Machine Learning Developer

About P&P Optica

P&P Optica (PPO) is using brand new technology to transform an old industry that affects everyone on the planet: the food industry. We apply a complex and highly sophisticated mix of hardware, software and huge datasets to improve both the safety and quality of the food we eat.

PPO is on a mission to become the world's leading food information company. We are moving beyond simple detection to provide real-time, actionable insights that help food processors optimize yield, reduce waste, and ensure safety at a global scale.

We’re a truly diverse team in every sense of the word, and our team is incredibly smart. Our culture is respectful and caring. PPO is a well-funded, scaling company with opportunities for career growth in every part of the organization.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to tackle challenging problems that affect everyone on the planet, PPO is the place for you.

Location

This role is a hybrid role, where you’ll work primarily from PPO’s office in Waterloo Ontario. To ensure a smooth onboarding and integration, this role requires 5 days a week on-site for the first 3 months, transitioning to 3 days a week on-site on an ongoing basis. On-site days are full days during standard daytime business hours.

Compensation

The salary range for this role is $115,000 - $120,000 CAD annually. The final offer will be determined based on a combination of factors, including:

• Relevant skills and experience: We assess each candidate's background, achievements, and demonstrated capabilities.
• Internal equity: We strive to maintain consistency and fairness across roles within our organization, aligning compensation with existing team members in comparable roles.

We are committed to transparency and fairness in our hiring process and welcome conversations about compensation throughout the recruitment process.

What You’ll Get To Do

This posting is for a current vacancy within our software team.

We are looking for a rigorous, delivery-focused Machine Learning Developer with 3 or more years of experience who thrives at the intersection of software development and machine learning models to join our team and help us build, optimize, and deploy the next generation of our predictive models.

In this role, you will be responsible for designing, training, and validating machine learning models that analyze complex hyperspectral data streams in real time. Because our systems operate inline on active food production belts, you must possess an exceptional attention to detail to ensure accuracy, and a relentless delivery focus to get models out of the lab and into the field. Working within an Agile framework, you will collaborate with software and data teams to build robust, repeatable pipelines that scale. Preference will be given to software developers who have developed or want to develop machine learning models, over data scientists who have not shipped to production.

In this role, you will work on:

• Develop ML Systems: Design, build, and scale machine learning algorithms and data pipelines from prototype to production. Perform real-time classification, segmentation, and regression tasks on hyperspectral imaging data.
• Software Engineering: Apply software best practices, including coding standards, testing, code reviews, and source control management.
• Feature Engineering: Extract, analyze, and optimize features from high-dimensional spectral datasets, ensuring models remain highly performant under strict real-time processing constraints.
• Clean Code Architecture: Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code, ensuring that ML components seamlessly integrate with PPO’s broader software ecosystem.
• AI-First Workflow: Embrace an AI-first mindset, actively utilizing generative AI programming tools to optimize your workflow, automate routine scripting, and accelerate engineering velocity.
• Rigorous Validation: Collaborate with Data Scientists to apply statistical validation metrics to ensure model accuracy, safety, and generalization across diverse customer operational environments.
• Delivery-Focused Execution: Employ continuous delivery approaches to support iterative delivery of model enhancements, ensuring deadlines are met without compromising on quality or system stability.
• CI/CD Integration: Work closely with MLOps and DevOps to integrate model training, testing, and deployment into automated CI/CD pipelines, treating models with the same rigorous versioning and testing standards as traditional software.
• Agile Collaboration: Actively participate in daily standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives, working within Agile methodologies to maintain team velocity and cross-functional alignment.

You at PPO

What you bring:

• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience as a software developer, with concrete examples of working on machine learning.
• Mastery of Python and its scientific ecosystem (e.g., NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, Scikit-Learn). Preference given to experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Proven ability to handle messy, high-dimensional real-world sensor data, identifying edge cases and data anomalies that could impact production model performance.
• Experience with version control (Git), containerization (Docker), and automated testing/deployment pipelines (CI/CD tools like GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, or Jenkins).
• Experience working in structured Agile/Scrum environments, with the ability to break down complex ML research tasks into manageable sprint deliverables.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related technical field.

Life at PPO

You’ll love working at PPO. Here’s why:

Open Culture: Our culture is built on openness and trust. We thrive together as a diverse team, celebrating what connects us and learning from what makes each of us unique.

Supportive Environment: We value collaboration and care, from celebrating birthdays and milestones to challenging one another to grow personally and professionally. Trust, honesty, and teamwork are at the heart of how we deliver value.

Work-life Balance: We move with urgency when it matters most, but we also know that life outside of work matters too. We make sure you have the time and flexibility you need with flex days and vacation time that help you recharge and show up as your best self.

Health Benefits: PPO offers very competitive benefits, including health, dental, vision and more for you and your dependents.

Hybrid Work Model: Depending on your role, you might work from home, our office or both.

Ongoing Learning: Curiosity is one of our superpowers. Learning is woven into everything we do, from hands-on collaboration to formal training and education. We lead with curiosity and imagine without limits, encouraging every team member to keep growing.

P&P Optica is committed to supporting a culture of diversity across our organization. Our hiring practices align with human rights laws, guaranteeing every person equal treatment in regard to employment and opportunity for employment, regardless of race, color, creed/religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.