Director, Machine Learning and Data Science

Loopio is a workplace that unleashes learning & growth opportunities for our Loopers. We provide autonomous, challenging work that allows each employee to master their craft. We attract and retain people who are naturally curious, have grit and are eager to grow and build their careers. At Loopio, we genuinely support each other, because true success comes from working as #oneteam.
Loopio’s Data Enablement Team works together on a mission to transform the RFP response process into a rapid and seamless experience. Our team works across all platform portfolio features and delivers innovative solutions where it matters the most for our customers. 
We are looking for an experienced Director, Machine Learning and Data Science, to lead a dynamic group of Machine Learning Engineers and Data Scientists on our Data Enablement team.  Our ideal candidate has deep technical and leadership skills and is comfortable working in an evolving technology infrastructure and dynamic environment. This is a unique opportunity to join a growing team of creative and passionate individuals committed to solving real-world problems. You will empower engineers, product, and data scientists with tools that enable and streamline data-driven decision-making, analysis, and feature development.  
You will partner closely with other Senior Engineering Leaders,  Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, Product Managers and Designers, and other business stakeholders to help us take Loopio’s data value and AI innovation to the next level.

What You’ll Be Doing

• You will be a valuable member of the Senior Engineering Leadership team and, as such, responsible for fostering a thriving culture, product execution and innovation. 
• Lead the development of advanced automation tooling for data orchestration, evaluation, testing, monitoring, administration, and data operations.
• Inspire and lead the Data Enablement team, which includes Machine Learning Engineers, Data Scientists and Data Engineers, by setting clear objectives, promoting innovation, and ensuring alignment with the company’s strategic goals.
• Responsible for creating a high-performing team and fostering a culture of technical excellence, continuous improvement, and collaborative problem-solving within the team. 
• Lead with company values in mind and help create bridges across organizations. 
• Lead the development of scalable data pipelines using Databricks, and AWS (Redshift, S3, RDS), and other cloud technologies. 
• Lead the support of Loopio’s data warehouse (Redshift) and data lake (Databricks delta lake)
• Lead the orchestration of  pipelines using workflow frameworks/tooling 

What You’ll Bring to the Team

• A minimum of 10 years in software engineering, with profound knowledge in machine learning or data science. Demonstrable experience with advanced ML algorithms and frameworks as well as NLP/NLU is essential.
• Leadership & Talent Management: Strong leadership background with proven ability to manage machine learning or data science teams in fast-paced environments. Skills should include conflict resolution, performance management, talent evaluation, and effective coaching across diverse skill levels.
• Strategic Problem-Solving: Robust understanding of both business operations and technical/engineering principles, equipped with superior problem-solving skills to steer technical decision-making.
• Technical Proficiency:
• ➡️ Proficient in distributed systems development using a microservices architecture.
• ➡️ Experienced in constructing and managing an Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), with a solid grasp of Data Lake architecture and design.
• ➡️ Skilled in designing and implementing cloud-based training pipelines and state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms.
• ➡️ Well-versed in deep learning frameworks, algorithms, and inference system designs, including those for cloud-based servers and hardware accelerators.
• ➡️ Experience with Public Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP), Docker containers, Kubernetes, Infrastructure Automation, and API development.
• Product Delivery: Demonstrated ability in software product delivery and operations, particularly for large-scale, customer-facing, and mission-critical products.
• Communication and Collaboration:
• ➡️ Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with a knack for leading diverse teams and fostering cross-functional collaboration.
• ➡️ Ability to articulate technical roadmaps, challenges, and solutions clearly and effectively.
• Influence & Advocacy: Proven ability to inspire and positively influence others, leading teams through complex or ambiguous situations.
• Business Acumen: Demonstrated understanding of total cost of ownership and cost-to-profitability models across multiple interdependent products.
• Agile Experience: Background in a high-growth agile software development environment, ideally within a B2B SaaS context.
• System Support: Experience in building and maintaining large-scale systems in production environments.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with container orchestration (leveraging tools like Docker, ECS, Kubernetes)
• Experience working with BI PaaS / SaaS solutions
• Familiarity with microservice architectures 
• Hands on experience as ML/DS Engineer
• Experience with Natural Language Processing techniques
• Experience using deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow / Pytorch

Where You’ll Work

• Loopio is a remote-first workplace because we recognize the advantages of working flexibly. We have Hub Regions spanning across Canada, UK, and India, which means that employees live and work remotely within a 300 KM radius of Toronto (within Ontario),Vancouver (within British Columbia), Ahmedabad (within Gujarat), Pune (within Maharashtra), and London (UK) and work within regular business hours in their timezone. 
• You’ll collaborate with your teams virtually (we’re just a Zoom call away!) and have established core sync hours and focus time during the workday to enable us to work smarter together

Why You’ll Love Working at Loopio

• Your manager supports your development by providing ongoing feedback and regular 1-on-1s 
• You have tons of autonomy and responsibility: this role provides an opportunity to try new things and push creative boundaries
• You’ll learn more than you thought was possible; our team is obsessed with personal and professional growth (every Looper receives a professional mastery allowance each year)
• You’ll be set up to work remotely with a MacBook laptop, a monthly phone and internet allowance, and a work-from-home budget to help get your home office all set up! 
• Join us in regular company socials, AMA (Ask-Me-Anything), and quarterly kick-off to celebrate the big wins and milestones as #oneteam!
• You’ll be joining a culture that has thoughtfully built out opportunities for connections in a remote first environment.
• We have Employee Resource Groups, various fun virtual activities, and many more moments for us to have fun and learn together! 
• You’ll be a part of an award-winning workplace and one of Canada’s fastest growing companies with ample opportunity to make a big impact here!

We recognize that all too often, potential candidates don’t apply for a position simply because they don’t hit every single criteria included in the job description—particularly members of underrepresented groups. 
Whether or not your experience checks off all the boxes on a job posting, we still encourage you to apply to ensure that your application receives a review from our team. We understand that a resume can only showcase so much during the applicant stage, so we've created prompts in the application for you to share more about yourself. If you've made a career transition (or a few!), you’re self taught in a new role, or you have skills/experience you’d like to highlight, we want to hear more about what you could bring to the table.
Loopio is an equal opportunity employer that is deeply committed to building equitable workplaces that are diverse and inclusive. We actively encourage candidates from all backgrounds and lifestyles to consider us as a future employer. Please contact a member of our Talent Experience team (work@loopio.com) should you require accommodations at any point during our virtual interview processes.