Head of Machine Learning

Toast; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 160,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision coverage

4 weeks paid vacation

Relocation support available

Employee ownership opportunities

Flexible work environment

Job summary

Toast is seeking a hands‑on Head of Machine Learning to lead the ML strategy, oversee end‑to‑end development, and solve embedded ML challenges for their public safety tech. The role focuses on production ML, data pipelines, and ML ops within a hardware‑integrated sonar product.

Ideal candidates have 5–10 years in ML, strong Python with PyTorch/Scikit‑learn, and demonstrated leadership in ML teams. Relocation to Vancouver is supported.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, CS, Mathematics, Physics, or related field.
• 5–10 years of experience in machine learning, AI, and software development.
• Proven track record leading machine learning teams and delivering quality products.
• Experience with embedded ML on hardware or IoT devices.
• Strong proficiency in Python, with PyTorch and Scikit‑learn experience.
• End‑to‑end ML project experience: data pipelines to deployment.
• Experience with Jira and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure).

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the ML strategy aligned with product and business goals.
• Lead design and evolution of ML architectures for production systems.
• Establish standards, best practices, and development processes for ML systems.
• Oversee ML model development, validation, deployment, and lifecycle management.
• Oversee signal processing pipelines and ML ops practices including versioning and monitoring.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and leadership to define the AI roadmap.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

Scikit-learn

Team leadership

ML strategy

Data pipelines

Jira

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Engineering/CS/Math/Physics

Tools

AWS

Azure

Jira

Job description

Job Description

Toast is recruiting on behalf of a fast‑growing public safety technology company that is transforming the global water rescue industry. Their flagship product is a handheld sonar device with built‑in AI detection that helps first responders locate drowning victims faster and more effectively. As the company expands its global reach and develops new product lines, they are looking for a driven, hands‑on Head of Machine Learning to lead ML strategy, oversee end‑to‑end development, and solve some of their most challenging embedded ML problems. This role sits at the centre of the company’s core technology and strategic vision.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the machine learning strategy in line with evolving product and business objectives
• Lead the design and evolution of signal processing and machine learning architectures for production systems
• Establish technical standards, best practices, and development processes for ML systems
• Evaluate emerging ML technologies and identify opportunities to strengthen product capabilities and competitive advantage
• Provide technical leadership on architecture decisions, model selection, and system performance optimization
• Oversee the development, validation, deployment, and lifecycle management of machine learning models
• Oversee the design, optimization, and scalability of signal processing pipelines
• Define model performance metrics and drive continuous improvement through rigorous evaluation and experimentation
• Ensure production ML infrastructure, data pipelines, and supporting databases are robust, maintainable, and scalable
• Oversee ML Ops practices including model versioning, reproducibility, and monitoring
• Set standards for dataset acquisition, quality, governance, and lifecycle management
• Lead planning and execution of field data collection initiatives to meet product development and validation goals
• Innovate on methods for data labeling, preprocessing, quality assurance, and representativeness across operational scenarios
• Continuously expand and refine training datasets to improve model accuracy and generalization
• Partner with Product Management, Engineering, and executive leadership to define the AI roadmap and prioritize initiatives
• Translate customer needs and operational challenges into innovative ML solutions and product capabilities
• Provide technical leadership during customer demonstrations, field trials, and critical deployments
• Serve as the organization’s subject matter expert on machine learning, advising on technical direction and product strategy
• Lead and mentor a high‑performing machine learning team within the product development group
• Set project priorities, resource allocation, and development plans to deliver on strategic objectives
• Drive project execution through effective planning, risk management, and tools such as Jira
• Build a culture of technical excellence, innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning through technical reviews and knowledge sharing

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field
• 5 to 10 years of experience in machine learning, AI, and software development
• Proven track record leading machine learning teams and delivering quality products
• Experience with embedded ML on hardware or IoT devices
• Experience translating real‑world applications and customer needs into ML solutions
• Strong proficiency in Python, with hands‑on experience using PyTorch and Scikit‑learn
• End‑to‑end ML project experience, including data pipelines, data cleaning, preprocessing, model design, training, validation, and deployment
• Experience with project management tools such as Jira
• Experience working with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure
• Strong technical communication, documentation, and organizational skills

Nice to haves

• Familiarity with sonar systems and sonar data would be a plus
• Familiarity with signal processing is considered an asset
• Experience with computer vision, such as object detection and Fourier transforms, would be a plus
• Experience with IP strategy in AI innovation is considered an asset
• Comfort working in open water settings year‑round (with appropriate PPE) would be a plus

Benefits

• Salary range of $160,000 to $180,000, plus performance‑based incentives
• Employee ownership opportunities, so you share in the value you help build
• Health, dental, and vision coverage
• 4 weeks paid vacation plus a company‑wide closure from December 24 to January 1
• Relocation support available for candidates based outside of Vancouver
• Flexible and dynamic work environment
• Own the core algorithms behind a device first responders use in real rescues, where faster detection means victims are found sooner
• Shape the AI roadmap as the company expands globally and launches new product lines
• Build and lead the ML team from the ground up, with direct influence on the design and development of the end product