Director of AI/Machine Learning Engineering

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

NIKE, Inc. is a leader in innovation and technology, and our Poland Technology Center (PTC) is at the forefront of driving AI/ML and GenAI solutions. We're looking for a seasoned Director to lead our efforts in delivering cutting-edge AI/ML and GenAI technologies that will revolutionize the way we serve our athletes.

We're seeking a highly experienced Director to lead our AI/ML Engineering team in PTC, with a focus on developing and delivering our GenAI Center of Excellence, Generative AI Services Layer (GSL) software, SwooshChat, and GenAI use cases. As a Director, you will be responsible for building and growing high-performing teams, driving innovation, and delivering scalable AI/ML solutions that meet the needs of our business.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

• Lead the development and delivery of our GenAI Center of Excellence, GSL software, SwooshChat, and GenAI use cases.

• Build and grow highly skilled, cross-functional engineering teams that deliver solutions unlocking AI/ML for Nike.

• Develop and execute strategies to drive innovation, scalability, and reliability in AI/ML solutions.

• Collaborate with Architecture to ensure architectural consistency across solutions.

• Develop and manage team metrics to measure success and drive continuous improvement.

• Stay current with industry trends and recommend relevant technologies & products in the areas of AI/ML, Data Science, and emerging technologies.

• Foster partnerships with best-of-breed open-source communities, commercial vendors, and universities.

• Communicate effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders to drive adoption and value realization.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH

AIML is one of the key groups within Data and Artificial Intelligence. We’re chartered to scale machine learning and AI at Nike. For areas of the business early in their analytics journey, we embed cross-disciplinary teams of data scientists and engineers to unlock new capabilities and answer unsolved (or unasked!) questions.

In mature areas with preexisting data science teams, we help scale machine learning by attaching engineering squads to grow their capacity to deliver for the business. In addition, we collaborate closely with platform and architecture partners to develop capabilities that simplify machine learning at scale within Nike (e.g. model deployment, A/B testing, model monitoring).

WHAT YOU BRING

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field (Master’s or Ph.D. preferred)

• Proven ability to develop production-grade software across areas like software engineering, data engineering, or machine learning.

• Demonstrated success in a leadership or management role, guiding teams to achieve results.

• Extensive hands-on experience with AI/ML technologies such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, and platforms like AWS Sagemaker and Databricks MLflow.

• Deep familiarity with Generative AI and Foundation models (e.g., AWS Bedrock, AWS Jumpstart, Databricks Mosaic, Anthropic, OpenAI, Cohere, etc.).

• Strong experience in deploying cloud solutions with a focus on scalability, performance, and reliability (AWS preferred).

• Proven ability to lead teams, build positive relationships, and influence outcomes across cross-functional and loosely coupled teams.

• Excellent communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Practical experience working in Agile environments to deliver high-quality software solutions.