Head of ML

JetBrains; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

JetBrains is seeking an experienced ML leader to drive AI strategy and product direction. You will lead a global ML initiative, spanning research, engineering, and product teams, aligning projects with business goals and measurable value.

This role requires strong stakeholder management and the ability to balance long-term R&D with immediate product needs. You will collaborate with AI-native and integrated AI initiatives, shaping technical standards and ML infrastructure while delivering

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading ML-focused products.
• Experience shipping production ML systems.
• Strong stakeholder management and leadership skills.
• Understanding of modern ML infra, LLMs, and AI tooling.

Responsibilities

• Identify and champion high-impact AI projects aligned with JetBrains' strategy.
• Lead a ~50-person team across multiple AI initiatives, including hiring and mentoring team leads, ML engineers, and MLOps specialists.
• Define the technical direction for JetBrains’ ML roadmap and translate AI advances into product innovations.
• Ensure projects deliver measurable value and adhere to standards and best practices.

Skills

Leadership

ML strategy

Stakeholder management

ML infrastructure

LLMs

Product focus

Tools

Kotlin

CI systems

Experiment tracking

Job description

At JetBrains, code is our passion. Ever since we started back in 2000, we have been striving to make the world’s most robust and effective developer tools. By automating routine checks and corrections, our tools speed up production, freeing developers to grow, discover, and create.

JetBrains is evolving beyond standalone developer tools toward a unified, AI-native platform for software development.

AI is no longer just an assistant inside the editor – it is becoming an active participant in how software is planned, built, reviewed, and operated across teams and organizations. This shift introduces new challenges that cannot be solved at the level of individual tools alone: governance, security, cost control, observability, and coordinated work between humans and autonomous agents.

Our goal is to build a platform that enables companies to adopt AI in software development in a structured, scalable, and economically efficient manner without locking them into closed ecosystems. This platform will serve as the execution and governance layer for AI-driven development, deeply integrated with developer tools but designed to work across teams, products, and environments.

We are looking for an experienced ML leader who has created products with an ML backbone, weaving together research, technical excellence, and strong product focus.

We are seeking a professional who excels in three key areas: technology, product vision, and business operations. This role involves extensive cooperation with products across the company – both AI-native and just integrating AI.

In This Role, You Will

• Identify, prioritize, and champion high-impact AI projects that align with JetBrains' product strategy and deliver measurable business value.
• Lead a team of about 50 people across multiple AI initiatives, including hiring and developing team leads, ML engineers, and MLOps specialists.
• Set the technical direction for JetBrains’ ML roadmap, translating cutting-edge AI advancements into practical product innovations.
• Ensure projects deliver on commitments and create measurable value.
• Set technical standards, architectural direction, and best practices for ML development.

We’ll be happy to have you on our team if you have:

• The ability to balance long-term R&D with short-term product needs.
• A track record of shipping production ML systems that users actually use.
• Experience building business cases for technical projects.
• A deep understanding of modern ML infrastructure, LLMs, and AI tooling.
• Outstanding stakeholder management skills and are comfortable working with senior leaders.
• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, effectively managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent management and communication skills.
• Attention to detail in everything you do.

We’d be especially thrilled if you have experience with:

• Distributed training of multi-billion parameter models.
• CI systems, workflow automation, and experiment tracking.
• The Kotlin programming language.

We are an equal opportunity employer

We know great ideas can come from anyone, anywhere. That’s why we do our best to create an open and inclusive workplace – one that welcomes everyone regardless of their background, identity, religion, age, accessibility needs, or orientation.

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