Principal ML Engineer, Recommendation Systems

Launch Potato; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A forward-thinking technology firm seeks a Machine Learning Architect to establish technical vision for personalization. Responsibilities include driving alignment across teams, defining company strategy, and solving complex ML challenges. Candidates must have 10+ years of experience in large-scale ML systems and demonstrate expertise in personalization. The role offers competitive growth within a diverse and inclusive environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years designing, developing, and deploying large-scale machine learning systems with a focus on personalization.
• Expertise building ML systems with deep expertise in large-scale personalization.
• Recognized industry expertise through patents, publications, or significant product impact.

Responsibilities

• Establish the technical vision for personalization, influencing strategy and architecture.
• Define company-wide personalization strategy and architecture, driving alignment across all ML teams.
• Lead multi-quarter, cross-functional initiatives redefining personalization impact on business KPIs.

Job description

Overview

As The Discovery and Conversion Company, our mission is to connect consumers with the world’s leading brands through data-driven content and technology.

Headquartered in South Florida with a remote-first team spanning over 15 countries, we’ve built a high-growth, high-performance culture where speed, ownership, and measurable impact drive success.

Why join us

At Launch Potato, you’ll accelerate your career by owning outcomes, moving fast, and driving impact with a global team of high-performers.

Must Have

• Expertise building ML systems with deep expertise in large-scale personalization
• Recognized industry expertise through patents, publications, or significant product impact
• Proven success architecting ML platforms serving billions of predictions in production
• Demonstrated track record of 0→1 innovation in personalization or recommender systems
• Mastery across multiple ML domains including deep learning, causal inference, multi-armed bandits, and graph-based models

Experience

10+ years designing, developing, and deploying large-scale machine learning systems with a focus on personalization

Your Role

Establish the technical vision for personalization at Launch Potato, solving the company’s most complex ML challenges and influencing strategy, architecture, and innovation across teams.

Outcomes

• Define company-wide personalization strategy and architecture, driving alignment across all ML teams
• Solve critical technical challenges such as cold start, real-time learning, and exploration/exploitation tradeoffs
• Design and implement advanced ML solutions using cutting-edge techniques (e.g., graph neural networks, causal models, bandit algorithms)
• Create and enforce ML architecture patterns, design standards, and reusable infrastructure across teams
• Lead multi-quarter, cross-functional initiatives that redefine how personalization impacts business KPIs
• Act as technical mentor to senior ML engineers, guiding complex decision-making and scaling team capability
• Represent Launch Potato’s technical brand externally through speaking engagements, open source contributions, or publications
• Champion privacy-preserving personalization, responsible AI practices, and adaptive learning systems

Competencies

• Visionary Thinking: Defines the future state of ML infrastructure and personalization strategy. Balances deep technical rigor with a strong understanding of product impact.
• Architectural Excellence: Designs scalable, modular systems that support billions of predictions and enable rapid experimentation. Sets high standards for maintainability and performance.
• Technical Influence: Drives decision-making and builds consensus across teams and stakeholders without direct authority. Provides trusted guidance in ambiguous situations.
• Expert-Level Execution: Navigates deep technical complexity while maintaining execution velocity. Translates research insights into production-ready solutions.
• Mentorship & Leadership: Coaches senior engineers, facilitates technical reviews, and raises the technical bar for the entire organization.
• External Thought Leadership: Represents LP in the ML community and contributes to growing its reputation as a leader in ML innovation.
• Curious & Forward-Looking: Constantly explores new approaches to personalization and actively prototypes cutting-edge methodologies.

Equal Opportunity

Since day one, we’ve been committed to having a diverse, inclusive team and culture. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity company. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion.