Senior Director, Ml/Ai - Search And Recommendations (AI)

TL;DR

Senior Director, ML/AI - Search and Recommendations (AI): Leading the scientific roadmap for the company’s Search and Recommendation stack, driving the shift to AI-native discovery experiences. Focus on integrating the latest AI breakthroughs, developing Ranking Foundation Models, and ensuring algorithms optimize for long-term business value.

Location: United States - Washington - Seattle

Salary: $296,000.00 to $414,500.00 (Seattle), $323,000.00 to $452,500.00 (San Jose)

Company

hirify.global brands power global travel for everyone, everywhere.

What you will do

• Lead the strategic vision for the Search and Recommendation stack, driving the shift to AI-native discovery experiences.
• Serve as a key strategic partner to senior Product and Engineering leadership, shaping the roadmap for centralized ranking capabilities.
• Make technical architecture decisions for search ranking and recommendations, integrating the latest AI into the production stack.
• Develop Ranking Foundation Models and distill intelligence into efficient, vertical-specific models.
• Lead and scale high-performing teams of Applied Scientists and ML Leaders.
• Drive marketplace health, ensuring algorithms optimize for long-term business value.

Requirements

• PhD or Master’s in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 15+ years of experience in Data Science and Machine Learning, with 8+ years of experience managing high-performing science teams and managing managers.
• Deep technical authority in Search and Ranking, with experience designing and deploying large-scale Ranking Foundation Models, Representation Learning, and Retrieval systems.
• Expertise in Model Distillation, with experience training large-scale "Teacher" models and applying Knowledge Distillation techniques.
• Architectural Leadership, with experience making build-vs-buy decisions and designing ML systems that handle massive scale and real-time inference requirements.
• Stakeholder Influence: Strong business acumen and ability to influence executive stakeholders.

Nice to have

• Experience leading ML/AI teams in a two-sided marketplace, balancing supply and demand dynamics.
• A track record of successfully migrating legacy search stacks to modern, deep-learning, or vector-based architectures.
• Proven track record as a recognized industry leader.
• Exceptional organizational leadership skills, with a history of attracting top talent and designing effective org structures for hybrid Research/Engineering teams.

Culture & Benefits

• Full benefits package, including travel perks, generous time-off, parental leave, and career development resources.
• Flexible work model with cool offices.
• Wellness & travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and an International Airlines Travel Agent (IATAN) membership.
• Inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce.