Director of Applied AI

You will lead the design, development, and deployment of applied AI systems for public-sector and enterprise customers. You will translate customer needs into technical requirements and scalable solutions, guide model development and evaluation, oversee delivery across parallel projects, and make architectural decisions for distributed, privacy-preserving AI. You will mentor applied AI practitioners, establish evaluation and validation frameworks, identify relevant technical trends, and communicate complex concepts clearly to customers and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and deployment of applied AI systems built on the distributed AI platform.
• Engage public-sector and commercial customers to translate mission needs into technical requirements and scalable solutions.
• Guide teams in training, fine-tuning, optimizing, and evaluating large language models and multimodal models for domain-specific applications.
• Oversee technical execution across multiple parallel projects and ensure high-quality delivery under tight deadlines.
• Collaborate with Infrastructure, Platform Engineering, and Product teams to align applied AI initiatives with product strategy.
• Build and mentor a high-performing applied AI team.
• Drive architectural decisions for edge inference, distributed processing, privacy-preserving AI, and real-time performance.
• Establish evaluation methodologies, benchmarks, and validation frameworks for model performance and system reliability.
• Identify emerging trends, technologies, and research areas that can accelerate mission impact and product differentiation.
• Present complex technical concepts clearly to leaders, customers, and stakeholders.

Requirements

• Code hands-on.
• Have 8+ years of experience in applied machine learning, AI engineering, or a related field, including at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Demonstrate a track record of designing and deploying an AI product.
• Demonstrate expertise with LLMs, generative AI, and machine learning workflows.
• Have hands-on experience building or integrating AI systems for customer-facing applications.
• Demonstrate proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks, including PyTorch, TensorFlow, and JAX.
• Have experience leading cross-functional teams and managing multiple high-impact projects simultaneously.
• Communicate complex technical ideas clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Hold a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, or a related field.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits package
• 401(k) match
• Equity options
• $200/month Health & Wellness stipend
• Continuing Education support
• $500/year Function Health subscription
• Free parking for in-office employees
• Flexible Time Off
• Parental leave for eligible employees
• Supplemental life insurance