Director of AI/ML Engineering, Pluralsight
$166.6-231.3k
Technology workforce development company
Job no longer available
Technology workforce development company
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$166.6-231.3k
1001+ employees
Company mission
To inspire and empower the tech workforce to achieve their goals.
Role
Who you are
- You enjoy learning and are open to new ways of doing things
- You are not afraid to be yourself, experiment, make mistakes and learn from them, ask questions, or voice your concerns
- When communicating you are self-aware, insightful, and proactive
- You are a team member first and individual contributor second. You are aware that high-performing teams are only as strong as their weakest link
- You believe in continuous improvement and request frequent feedback from others
- Technical strategy and roadmap ownership – Demonstrated ability to define and drive the technical direction for complex AI/ML systems, aligning with business and product goals
- Architecture and systems design – Proficient in designing scalable backend systems, including LLM orchestration, retrieval pipelines (e.g., RAG), and ML service infrastructure
- AI/ML infrastructure at scale – Familiarity with modern ML stack components, including model serving, prompt orchestration, vector stores, and cost/performance optimization
- Operational delivery and execution leadership – Proven experience leading engineering teams to deliver high-impact features with accountability for scope, timeline, and stability
- Team leadership and people management – Experience managing engineers, providing technical mentorship, and creating a collaborative, high-performance team environment
- Cross-functional collaboration – Skilled at partnering with product managers, ML Ops, and research teams to define priorities, resolve tradeoffs, and drive shared outcomes
- Technical decision-making under ambiguity – Comfortable leading in dynamic environments, setting direction with incomplete inputs, and balancing short-term needs with long-term vision
- Strong written and verbal communication – Able to synthesize complex technical topics and present them clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- 7+ years of experience in engineering, with at least 3–5 years leading teams in AI/ML, backend systems
- 3+ years of direct people management experience, with a proven track record of growing and mentoring engineering talent
- Experience owning technical strategy, architecture, and execution in a cross-functional environment
- Prior work in AI/ML infrastructure or production-scale systems involving LLMs, recommendation, or content retrieval preferred
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field required; advanced degree (MS/PhD) preferred but not required with strong industry experience
- LLM-powered product development – Hands-on experience building or integrating large language models into real-world user-facing systems
- Exposure to research or R&D collaboration models – Experience working with research teams or on long-horizon planning and technical feasibility evaluation
- This is a remote role; however, applicants located within 45 miles of our Draper, UT, or Westlake/Dallas, TX offices should expect to work on-site Tuesday through Thursday, with remote flexibility on Mondays and Fridays. This approach enables more effective collaboration, quicker decision-making, and a stronger culture, while still providing flexibility
What the job involves
- The Director of AI/ML Engineering will lead the technical strategy, system architecture, and daily operations of a small but high-impact team building AI-powered product capabilities.
- They will lead a group of Machine Learning Engineers and partner closely with product, ML Ops, and research teams to scale our LLM-based infrastructure and accelerate delivery of features like Iris.
- This is a hands-on leadership role that requires strong technical depth, sound architectural judgment, and the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic environment. The ideal candidate is energized by solving meaningful problems and bringing clarity to complex spaces
- Lead the technical roadmap and architectural direction for AI/ML systems, including LLM infrastructure, retrieval pipelines, and generative workflows
- Manage and mentor a team of engineers; set technical direction and ensure operational excellence
- Oversee day-to-day team operations and delivery; ensure progress, accountability, and timely execution across projects
- Partner closely with the product manager to align engineering execution with product strategy and business priorities
- Collaborate with ML Ops on performance, cost, and scaling; understanding of operational tradeoffs is essential
- Work with the AI Architect from Research & Innovation on long-term planning, prototyping, and tool evaluation
- Translate strategy into clear technical plans and influence budget or prioritization discussions based on business value
- Guide development practices to ensure stability, scalability, and long-term maintainability of ML systems
Application process
- Applications must be submitted within 90 days after the initial posting date to be considered
Our take
Pluralsight is dedicated to closing the global tech skills gap, a mission that has become increasingly urgent as industries worldwide face a growing shortage of IT talent. This high demand for upskilling makes Pluralsight's online training services more relevant than ever.
Founded in 2004, Pluralsight has matured into a prominent player in the online upskilling industry. The company has seen significant growth in recent years, capitalising on the surge in demand before many competing startups emerged. Despite facing competition from major players like Grow with Google and Udemy, Pluralsight has maintained its strong position.
Though Vista Equity Partners' 2021 acquisition has brought some challenges, Pluralsight, once a unicorn startup now a public company, continues to thrive. With numerous partnerships with NGOs, educational institutions, and corporations, Pluralsight remains a key player in tackling the tech skills shortage.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-11% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Dec 2016
$30m
SERIES C
Aug 2014
$135m
SERIES B
Total funding: $195m
Company benefits
- Unlimited PTO
- Summer Fridays
- Holidays
- Parental Leave
- Medical, Dental and Vision
Company HQ
Draper, UT
Leadership
Aaron Skonnard
(Co-Founder & CEO)Worked as a DevelopMentor Author, and was President of Skonnard Consulting. In 2004, left a Neumont University Associate Professorship to co-found Pluralsight.
Fritz Onion
(Co-Founder & Content Advisor)Started as an Oracle Software Engineer after a degree at Harvard, and then spent 10 years as a DevelopMentor Instructor. Subsequently co-founded Pluralsight in April 2004, serving as Content Advisor.
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