Head, AI Engineering

successacademycharterschool; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Success Academy Charter Schools is seeking a visionary Head of AI Engineering to lead an elite AI team that builds tools to empower teachers and streamline school operations, transforming how students learn. You will work with executives and educators to translate research into real-world classroom solutions across AWS and GCP.

The role demands 5+ years in AI/ML development and 7+ years in leadership, plus a strong portfolio of production systems, MLOps, and cloud experience.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in AI/ML development with delivered projects.
• 7+ years in leadership or management roles.
• Experience building end-to-end AI/ML solutions in production.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor AI developers; foster innovation and learning.
• Architect and oversee scalable AI/ML models and apps.
• Define MLOps practices for deployment and monitoring.
• Collaborate with product and data science teams to align goals.
• Ensure responsible AI practices and data privacy compliance.

Skills

Python

Leadership

ML algorithms

Cloud platforms

MLOps

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Communication

Problem solving

Ethics & privacy

Tools

Terraform

Vertex AI

BigQuery ML

AutoML

Document AI

TensorFlow

PyTorch

LangChain

Hugging Face

LlamaIndex

Job description

Thanks for your interest in Success Academy! Running a large, fast-growing, and high-performing network of public charter schools takes a village - families, children, teachers, staff and faculty, advocates, and supporters alike. We are growing fast in New York and expanding to Florida, and we would love to welcome you to our community! We work tirelessly every day to ensure children have access to a fun, rigorous, whole-child education regardless of zip code or economic status. When you join SA, you play a part in giving every student who walks through our doors a fair shot at reaching his or her potential.

As the fastest-growing, highest-performing charter school network in New York State, Success Academy is reimagining K-12 public education. Nationally recognized for our innovative, whole-child school model and outstanding academic results, Success Academy educators are empowering children from all backgrounds with the knowledge, skills, and self-belief to succeed in college and in life.

We are looking for a visionary, results-driven Head of AI Engineering to join our Technology team and power the next generation of education! In this role, you will build and lead an elite AI engineering team to create groundbreaking tools that empower teachers, streamline school operations, and directly transform the way our students learn. Working closely with executive leadership and educators, you will take cutting-edge AI-from advanced machine learning to generative models on AWS and GCP-and turn it into high-impact, real-world solutions that reshape what is possible in education.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience in AI/ML development, with a strong portfolio of successfully delivered AI projects.
• 7+ years of experience in a leadership or management role, leading and mentoring AI or software development teams.
• Proven experience in designing and implementing end-to-end AI/ML solutions in a production environment.
• Experience with various machine learning techniques (e.g., supervised, unsupervised, reinforcement learning) and deep learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Familiarity with cloud platforms preferable AWS cloud platform and working knowledge of GCP and their AI/ML services.
• Experience with MLOps principles and tools for model versioning, deployment, and monitoring.

Skills:

• Expertise in programming languages commonly used in AI development, such as Python.
• Strong understanding of data structures, algorithms, and software design principles.
• Deep knowledge of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and data science methodologies.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate a team.
• Ability to translate complex business problems into technical AI solutions.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Passion for education and a commitment to Success Academies' mission.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and mentor a team of AI developers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Architect, design, and oversee the development of scalable and robust AI/ML models and applications.
• Define and implement best practices for AI development, MLOps, model deployment, and performance monitoring.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, data scientists, and other engineering teams to identify opportunities for AI integration and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Manage the full lifecycle of AI projects, from conceptualization and research to deployment and ongoing optimization with production support.Stay abreast of the latest advancements in AI, machine learning, and deep learning, evaluating and recommending new technologies.
• Provide management with high-level updates and understanding of the technological advancements and road map accomplishments.
• Ensure the quality, security, and ethical considerations of all AI solutions.
• Communicate technical concepts and project progress effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to the strategic vision for AI within Success Academies and help shape the future of our technological landscape.
• Work with the Cloud Engineering team to be able to deploy products in AWS infrastructure using Terraform and multiple other deployment strategies.
• Strong understanding of Google Cloud AI tools (Vertex AI, AutoML, BigQuery ML, Document AI, and Generative AI APIs).
• Knowledge of open-source AI/ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, LangChain, Hugging Face, LlamaIndex).
• Ensure responsible AI use, bias mitigation, and compliance with data privacy laws (FERPA, GDPR, etc.). Also, have an understanding of AWS cloud security framework applied to AI governance.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executives, school administrators, and non-technical stakeholders.
• Present AI concepts, project updates, and business impacts in a clear and compelling manner.
• Translate technical AI capabilities into practical