Staff Machine Learning Engineer - Vision AI

Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy. Toast powers restaurants of every size, from neighborhood favorites to the largest multi-unit brands in the industry. We're investing in Vision AI to help operators see more of what's happening in their restaurants and act on it, so they can run more efficiently, provide better service, and become even more profitable.

We're looking for a Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Vision AI to build the platform and the products that bring it to restaurant operators. You'll own major parts of the system end to end, from the services that process video to the customer-facing features operators use every day, and you'll have real influence on how Vision AI is built.

• →Solid engineering experience. 8+ years building and shipping models in production.
• →Mastery of a modern backend language such as Python, Java, Kotlin, Go, or Scala.
• →Comfort with AI and models. Experience integrating AI or ML models, or LLM and vision-language model APIs, into production features.
• →Strong understanding of data modeling, query languages, and the online/offline data patterns that underpin ML systems.
• →Deep proficiency with distributed systems concepts: consistency, latency, throughput, fault tolerance, and observability.
• →Pragmatic engineering. You build the simplest solution that solves the problem well, without over-engineering, and know when to invest in more.
• →Zero-to-one experience. Experience taking ambiguous ideas from prototype to production with real customers.
• →AI-forward ways of working. Daily use of AI coding assistants and agent harnesses (e.g. Claude Code, Cursor).
• →Collaboration and communication. Ability to work closely with product, design, and engineering partners and explain tradeoffs clearly.
• →Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience

At Toast, one of our company values is that we're hungry to build and learn. We believe learning new AI tools empowers us to build for our customers faster, more independently, and with higher quality. We provide these tools across all disciplines, from Engineering and Product to Sales and Support, and are inspired by how our Toasters are already driving real value with them. The people who thrive here are those who embrace changes that let us build more for our customers; it’s a core part of our culture.

At Toast, our employees are our secret ingredient—when they thrive, we thrive. The restaurant industry brings together people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we value that same breadth at Toast. We strive to build a culture grounded in authenticity, respect, and humility, where every Toaster has a real opportunity to grow, contribute, and do their best work—raising the bar in delivering exceptional experiences for our customers and each other.

Toast is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive hiring process. As part of this commitment, we strive to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities to enable them to access the hiring process. If you need an accommodation to access the job application or interview process, please contact candidateaccommodations@toasttab.com.

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