Head of Applied AI

About the CompanyWe’re partnering with a stealth AI startup at the intersection of filmmaking and advanced machine learning. Founded by a renowned, award-winning leader in the entertainment industry, the company is already deploying production-grade AI tools used in major studio films generating hundreds of millions in box office revenue.With significant backing from top-tier media and technology investors, the team is now preparing for its next phase of growth, including a Series A raise and the expansion of core technical teams. This is a unique opportunity to join at the ground level, shaping the future of AI-driven creativity in a deeply technical, high-impact environment.ResponsibilitiesArchitect, optimize, and maintain scalable training and inference pipelines.Own model optimization, packaging, and deployment across high-traffic production systems.Partner cross-functionally with research, engineering, and design to deliver ML-powered products.Define and enforce best practices for scalability, reproducibility, and system performance.Build and mentor a high-performing applied research team focused on shipping real-world ML solutions.Qualifications5+ years of experience in ML engineering with a strong focus on distributed training and efficient model deployment.Hands-on experience with cloud platforms, MLOps tooling, and deep learning libraries.Strong background in data pipelines, model serving, and performance tuning.Ability to bridge research and product—turning prototypes into scalable systems.Leadership experience in an ML research or applied AI organization is a plus.Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related technical field.Experience with computer vision or generative vision architectures.