Staff Machine Learning Engineer

About the role

About The Company

Coinbase is a leading global cryptocurrency exchange and financial technology platform committed to increasing economic freedom worldwide. With a mission to create an open financial system for the world, Coinbase provides individuals and institutions with a trusted and accessible way to buy, sell, and manage digital assets. The company fosters an innovative, high-performance environment that values integrity, transparency, and continuous learning. As a remote-first organization, Coinbase emphasizes collaboration and flexibility, encouraging employees to work from anywhere while periodically gathering for in-person “surges” to strengthen team bonds and drive strategic initiatives. Coinbase is dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workforce, ensuring all team members feel valued and empowered to contribute to the future of finance.

About The Role

We are seeking a highly skilled Staff Machine Learning Engineer to join our Identity Verification team within the Platform group. In this critical role, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining the machine learning systems that authenticate identities, verify documents, and assess session legitimacy. Your work will directly impact the security and integrity of millions of Coinbase accounts, supporting essential processes such as signups, account recoveries, and high-risk transactions. You will lead the end-to-end technical strategy for identity verification ML systems, from architecture design to production enforcement, ensuring robust protection against fraud and synthetic identities. This position offers an exciting opportunity to influence the future of identity verification technology at Coinbase, working alongside talented engineers and cross-functional teams to deliver scalable, reliable, and innovative solutions.

Qualifications

Minimum of 8 years of experience deploying production machine learning systems at scale.

Proven technical leadership in designing and owning cross-team ML architecture from conception to deployment.

Domain expertise in identity verification, biometrics, or account integrity, with applied ML experience in at least two of the following areas: computer vision/biometrics, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs), sequence models, or natural language processing (NLP/LLMs).

Expert-level proficiency in Python, with hands-on experience using TensorFlow or PyTorch for model training, evaluation, and deployment infrastructure.

Strong ability to translate KYC/AML requirements and evolving fraud trends into actionable ML roadmaps, effectively communicating trade-offs to stakeholders across Product, Compliance, Risk, and Security teams.

Experience utilizing generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight, and delivering measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost reduction, and quality enhancement.

Responsibilities

Own and optimize the complete identity verification ML stack, including models for document authenticity, face matching (1:1 and 1:N), liveness detection, presentation-attack detection, and deepfake/injection detection, from feature extraction to production enforcement.

Develop and deploy identity-graph systems using Graph Neural Networks to cluster accounts sharing biometric, device, and document signals, thereby identifying synthetic-identity rings and coordinated fraud schemes.

Create behavioral and device-intelligence models for anomaly detection during capture sessions, bot versus human classification, and real-time device fingerprint risk scoring.

Lead vendor ML strategy by benchmarking external models against Coinbase’s evaluation datasets, designing dynamic routing logic across providers and regions, and building in-house evaluation layers to catch regressions early.

Mentor and lead senior and mid-level engineers, fostering a collaborative environment and aligning ML system design with cross-functional teams such as ML Platform and Risk ML.

Continuously improve ML system performance, scalability, and security, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and internal policies.

Benefits

Competitive annual base salary within the range of $218,025 to $256,500 USD, excluding equity and bonuses.

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.

401(k) retirement savings plan with company matching.

Flexible remote work environment with periodic in-person gatherings.

Generous paid time off and holiday leave.

Professional development opportunities and ongoing training programs.

Employee wellness programs and support resources.

Equal Opportunity

Coinbase is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information. We value diversity and are dedicated to creating a workplace that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with criminal histories will be considered in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply and join us in building the future of finance.