Systems Software Engineer - Machine Learning Ops

Job Summary

Alignerr is seeking a senior systems software engineer with deep C+ expertise to build and optimize the data pipelines, annotation tooling, and evaluation infrastructure that leading AI labs depend on. This is a fully remote, flexible contract role for engineers who thrive at the intersection of systems programming and cutting-edge AI. You will work on real production systems, tackle high-impact challenges, and contribute to the infrastructure that powers next-generation AI models. If you are passionate about systems programming and want to directly shape AI development, this role offers serious technical depth and the autonomy of freelance work with the substance of high-impact projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimize high-performance C+ systems supporting large-scale AI data pipelines and evaluation workflows.
• Develop full-stack tooling and backend services for data annotation, validation, and quality control at scale.
• Improve reliability, performance, and safety across production C+ codebases.
• Identify and resolve bottlenecks, edge cases, and systemic issues in data and system behavior.
• Collaborate with data, research, and engineering teams to support model training and evaluation workflows.
• Participate in synchronous design reviews to iterate on architecture and implementation decisions.
• Work with hardware acceleration APIs to optimize model inference performance.
• Contribute to the design of evaluation systems that measure model quality and safety.
• Document technical designs, operational procedures, and system architecture for team reference.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

• Native or fluent English speaker with clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Full-stack developer with a strong systems programming background.
• 5+ years of professional experience writing production-grade C+.
• Experience working with the C+ frontends of ML frameworks or inference runtimes.
• Familiarity with hardware acceleration APIs (e.g., CUDA, ROCm) for optimizing model inference.
• Able to commit 20-40 hours per week with reliability and consistency.
• Prior experience with data annotation, data quality, or evaluation systems is a plus.
• Familiarity with AI/ML workflows, model training, or benchmarking pipelines is preferred.
• Experience with distributed systems or developer tooling is a plus.

Skills Inventory

• Expert proficiency in C+ (C++11 and beyond).
• Strong understanding of systems programming, memory management, and performance optimization.
• Experience with backend services and API development (e.g., REST, gRPC).
• Familiarity with version control systems like Git and CI/CD pipelines.
• Knowledge of ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and their C+ interfaces.
• Understanding of data pipeline architectures and data quality assurance.
• Ability to debug complex system issues and write maintainable, safe code.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills for remote teamwork.

Salary & Compensation Estimation

This contract role offers an hourly rate of $50 to $75 USD per hour, which is competitive for senior systems engineering expertise. For a commitment of 20-40 hours per week, the estimated monthly compensation ranges from $4,000 to $12,000 USD, depending on hours worked and specific project demands. As a contractor, you will not receive employee benefits such as health insurance or paid time off, but you will enjoy flexible scheduling and the potential for ongoing contract extensions as new projects launch.