Sr. Director of Engineering, AI & ML

At PitchBook, we are always looking forward. We continue to innovate, evolve, and invest in ourselves to bring out the best in everyone. We're deeply collaborative and thrive on the excitement, energy, and fun that reverberates throughout the company.

Our extensive learning programs and mentorship opportunities help us create a culture of curiosity that pushes us to always find new solutions and better ways of doing things. The combination of a rapidly evolving industry and our high ambitions means there's going to be some ambiguity along the way, but we excel when we challenge ourselves. We're willing to take risks, fail fast, and do it all over again in the pursuit of excellence.

If you have a good attitude and are willing to roll up your sleeves to get things done, PitchBook is the place for you.

About the Role:

As a member of the Product and Engineering team at PitchBook, you will be part of a team of big thinkers, innovators, and problem solvers who strive to deepen the positive impact we have on our customers and our company every day. We value curiosity and the drive to find better ways of doing things. We thrive on customer empathy, which remains our focus when creating excellent customer experiences through product innovation.

As the Sr. Director of Engineering, AI & ML, you will lead the company's global AI and machine learning initiatives, guiding distributed teams across multiple regions to build robust, scalable AI/ML solutions that power our products and critical business functions. Your primary focus will be on backend and data-intensive areas, ensuring our AI/ML systems are designed and deployed with the highest standards of technical excellence, performance, and scalability.

This role demands a high degree of technical expertise, particularly in machine learning engineering, data science, and data platforms, along with strong leadership skills in managing and coordinating teams across different geographies and time zones. You will leverage your deep knowledge in areas such as advanced natural language processing (NLP), generative AI (GenAI) and large language models (LLMs), ML Operations (MLOps), data architecture, data pipelines, and cloud-managed services. Your leadership will ensure that our AI/ML systems align with both local and global business strategies, maintaining seamless integration and high-performance standards across all regions.

You will build and lead a team of talented data scientists (applied AI) and machine learning engineers responsible for developing all of our AI/ML capabilities. You will train and mentor team members, identify and resolve technical challenges, oversee the integrity of our solutions, establish and drive delivery targets, and ensure that our ML teams are optimized for performance, reliability, and security.

Primary Job Responsibilities:

1. AI & ML Leadership: Shape the strategic vision and roadmap for AI and ML initiatives, ensuring global alignment with business goals and cutting-edge technology trends. Drive consistency and collaboration across geographically dispersed teams.
2. Technical Oversight: Provide strong technical leadership in AI and ML engineering globally, particularly in areas like NLP, semantic search, summarization, and data-driven product development.
3. Team Leadership & Development: Lead and mentor a high-performing, globally distributed team of AI/ML engineers and data scientists. Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement, while ensuring effective communication and coordination across time zones.
4. System Architecture & Integration: Oversee the design and integration of complex AI and ML systems within our global software architecture. Ensure seamless interaction of these systems with other business-critical platforms and services across all regions.
5. MLOps & Data Platform Collaboration: Collaborate closely with MLOps, Platform Engineering, and Enterprise Data Platform teams to develop and optimize our global AI and ML infrastructure, including MLOps pipelines, data architecture, and model lifecycle management.
6. Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product management, product engineering, and other business units, to align AI and ML initiatives with broader global company objectives.
7. Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Drive innovation in AI and ML practices on a global scale, continuously seeking opportunities to improve our technology stack, processes, and methodologies.
8. System Integrity & Security: Ensure the integrity, performance, and security of AI/ML systems globally. Implement best practices in data governance, model interpretability, and compliance with industry standards in all operational regions.
9. Talent Acquisition & Retention: Play a key role in hiring, training, and retaining top engineering talent worldwide. Cultivate an environment where team members are motivated, feel valued, and are encouraged to achieve their full potential, regardless of location.
10. Culture & Collaboration: Foster a culture of belonging, psychological safety, and open communication within your global team and across the organization. Encourage innovative thinking and a shared sense of purpose, ensuring a cohesive team environment across regions.
11. Process: Apply Agile, Lean, and principles of fast flow to enhance team efficiency and productivity.
12. Support the vision and values of the company through role modeling and encouraging desired behaviors.
13. Participate in various company initiatives and projects as requested.

Skills and Qualifications:

1. Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Data Science, or a related field.
2. 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on AI and ML technologies, managing large-scale global teams.
3. 10+ years of experience in engineering leadership roles, managing and mentoring globally distributed engineering teams.
4. Deep expertise in machine learning, with a strong focus on NLP, semantic search, and other advanced natural language processing techniques.
5. Proven experience with MLOps, data platforms (e.g., Snowflake), data pipelines (e.g., Airflow), and messaging platforms (e.g., Kafka), across multiple geographic regions.
6. Strong background in data architecture, software architecture, and distributed systems, with experience coordinating technical efforts across global teams.
7. Proficient in Python, Java, SQL, and other relevant programming languages and tools.
8. Experience in cloud-native delivery, with a deep understanding of containerization technologies such as Kubernetes and Docker, and the ability to manage these across different regions.
9. Excellent problem-solving skills with a focus on innovation, efficiency, and scalability in a global context.
10. Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization across various cultures and regions.

Benefits at PitchBook:
Physical Health

1. Private medical insurance
2. Dental scheme
3. Additional medical wellness incentives
4. Life cover

Emotional Health

1. Paid sabbatical program after four years
2. Paid parental leave
3. Education subsidies
4. Robust training programs on industry and soft skills
5. Minimum 25 days annual leave and volunteer days

Social Health

1. Employee resource groups
2. Company-wide events
3. Employee referral bonus program
4. Quarterly team building events

Financial Health

1. 8% Pension contribution
2. Income protection
3. Shared ownership employee stock program
4. Transportation stipend

Working Conditions:

We believe our business and our culture are strongest when we work together in person. We also know that it's helpful to have some flexibility to work remotely. Most roles work in the office 3+ days/week, and some are expected to work in the office 4-5 days/week. The current expectation for this role is that you are working in the office 4+ days/week and that you are in the office full-time during the training period, for which the length varies by role. During an initial phone screen, the team will discuss expectations for this specific position.

The job conditions for this position are in a standard office setting. Employees in this position use PC and phone on an ongoing basis throughout the day. Limited corporate travel may be required to remote offices or other business meetings and events.

Life At PB:

We are consistently recognized as a Best Place to Work and our culture is at the heart of our success. It's our fundamental belief that people do and create great things and that people are the cornerstone of prosperity. We believe that proactively seeking out different points of view, listening to others, learning, and reflecting on what we've heard creates a sense of belonging within PitchBook and strengthens the PitchBook community.

We are excited to get to know you and your background. Concerned that you might not meet every requirement? We encourage you to still apply as you might be the right candidate for the role or other roles at PitchBook.

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