Senior Lead Machine Learning Engineer - AI Agents
Company: Upwork
Location: Washington
Posted on: January 20, 2026
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Job Description:
Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s human and AI-powered work
marketplace that connects businesses with highly skilled,
AI-enabled independent talent from across the globe. From
entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 enterprises, companies rely on
Upwork’s trusted platform and its mindful AI companion, Uma, to
find and hire expert talent, leverage AI-powered work solutions,
and drive business transformation. With on-demand access to
professionals spanning more than 10,000 skills across AI & machine
learning, software development, sales & marketing, customer
support, finance & accounting, and more, Upwork enables businesses
of all sizes to scale, innovate, and build agile teams for the age
of AI and beyond. We’re seeking a Senior Lead AI/ML Engineer to
drive the next generation of agentic intelligence through
human-machine collaboration across Upwork’s platform. This is a
high-impact, hands-on role at the intersection of research,
platform engineering, and developer experience. You’ll lead the
development of systems and protocols for AI Agents to support
internal and external developers through APIs and SDKs, and serve
as a thought partner in the evolution of human-machine
collaboration at Upwork. This is a unique opportunity to help
define a rapidly growing domain and influence how autonomous agents
are designed, built, and deployed at scale. Youll collaborate
across research, engineering, product, and developer relations,
ensuring agent-based systems are powerful, extensible, and
developer-friendly. Responsibilities • Architect and implement
scalable infrastructure to support LLM-based Agentic systems,
including multi-agent pipelines, and real-time orchestration. •
Design APIs, SDKs, and internal tooling to accelerate productivity
through AI agent adoption. • Drive developer advocacy by partnering
to produce technical content, samples, and reference architectures
that simplify integration with our platform. • Partner with
cross-functional stakeholders to align technical solutions with
product strategy, ensuring high developer productivity and agent
performance. • Provide consulting and hands-on support to teams
integrating with our agentic marketplace, advocating for best
practices and evolving the ecosystem based on feedback. •
Contribute to AI/ML research initiatives where applicable,
representing Upwork at conferences and in technical communities.
What it takes to catch our eye • Proven experience designing and
deploying agent architectures, protocols, or LLM-powered workflows
in production environments. • Strong engineering foundation with
expertise in Python and Agent frameworks (e.g., LangChain, Autogen)
and protocols (e.g., MCP, A2A). • Demonstrated success building
developer platforms, APIs, SDKs, tools, or frameworks focusing on
usability, extensibility, and developer support. • Familiarity with
developer relations or solutions engineering, including
documentation, demos, and consultative technical work. • You have a
growth mindset, strong communication skills, and an inclusive
approach to leadership. You are excited to work across functions
and learn from challenges and teammates. Come change how the world
works. At Upwork, you’ll shape the future of work for a global,
remote-first workforce, creating economic opportunities for
professionals worldwide. While we have a physical office in Palo
Alto, we currently hire full-time employees in 34 U.S. states,
making it easier than ever to join our mission from wherever you
call home. Our culture is built on trust, risk-taking, customer
focus, and excellence, all in service of our core mission: to
create economic opportunities so people have better lives. We
embrace authenticity and inclusion, encouraging everyone to bring
their whole selves to work. Personal and professional growth is a
priority here, supported through development programs, mentorship,
and our Upwork Belonging Communities.
Keywords: Upwork, Wilmington , Senior Lead Machine Learning Engineer - AI Agents, IT / Software / Systems , Washington, Delaware
