AI/ML Engineer Position Profile
ABOUT GRAINGER
Grainger is North America's leading distributor of maintenance, repair, and operating products and services. Their wide assortment, deep expertise, innovative technology solutions, and unparalleled customer service keep customers' operations running and their people safe.
With over 26,000 employees, Grainger team members are driven to serve customers and the community in exceptional ways focusing on delivering the highest level of service. The Grainger team works closely with customers to better understand their challenges and provide cost-saving solutions. Grainger's employees serve customers more than 115,000 times every day through multiple channels.
As part of a high-performing team, you’ll be able to develop your talents and make a difference. Grainger is a Fortune 500 company in addition to being a perennial member of Fortune magazine's Most Admired Companies list. Fortune also recognizes Grainger as one of the Best Workplaces for Woman and one of America’s Most Innovative companies.
They are looking for passionate people who can move their company forward. Grainger has a welcoming workplace where you can build a career for yourself while fulfilling the company’s purpose to keep the world working. They embrace new ways of thinking and recognize everyone is an individual.
AWARDS + RECOGNITION
Grainger is honored to be recognized by influential publications, assessments, and organizations around the world as a responsible company and as a top place to work. Below are a few of the awards they've received, but you can view the full list here.
GRAINGER TECHNOLOGY GROUP
Grainger Technology Group is Grainger’s combined Product & Engineering organization, building and evolving technology solutions that progress and transform Grainger’s core business operations. The group’s 1k+ team members develop and improve Grainger’s tech platforms and custom software across customer experience, team member tools, and core data that runs the organization (for example, customer order systems, pricing systems, merchandising, and customer information systems).
The group’s mission is to advantage Grainger in core operations and value prop to stay ahead of competition and compete with urgency in the rapidly evolving industrial supply digital landscape. We believe in dedicated, empowered product teams who debate respectfully, engage with enthusiasm, and create technology they are proud to see working for our team members and customers.
Grainger's Principles
Start with the Customer:
- We know our customers better than anyone else.
- We anticipate needs and deliver the right solutions to create value.
- We build authentic, transparent, and honest relationships with our customers.
Embrace Curiosity:
- We observe and listen to understand how things work from the ground up.
- We seek different points of view, welcome debate, and value feedback.
- We proactively test new and better ways to solve problems and to continuously improve.
Act with Intent:
- We consistently challenge each other to stay focused on what matters.
- We make the things that matter better.
- We understand our role in delivering our purpose and strategy.
Compete with Urgency:
- We compete to gain share and win in the market.
- We challenge ourselves to move quickly and take smart risks.
- We value facts and measure our success with simple, visible metrics.
Win As One Team:
- We trust each other and assume positive intent.
- We involve the right people at the right time.
- We hold each other accountable and celebrate each other's accomplishments.
Invest in Our Success:
- We seek, provide, and are open to feedback.
- We embrace success and failure with humility.
- We consistently learn and grow.
Do the Right Thing:
- We put integrity, safety, and sustainability at the heart of everything we do.
- We create a welcoming, inclusive culture that accepts and respects all people.
IN THE NEWS
POSITION OVERVIEW
Grainger is seeking a highly skilled and motivated AI/ML Engineer to develop intelligent, data-driven solutions that optimize operations, improve customer experiences, and enable Grainger to operate at scale.
This role offers the opportunity to apply advanced machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data science techniques to solve complex business challenges, from personalized recommendations to operational forecasting and process automation. The ideal candidate is passionate about working with large datasets, deploying scalable models, and collaborating across teams to drive real-world impact.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Design, build, and deploy scalable, production-grade AI and machine learning models that solve high-impact business problems.
- Partner with product managers, engineers, and data teams to identify, define, and prioritize AI/ML opportunities that deliver measurable business value.
- Develop and maintain end-to-end machine learning pipelines, including data collection, preprocessing, model development, testing, deployment, and monitoring.
- Conduct rigorous experiments, prototyping, and model validation to ensure accuracy, performance, and real-world applicability.
- Integrate AI/ML solutions into Grainger’s core platforms and systems, ensuring seamless technical alignment and scalability.
- Implement model monitoring, performance tracking, and alerting to maintain reliability and accuracy over time.
- Apply best practices in data security, privacy, and responsible AI to ensure ethical, compliant solutions.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business challenges into technical solutions using machine learning and advanced analytics.
- Stay current with emerging research, technologies, and best practices in AI/ML to drive innovation at Grainger.
- Document models, processes, and workflows to promote knowledge sharing, maintainability, and system transparency.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, or a related technical field required; Master’s or Ph.D. preferred.
- 3+ years of hands-on experience developing and deploying machine learning models in production environments.
- Proficiency in Python and relevant ML libraries (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn).
- Strong understanding of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and AI techniques.
- Experience working with large datasets, distributed computing, and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
- Familiarity with MLOps tools, model deployment practices, and monitoring frameworks.
- Demonstrated ability to translate business challenges into AI/ML solutions with measurable impact.
- Strong problem-solving skills, curiosity, and a passion for applying AI to real-world challenges.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
CRITICAL COMPETENCIES FOR SUCCESS
Strategic Agility
Be intellectually sharp, deeply curious, and able to think on your feet while demonstrating shrewd business judgement. You’ll need comfort with creating valuable, differentiated tech strategy from some ambiguity. You will have the analytical skills to remove costs from the business, improve productivity, and deliver customer outcomes that elevate Grainger and grow our market share.
Results-Oriented
The AI/ML Engineer must be performance-driven and able to provide measurable results. You will be resourceful, action-oriented, and possess a proactive sense of urgency and the ability to overcome obstacles to produce results. You will be comfortable close to the work, rolling up your sleeves to get things done. Achieving these goals while working in a collaborative environment will require the political savvy to know when to push for action and when to step back to build consensus.
Collaboration, Curiosity, and End-to-End Leadership
Build strong relationships and trust with peer teams inside and outside of GTG to influence Grainger strategy and priorities and evangelize your product vision and strategy. Start with the customer and study every part of how Grainger works; be intensely curious to ensure you understand how our technology, operations, and customers work.
Communication
You should possess strong communication skills across multiple mediums, from live meetings to prose narrative documents, to well-organized and clear slides decks. You’re a great fit if you can partner and align with teams, while asserting a strong opinion when it’s needed and maintaining the respect and rapport you worked hard to build. You should be comfortable, clear, and dynamic in front of internal and external audiences, from your team members to Grainger’s most senior leadership. As you do this, it is also critical to be direct, candid, and always authentic.
Judgment & EQ
The work is challenging, intellectually engaging, and rewarding. You should demonstrate sound judgement to ensure you make the right, forward-thinking decisions about the future of our technology and product strategy. True success will pair this quality strong emotional intelligence. You should have the ability to understand how different partners need to communicate, engaging teams in ways that help them show up as the best version of themselves.
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