Director of Machine Learning, Blue River Technology
See & Spray
$204-362k
+ Eligible for bonus
Office located in Santa Clara, CA
Agriculture machinery company
Open for applications
Agriculture machinery company
201-500 employees
Open for applications
$204-362k
+ Eligible for bonus
Office located in Santa Clara, CA
201-500 employees
Company mission
To create intelligent machinery that solves monumental challenges for our customers.
Role
Who you are
- 10+ years of proven engineering leadership experience with 5+ years leading an engineering organization in Data Science and CVML
- A bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering field (Electrical, mechanical, or computer science) is required; an advanced master's degree is preferred
- Proven leadership in developing and executing strategic visions for ML teams aligned with company goals
- Effective relationship builder and highly approachable technical leader
- Bold thinker and confident decision maker, especially in uncertainty; values curiosity, creativity, and risk-taking
- Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a distributed team environment
- Track record of delivering commercially successful products to customers
- Outstanding recruiter and team builder; hire/grow/retain top talent
- Experience working on complex, real-time robotics systems
- Comfortable working in a dynamic, agile environment and the ability to roll up your sleeves and lead by example when needed
What the job involves
- The See and Spray team at Blue River Technology is changing farming forever with productivity and sustainability improvements that employ machine learning and artificial intelligence
- We are seeking a Director of Machine Learning to lead a high-performance organization dedicated to both the commercialization of agricultural robotics and machine learning. In its first year of production, See & Spray was used over 1 million acres, saving farmers 67% of herbicide — and we’re just getting started!
- This role will play a crucial role in scaling this technology, ensuring we are able to rapidly expand our technology across regions, crops, and new applications
- Set an ambitious vision & goals for ML development as we look to rapidly scale our technology
- Motivate and mentor ML engineers and managers to push the bounds of the possible and achieve the above vision & goals
- Remain abreast of the latest advances in ML & AI technology, experimenting with new solutions when appropriate
- Lead process maturation of a scaling org while maintaining agility in development and experimentation
- Own and optimize the budget for ML expenses (labeling, training, etc)
- Partner with program, product, and partner engineering teams to ensure successful delivery of complex robotic products
- Translate highly technical information so non-technical audiences can understand risks, dependencies, and general roadmaps
- Present & evangelize technical roadmaps among senior leaders at Blue River & Deere
- Create a work environment that fosters transparency, high performance, innovation, and diversity
- Develop and grow the careers of managers, technical leads, and engineers
- Advocate for team needs; develop staffing & succession plans, manage performance, and identify skill gaps
- Visit customers in the field often, understanding customer experience, and system performance in the field
Our take
The global farming market is rigorously growing to keep up with demand. Blue River Technology is a farming equipment maker using computer vision, machine learning, robotics and product management to develop machines that optimise chemical usage and reimagining routine processes within farming.
Acquired by one of the largest names in agriculture - John Deere - Blue River commits to remaining independent in ways of working and culture. The company is also stepping into new-world territory working with AI to combat invasive weeds and other large-scale farming issues. It’s impressive what has been developed by Blue River Technology for an industry that is so heavily relied upon, yet has been slower to digitize. It will be exciting to see how the company develops its idea of autonomous farming into the future picture of the farming industry.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Dec 2015
$17m
SERIES B
Mar 2014
$10m
SERIES A
Total funding: $30.1m
Company benefits
- Generous Paid Time Off and Sick Leave
- Paid Parental Leave and an Adoption Benefit
- Subsidized lunches
- Flexible work hours
- Collaborative and supportive environment
- Operating as “mostly remote"
Company values
- Innovative - We embrace a challenge that has never been solved before. We innovate with a “first-of-its-kind” mindset
- Collaborative - Two is ten times better than one
- Customer Obsessed - Our customers are at the core of all we do
- Scrappy - We do big things without letting formality get in our way. We stay nimble, have “fire in our belly” and we never give up
- Accountable - We focus on the right things and we own our part in delivering quality results
- Integrity - We will do what is right. Always
Company HQ
Sunnyvale West, Sunnyvale, CA
Articles
Leadership
Jorge Heraud
(CEO)Previously worked through several roles at Trimble Navigation most recently as a Business Unit Manager and Director of Business Development. Is also VP Automation & Autonomy at John Deere.
Lee Redden
(Chief Scientist)Also Chief Scientist of the Intelligent Solutions Group at John Deere. Worked as an Engineering Intern at NASA and in the Robotics Academy as Team Lead at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 2 more jobs at Blue River Technology