Machine Learning Career Path
Explore the machine learning career ladder from Intern to Principal. See skills needed at each level and salary expectations.
Roles
7
in machine learning
Career Levels
5
Intern to Principal
Median Salary
$206,825
across all levels
Browse Jobs
→
machine learning openings
Career Ladder
Progression from Intern to Principal in machine learning
Intern
$168,000 median
Applied Scientist
Machine LearningStatisticsResearchPythonDeep LearningNLP
Mid-Level
$193,600 median
Machine Learning EngineerAI EngineerResearch ScientistAI Research ScientistApplied Scientist
Machine LearningPythonDeep LearningMLOpsTensorFlowPyTorchFeature EngineeringAI/ML
Senior
$213,000 median
Machine Learning EngineerML Platform EngineerAI Infrastructure EngineerAI EngineerResearch ScientistAI Research ScientistApplied Scientist
Machine LearningPythonDeep LearningMLOpsTensorFlowPyTorchFeature EngineeringML Infrastructure
Staff
$253,500 median
Machine Learning EngineerML Platform EngineerAI Infrastructure EngineerAI EngineerResearch ScientistAI Research ScientistApplied Scientist
Machine LearningPythonDeep LearningMLOpsTensorFlowPyTorchFeature EngineeringML Infrastructure
Principal
$245,050 median
Machine Learning EngineerML Platform EngineerAI Infrastructure EngineerResearch ScientistAI Research ScientistApplied Scientist
Machine LearningPythonDeep LearningMLOpsTensorFlowPyTorchFeature EngineeringML Infrastructure
Salary Progression
Median salary by seniority level
Skills by Level
Which skills are needed at each career stage
Skill
Intern
Mid-Level
Senior
Staff
Principal
Machine Learning
Python
Deep Learning
Research
NLP
Statistics
MLOps
TensorFlow
PyTorch
Feature Engineering
LLMs
Mathematics
Publications
Computer Vision
AI/ML
Roles in Machine Learning
7 canonical roles in this family
AI Engineer
IC
AI/MLLLMsPython
midseniorstaff
AI Infrastructure Engineer
IC
GPU ComputingDistributed TrainingCloud
seniorstaffprincipal
AI Research Scientist
IC
Deep LearningMachine LearningPython
midseniorstaffprincipal
Applied Scientist
IC
Machine LearningStatisticsResearch
internmidseniorstaffprincipal
Machine Learning Engineer
IC
Machine LearningPythonDeep Learning
midseniorstaffprincipal
ML Platform Engineer
IC
MLOpsML InfrastructurePython
seniorstaffprincipal
Research Scientist
IC
ResearchMachine LearningMathematics
midseniorstaffprincipal
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