Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Voice Assistant
Roku · Boston, United States +1 · 2mo ago
Teamwork makes the stream work.
Roku is changing how the world watches TV
Roku is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and we've set our sights on powering every television in the world. Roku pioneered streaming to the TV. Our mission is to be the TV streaming platform that connects the entire TV ecosystem. We connect consumers to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers unique capabilities to engage consumers.
From your first day at Roku, you'll make a valuable - and valued - contribution. We're a fast-growing public company where no one is a bystander. We offer you the opportunity to delight millions of TV streamers around the world while gaining meaningful experience across a variety of disciplines.
About the Team
The Roku Voice team is responsible for Roku's Voice product, which is used by millions of Roku users. We allow our users to easily and effortlessly control their TV, find content to stream, and more, all through the power of their voice. We deliver this engaging and delightful experience to our users through state-of-the-art technologies and platforms.
About the Role
Roku's Entertainment Assistant team is looking for ambitious, experienced machine learning engineers with a background in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, natural language understanding, machine learning, automated speech recognition, conversational systems, and building large-scale production systems. You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to contribute to building the very core of Roku's Entertainment Assistant and be part of a world-class team.
For Massachusetts Only - The estimated annual salary for this position is between $216,000 - $273,400 annually. Compensation packages are based on factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, certifications, and specific geographical location. This role is eligible for health insurance, equity awards, life insurance, disability benefits, parental leave, wellness benefits, and paid time off
How will I use AI at Roku?
At Roku, we don’t just use AI, we work with it. AI agents and smart tools help power drafts, analysis, and repetitive workflows, while our people bring direction, judgment, and accountability. We’re looking for curious, adaptable builders who can show how they’ve used AI or automation to move faster, raise the bar, and scale their impact.
We value your AI skills if you have built fluency across the agentic engineering toolchain — coding harnesses like Claude Code or Cursor, MCP servers, custom skills, or agent frameworks. And you can describe projects where you shipped real work with these tools. You know how to drive an agent, verify its output, and ramp on an unfamiliar codebase with an agent helping you.
What You'll Be Doing
- Design and develop software and algorithms for Roku’s state-of-the-art entertainment assistant
- Design and develop software components for high-availability and high-performance cloud solutions
- End-to-end responsibility from developing a proof of concept to production
- Have a strong programming background with a lot of hands-on experience in building large-scale production systems
- Strong algorithmic background and like intellectual challenges and solving complex problems
- Working across teams and pulling in the best talent from the organization to achieve your goals
- Contribute with new ideas and evaluate multiple solutions with your peers before settling down on specific solutions
- You are self-driven, willing, and able to take complete ownership of initiatives and make pragmatic technical decisions
We're Excited If You Have
- 5+ years of industry experience (or advanced degree with 3+ years) applying ML/AI to NLU or related domain
- Experience working with big data systems (Spark, EMR, S3, Airflow) and programming languages (Java or Python, or C++)
- Good understanding of machine learning fundamentals like regression, classification, ranking, neural networks, and sequence models for text/speech
- Hands-on experience in building challenging production systems
- Strong CS fundamentals, with the ability to write algorithms with ease
- Familiarity and experience deploying and maintaining machine learning models (transformer-based models in production is a plus), including identifying the right KPIs and objective functions
- Experience with advanced machine learning techniques, including LLM and generative AI
- Experience building in-production NLU and/or ASR systems
- Bachelor's Degree preferred
#LI-SSC
What's Roku's approach to hybrid working?
Roku fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment where teams generally work in the office Monday through Thursday. Fridays are generally flexible for remote work, except for employees whose specific roles or assigned office location require five days' a week attendance.
What are some of the benefits?
Roku is committed to offering a diverse range of benefits as part of our compensation package to support our employees and their families. Our comprehensive benefits include global access to mental health and financial wellness support and resources. Local benefits include statutory and voluntary benefits which may include healthcare (medical, dental, and vision), life, accident, disability, commuter, and retirement options (401(k)/pension). Employees are supported in taking time off, in accordance with local leave policies and other personal needs to support their evolving work and life needs. It's important to note that not every benefit is available in all locations or for every role. For details specific to your location, please consult with your recruiter.
Accommodations
Roku welcomes applicants of all backgrounds and provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments in accordance with applicable law. If you require reasonable accommodation at any point in the hiring process, please direct your inquiries to EmployeeRelations@Roku.com.
What should I know about Roku's culture?
Roku is a great place for people who want to work in a fast-paced environment where everyone is focused on the company's success rather than their own. We try to surround ourselves with people who are great at their jobs, who are easy to work with, and who keep their egos in check. We appreciate a sense of humor. We believe a fewer number of very talented folks can do more for less cost than a larger number of less talented teams. We're independent thinkers with big ideas who act boldly, move fast and accomplish extraordinary things through collaboration and trust. In short, at Roku you'll be part of a company that's changing how the world watches TV.
We have a unique culture that we are proud of. We think of ourselves primarily as problem-solvers, which itself is a two-part idea. We come up with the solution, but the solution isn't real until it is built and delivered to the customer. That penchant for action gives us a pragmatic approach to innovation, one that has served us well since 2002.
To learn more about Roku, our global footprint, and how we've grown, visit https://www.weareroku.com/factsheet.
By providing your information, you acknowledge that you want Roku to contact you about job roles, that you have read Roku's Applicant Privacy Notice, and understand that Roku will use your information as described in that notice. If you do not wish to receive any communications from Roku regarding this role or similar roles in the future, you may unsubscribe at any time by emailing WorkforcePrivacy@Roku.com.