# Machine Learning Engineer (FDE)

**Recursive** — Tokyo, JP

- **Location:** Tokyo, JP
- **Work experience:** None
- **Languages:** Full Professional English

## Mission

**About Recursive**

Japan's enterprises are sitting on one of the largest AI opportunities in the world, and most of them aren't yet built to seize it. Recursive exists to close that gap: we build the AI solutions and systems that help Japan's leading enterprises compete in what comes next, and in doing so, help build a fairer, more sustainable society. This is a front-row seat to that transformation.

Recursive builds custom, production-grade AI agents and applied machine learning for major Japanese enterprises, including Suntory, KDDI, IHI, Sumitomo Forestry, MS&AD, and CyberAgent. Founded by an ex-Google DeepMind engineer, we translate state-of-the-art AI research into solutions that ship, from generative AI for enterprise data to physics-inspired neural networks for simulating environmental systems, a first for a Japanese company.

We're scaling 2–3x over the next 12 months, driven by both new funding and expanding client revenue. As we grow, we need machine learning engineers who can take a problem from research hypothesis all the way into a reliable production system.

## About the team

You'll design, build, and ship machine learning models that solve real problems for major Japanese enterprises, owning the full arc from data and experimentation through to deployment and monitoring in production. This is applied AI: research-grade thinking, held to a production bar. You'll work close to both the latest ML research and the client's domain, and you'll be expected to communicate what you build clearly to experts and non-experts alike.

  * You work on problems that matter, sustainability, efficiency, and innovation challenges for household-name Japanese enterprises, not internal demos

  * You own the whole lifecycle: hypothesis, experimentation, modelling, deployment, and the monitoring and retraining that keep a model useful once it's live

  * You sit close to cutting-edge research, with strong ties to academic ML and the freedom to apply new techniques to real problems

  * Your level and scope grow with you, this role spans early-career through strategic technical leadership

## Responsibilities

**Build and ship models**

  * Design, develop, and implement machine learning models to solve complex problems and enhance product capabilities

  * Handle data cleaning, transformation, and feature engineering to prepare datasets for training and evaluation

  * Choose the right algorithms and tools for the problem and the data, and test and validate rigorously for accuracy, reliability, and scale

  * Deploy models into production with clean integration into existing systems, then monitor performance and retrain as needed to keep them optimal




**Research and communicate**

  * Form research hypotheses and run the experiments that generate real insight and open new avenues

  * Stay abreast of the latest developments in ML and AI, and apply innovative techniques to push performance further

  * Document architectures, processes, and findings so knowledge is shared and results are reproducible

  * Communicate technical topics and research results clearly, to experts and non-experts alike

## Requirements

* A degree in a scientific or engineering discipline, Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Computer Science, Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, or similar

  * Strong programming ability, or a genuine drive to develop it, with a focus on high-quality, maintainable code

  * A real passion for the latest developments in AI and a desire to apply them to hard, real-world problems

  * A desire to work on projects with a positive impact on society and the environment, aligned with our mission

  * Strong verbal and written communication, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly

  * Detail-oriented, with a focus on accuracy and quality, and a strong drive to deliver value

  * Proficient in English; Japanese is a plus




**Career Progression**  


 _Associate_  
Delivers well-scoped technical work within a client engagement—building, testing, and integrating components, while contributing to discovery and client workshops. Works from plans set by more senior FDEs, raises ambiguity and risks early, and progressively takes ownership of discrete technical work-streams.  


_Member_  
Independently owns the technical delivery of a project or major work-stream. Translates client needs into a practical solution and delivery plan; leads implementation, validation, handoff, and operationalization; and manages technical client communication, estimates, tradeoffs, and risks in close partnership with BSAs.  


_Senior_  
Leads the technical success of complex projects or a portfolio of engagements within a Pod. Sets technical direction and architecture, steers high-stakes client and delivery decisions, manages cross-project technical risk and resourcing, mentors FDEs, and creates reusable patterns that improve future engagements.

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Apply online: https://app.zookeep.com/career/Recursive/machine-learning-engineer-fde-10080
All open positions at Recursive: https://app.zookeep.com/career/Recursive/index.md