Machine Learning Engineer

About Ode. Ode is a technology studio that works where the stakes are highest. Our clients are scientists tracking emissions, journalists investigating environmental harm, and nonprofits protecting ecosystems - organizations like ClimateTRACE, WWF, the UN, and Reuters. We bring them the data, AI, and design capabilities that have historically been out of reach. The Role. We bring in ML Engineers on a project basis when client work requires training or adapting models that off-the-shelf solutions can’t handle. Most of that work is geospatial, as in adapting foundation models to specific geographies, feature sets, or environmental conditions, but the domain varies by client and problem. You’d work closely with our AI Applications Engineers, who own the product layer, and our Platform Engineers, who own deployment and infrastructure. Your job is the model itself: what it’s trained on, how it performs, and whether it’s ready to ship. What you’ll do. Assess whether a client problem requires custom model training or can be solved with existing models and adaptation techniques Fine-tune or train geospatial and other domain-specific ML models for client use cases Prepare and validate training datasets, including messy or undocumented geospatial sources Design and implement evaluation criteria and test suites for models you train Document models, training procedures, and evaluation results for handoff to the AI Applications and Platform Engineers Communicate clearly with non-technical clients and domain experts about model capabilities, limitations, and tradeoffs You’re a Fit If… You have hands-on experience training or fine-tuning geospatial or remote sensing models You can assess a problem and recommend the right level of model intervention or argue for a simpler approach when it’s warranted You design evaluations as part of the work, not as an afterthought You’re comfortable working in short, focused engagements with a high degree of autonomy You can hand off your work clearly to engineers who will deploy and maintain it What working at Ode Is like. We're a small team by design, which means you'll work closely with senior partners, designers, data scientists, and engineers as genuine collaborators on the same problem. The work spans disciplines in ways that most studios don't attempt: data, AI, design, and environmental domain expertise all in the same room. You'll see your decisions in production quickly and talk directly to the people using what you build. The problems are genuinely hard and the clients are doing work that matters. How we hire. We hire on what you've built. Whether you have formal credentials, are self-taught, or changed careers - if this role resonates and you have the work to show for it, we want to hear from you. Unusual paths are welcome here. How to apply. Email your resume and a short note on a project you're proud of to info@ode.partners . Ode provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law. Show more Show less