Head of Machine Learning

Photoroom; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative company is seeking a Head of Machine Learning to lead a talented team in developing cutting-edge AI solutions. This leadership role involves defining the technical strategy, mentoring engineers, and ensuring collaboration across product and engineering teams. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in machine learning and computer vision, with a track record of success in product-driven environments. Join a dynamic team that thrives on solving complex problems and driving innovation in AI, all while enjoying the flexibility of remote work and a supportive culture.

Benefits

Relocation Support

Flexible Working Hours

Biannual Company Retreats

Language Lessons

Weekly Happy Hour

New MacBook Pro

Health Insurance

Stock Options

Remote Work Flexibility

Team Building Activities

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading ML teams and driving technical strategy.
• Expertise in AI, particularly in computer vision and generative models.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-term ML technical strategy.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing ML team of 10.

Skills

Machine Learning

Computer Vision

Generative AI

Diffusion Models

Technical Leadership

Collaboration

Communication

Education

Master's in Computer Science

PhD in AI/ML

Tools

MacBook Pro

ML Frameworks

Collaboration Tools

Job description

About Us

Photoroom was launched in 2020 after being accepted into Y Combinator and has become the world's most popular AI photo editor over the past four years. Our mission is clear: to create the best visuals for your commerce.

Photoroom puts the power of great images into more people's hands through our powerful and innovative features, from our best-in-the-world background remover to our generative AI model and tools: AI Images, AI Backgrounds and Shadows, AI Expand, and many more.

Processing over 5 billion images a year and downloaded over 200 million times, Photoroom is now the world's #1 AI photo-editing app, available across mobile, web, and via an API in over 180 countries.

We are at an exciting stage of our journey. Having successfully raised our Series B, we aim at sustaining 80% YoY growth.

Photoroom is a profitable, remote-friendly company headquartered in Paris with a global team of over 80 world-class deep learning, product, and marketing experts with backgrounds at the world's best companies. We are a diverse team of entrepreneurs building for entrepreneurs.

TL;DR

We’re looking for a Head of Machine Learning to lead Photoroom’s world-class ML team. You’ll be responsible for driving our long-term technical vision, supporting the team with focus and structure, and bringing product-aligned innovation to life, fast.

This is a leadership role for someone who thrives on owning technical strategy and scaling people. You’ll guide a team of brilliant minds working on generative AI, diffusion models, image understanding, and ML infra — while ensuring close collaboration with product, engineering, and design.

Team size: ~10 ML Engineers & Researchers

Reports to: Chief Technology Officer

TBD€* + Stock-Options/BSPCE

We are flexible: you can work from anywhere in Europe within a 3-hour flight from Paris (HQ) and come to our office once a month (fully paid by Photoroom) or more often. This ensures effective collaboration and supports our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.

️ We offer substantial support for relocation (up to 10k€), including finding an apartment in Paris and supporting you with the visa procedure.

We currently sponsor visas for individuals relocating to France or already based here. We are unable to sponsor visas for remote positions outside of France at this time.

Technology - new MacBook Pro, monitor, keyboard, etc.

️ Socials - Biannual company retreats, weekly Happy Hour & Game Time

Photoroom is an international team, and we work in English. We offer language lessons for those who need them (English & French).

• We can go higher for outstanding profiles and adapt to the cost of living if it is higher than in Paris.
  
  

About The Role

• Define and drive the long-term ML technical strategy in alignment with product and business goals.
• Act as a thought partner to the founders on AI strategy and vision.
• Lead, grow, and mentor a high-performing ML team — currently 10 people across GenAI, CV, and ML infra.
• Create a team culture where people feel empowered, supported, and technically challenged.
• Ensure strong cross-functional collaboration, especially with Product and Engineering.
• Help get state-of-the-art models into production, fast.
• Keep the team focused, unblock key experiments, and increase experimentation speed.
• Scale the team intentionally: smart hiring, clear roadmaps, and a low-meeting culture.
  
  

What Success Looks Like

• Clear, focused ML roadmap with visibility across functions.
• Significant improvement in experimentation throughput.
• Continued excellence in GenAI and computer vision research and delivery.
• Fast, predictable path from R&D to production.
• Scaled team to 20–30 without losing quality or spirit.
• Strong external reputation (papers, partnerships, open source).
• Happy, retained team members who feel they’re growing and winning together.
  
  

About You

• A track record of technical leadership in ML/AI, ideally at product-driven startups or scale-ups.
• Deep expertise in Computer Vision, Diffusion/GenAI, or adjacent fields.
• Comfort across the ML stack: from research to production.
• Experience leading and growing a team of strong ICs and emerging leaders.
• Strong product sense — not afraid to get close to the user problem.
• An ability to prioritise, say no, and keep focus.
• A natural talent for collaboration and clear communication across disciplines.
• Bonus: hands-on coding, compute/hardware infra knowledge, or open source contributions.
  
  

Leadership Style That Works Here

• Empowering, non-micromanaging
• Makes strong calls when needed
• Sets context, not tasks
• Enjoys building team rituals, shared tools, and decision-making processes
• Weekly 1:1s, regular feedback, and clarity on goals
• Low-meeting, high-output energy
  
  

About The Team

We’re a curious, ambitious group who love solving hard problems together. We’ve got deep ML chops across the board — with folks who’ve trained billion-parameter diffusion models, built real-time CV infra, and shipped products to millions of users.

Right now, the team would love more support around:

• Long-term focus and strategy
• Cross-team clarity and roadmap visibility
• Pushing GenAI research further, and faster
• Keeping delivery momentum while scaling up
  
  

You’ll help us get there.

Sound like you?

Let’s chat. We’d love to hear how you’d shape the future of AI at Photoroom.

Hiring Process

• Screening call with the Recruiter
• Technical interview with the Hiring Manager
• Home technical assignment, followed by a review with the team
• Culture fit interviews and meet the team!
• Reference check & Offer
  
  

Support - If you have a medical condition or an individual need for an adjustment to our process, and you believe this may affect your ability to be at your best - please let us know so we can talk about how we can best support you and make any adjustments that may be needed.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

We are committed to enabling everyone to feel included and valued at the workplace. We believe both the company and its culture are strongest when composed of diverse experiences and backgrounds.

That's why:

• We have flexible working hours
• We trust people to work remotely
• We extended the length of the parental leave
  
  

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, family, gender identity, marital status, national origin, physical or mental disability, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.