Principal AI Engineer

Shutterfly; Winnipeg; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company in Winnipeg is seeking a Principal AI Engineer to lead the development of an AI-driven photo evaluation and recommendation platform. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in computer vision and machine learning with expertise in CNNs and transformer-based models. This role emphasizes leadership, mentorship, and the integration of image intelligence with personalized user experiences. A strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks is essential, along with a Master's degree in Computer Science.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering, with at least 5+ years focused on AI/ML roles.
• Deep knowledge of computer vision techniques including CNNs and vision transformers.
• Proven leadership in cross-functional initiatives from conception to delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of AI-driven photo evaluation and personalized recommendation platform.
• Build and deploy transformer-based ML models analyzing user behavior.
• Define architectural strategies for AI components.

Skills

Computer Vision

Image Recognition

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Python

Education

MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

OpenCV

Docker

AWS/GCP

Job description

Job Description

At Shutterfly, we make life’s experiences unforgettable. We believe in the power of self-expression. Our family of brands helps customers create products and capture moments that reflect their uniqueness.

This position is based in Canada; only Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be considered.

We are seeking a Principal AI Engineer with expertise in computer vision and machine learning to lead the development of our next-generation AI-driven photo evaluation and personalized recommendation platform. The ideal candidate will be experienced in CNNs and transformer-based vision models to build systems that evaluate and rank photos for personalized physical products. You will lead efforts in combining semantic image understanding, aesthetic scoring, and behavioral personalization into a unified recommendation pipeline. Extensive experience analyzing visual media, extracting metadata, and leveraging user behavior data for personalized recommendations is essential.

Key Responsibilities

1. Computer Vision & Image Intelligence
2. Expertise in CNN models (MobileNetV3, VGG, Inception) and transformer-based vision models (e.g., ViT, CLIP, BLIP, DINOv2) for analyzing, scoring, similarity analysis, and tagging photos with metadata such as facial expressions, recognition and grouping, contextual categories (vacations, events, portraits), aesthetic appeal, object and scene detection.
3. Develop scalable pipelines for processing large volumes of image data and generating structured, query-able metadata.
4. Integrate image intelligence with downstream applications like search, ranking, and personalization.
5. Behavioral AI & Recommendation Systems
6. Build and deploy transformer-based ML models analyzing user behavior and purchase patterns for personalized recommendations.
7. Correlate behavior data with image metadata to curate visual content for users.
8. Lead experimentation frameworks (A/B testing) to optimize relevance and conversions.
9. Leadership & Architecture
10. Define architectural strategies for AI components and ensure integration with core systems.
11. Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and code contributions.
12. Drive decisions on data acquisition, model training, deployment, and monitoring.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering, with at least 5+ years focused on AI/ML roles.
• Deep knowledge of computer vision techniques including CNNs, vision transformers, facial recognition, object detection, image classification, and embeddings.
• Strong experience with recommendation systems, collaborative filtering, deep learning personalization, and transformer-based models.
• Proficiency in Python and ML libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV).
• Experience deploying ML models at scale (Docker, AWS/GCP or similar).
• Proven leadership in cross-functional initiatives from conception to delivery.
• Understanding of ML lifecycle practices (data management, evaluation, explainability, observability).
• MS in Computer Science or related field.

Supporting diversity and inclusion is important to Shutterfly. We value all applicants and assess qualifications without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or other characteristics covered by law. Learn more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on our Career Site.