Director, Machine Learning

Metropolis is seeking a Director of Machine Learning to guide the research, development, and deployment of our portfolio of machine learning (ML) systems.  We are developing a broad suite of ML technologies that enable “AI for the Real World” including but not limited to computer vision systems, edge and IoT devices, business analysis tools and user facing applications.  In this role,  You will lead multiple ML teams spanning multiple disciplines, including data engineering and data science, as well as the ML algorithms and ML applications teams that power Orion, our computer vision platform.  As a senior leader within the Advanced Technologies Group (ATG), you will develop and execute on a robust machine learning roadmap that balances new initiatives with improvement of mission critical production systems.You will be expected to engage directly with the technical details of the team’s efforts, getting your hands dirty when needed, while also leading the team in a fast-paced, highly distributed environment.

The right candidate will have a strong background in machine learning systems and ML team leadership.  You will have professional experience in a variety of machine learning domains, a deep understanding of the entire machine learning development lifecycle and have demonstrated experience taking ML systems from concept to production.  Teams you have led will have been high performing, included team members from multiple technical disciplines, and most importantly will have fostered an inclusive culture.  You must be able to thrive and succeed in an entrepreneurial environment, working collaboratively in a fast-paced environment with multiple stakeholders.  You won’t be afraid to break new technological ground at Metropolis and are more than willing to roll up your sleeves, dig in and get the job done.

• Lead the Machine Learning teams in the research, design, development, testing and deployment of a variety of machine learning, computer vision, and autonomous systems.
• Guide the teams technically, engaging in troubleshooting, architecture definition and implementation of best practices
• Possess a broad skill set spanning data science, machine learning, and engineering, comfortably moving between disciplines to ensure well designed, supportable and scalable solutions are delivered
• Work closely with cross-functional leaders in Hardware, Edge/Platform, Data and Product engineering and vendors.
• Develop resourcing plans and coordinate across teams to ensure development schedules are aligned and communicated, and drive engineering efforts to completion.
• Invest in the career development of the team members, develop future leaders, and create a culture of cohesion and teamwork.
• Participate in talent acquisition processes to ensure that we have world class engineers across all skill and experience levels
• Establish metrics to measure the productivity of the team, hold people accountable and identify people issues early.
• Communicate ideas effectively, verbally and in writing, to a wide range of technical and non-technical audiences, including Metropolis leadership.

• BS, MS or PhD in a relevant engineering discipline
• 10+ years of experience with at least 4+ years of experience leading and managing machine learning or related teams
• 2+ years of experience as a hands-on senior, staff or principal engineer before transitioning into managing teams.
• Experience as a technical lead or manager designing machine learning systems that have been deployed at scale.
• Demonstrated expertise in implementing and deploying machine learning algorithms related to computer vision, specifically in object detection/recognition, tracking algorithms, metric learning, and re-identification.
• Experience in deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow/PyTorch/MxNet
• Experience with parallel computing, accelerator architectures including CUDA, CUDNN, TensorRT libraries
• Experience with large scale datasets, data pipelines, databases tools/libraries
• Experience deploying ML services to the cloud, including API development and design for scalability, performance reliability.
• Experience in modern software design, development, version control, refactoring, and testing
• Working knowledge of at least one modern programming language such as Python or C/C++
• Knowledge of professional software engineering practices at the SDLC.
• Demonstrated project management skills to ensure timely delivery of features, while maintaining high quality products
• Demonstrated track record of developing engineers through various careers stages and building high-performance teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a proven ability to present complex technical information in a clear and concise manner to a variety of audiences.
• Previous experience working inside innovative, high growth environments.
• Role is hybrid on-site in either Seattle, WA or Santa Monica, CA.