific use case, handle data drift, or design A/B testing infrastructure for model deployments. Coding rounds typically involve Python, with emphasis on data manipulation (pandas, numpy) and algorithm implementation. Take-home assignments often ask you to build an end-to-end ML pipeline from raw data to deployed model.
When evaluating opportunities: Companies that are serious about AI/ML hiring tend to post specific infrastructure details in the job description: the frameworks they use, their model serving stack, their data pipeline tools. Vague postings that just say 'ML experience required' without specifics are often companies that haven't figured out what they need yet.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 9,079 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 106 entry-level, 4,384 mid-level, 3,343 senior, and 1,246 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (531 positions). The remaining 8,478 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($256,000 median, 66 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 457 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 55 roles).
Demand for AI/ML Engineers has been strong and consistent. Unlike some AI roles that spike with hype cycles, ML engineering is a foundational need. Every company deploying AI models needs people who can keep them running, and the gap between research prototypes and production systems keeps growing.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 9,079 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (6,862), AI Product Manager (453), AI Software Engineer (451). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (106) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,384) and senior (3,343) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,246 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (531 positions), with 8,478 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,000. Top-quartile roles start at $263,911, and the 90th percentile reaches $318,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $256,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,649 postings), Aws (898 postings), Azure (723 postings), Rag (671 postings), Gcp (536 postings), Pytorch (434 postings), Claude (410 postings), Kubernetes (406 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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