Senior Applied ML/AI Scientist - Search

Faire; Toronto, Kitchener; On-site; CAD 171,000 - 235,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid schedule

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Faire is seeking a Senior Applied AI/ML Scientist to drive the technical vision for our Search engine, guiding real-time search, dense representations, and discovery with sub-100ms latency across global retailers and shoppers.

You will lead model development and GPU-based deployment (Triton), mentor senior scientists and MLEs, advance MLOps and evaluation practices, and collaborate with product and data teams to deliver personalized shopping experiences.

Qualifications

• 5+ years building large-scale ML systems, with 3+ years in search or recommendation.

Responsibilities

• Own the next-generation Search engine with sub-100ms latency and personalization.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

Vector search

MLOps

Communication

Education

MS or PhD in CS/Stats

Tools

Faiss

ScaNN

Pinecone

Triton

Job description

About Faire

Faire is a technology wholesale platform built on the belief that the future is local. Independent retailers around the globe collectively represent a multi‑hundred‑billion‑dollar wholesale market that has historically been fragmented and offline. At Faire, we use tech, data, and machine learning to connect entrepreneurs across the globe so they can discover the best products to sell in their stores, leveling the playing field for businesses and local communities.

About the Role

As a Senior Applied AI/ML Scientist on the Search Group, you’ll drive the technical vision, ML algorithm strategy, and system design powering Faire’s Search engine—one of the most critical levers for customer value and company growth. You’ll lead the advancement of real‑time Search and Recommendation systems behind our next‑generation shopping experiences.

What You’ll Do

• Own the next‑generation Search engine, integrating LLMs, query understanding, dense vector retrieval, deep personalization embeddings, multi‑stage ranking, and reinforcement learning to serve personalized product feeds with <100ms latency.
• Design and productionize natural language search and discovery systems, enabling intelligent agents to generate relevant and personalized collections, explain search results, and assist retailers in browsing, filtering, and evaluation.
• Lead model development and GPU‑based deployment efforts, leveraging frameworks like Triton to scale inference reliably and efficiently.
• Mentor and grow senior Applied Scientists and MLEs, and establish best practices around model development, agent workflow evaluation, and MLOps.

You're a Great Fit If You Have

• 5+ years of experience building large‑scale ML systems, including 3+ years in search, recommendation, or ads ranking.
• Hands‑on experience with deep learning libraries (e.g. PyTorch) and vector search infrastructure (e.g. Faiss, ScaNN, Pinecone).
• A strong track record of productionizing models that blend LLMs (e.g. BERT, GPT‑class) with structured features to drive personalization.
• A product‑focused mindset and a bias toward execution—you move quickly from paper to prototype to production.
• Strong Python skills, deep respect for system reliability and ownership, and experience operating in high‑stakes environments.
• Excellent communication and cross‑functional influence—you raise the technical bar beyond your immediate team.

Bonus Points For

• Contributions to open‑source ML libraries or peer‑reviewed publications in ML/AI.
• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, or a related STEM field.
• Strong practices around model development, agent workflow evaluation, and MLOps.

Salary Range

Canada: the pay range for this role is $171,000 to $235,500 per year. This role will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Benefits and Work Environment

• Competitive base salary and equity compensation.
• Comprehensive benefits designed to support your life inside and outside of work.
• Hybrid work schedule: Hybrid Faire employees currently go into the office 3 days per week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and a flex day of your choosing). Additional flexibility to work remotely up to 4 weeks per year.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Faire provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

Reasonable Accommodation

Faire is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. Accommodations are available throughout the recruitment process and applicants with a disability may request to be accommodated.