Machine Learning Engineer, Senior Manager

Credit Acceptance; United States; Hybrid; USD 184,354 - 270,386; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical/dental/vision coverage

401(k) plan with company match

Adoption assistance

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Credit Acceptance is looking for a Senior Manager in MLE to lead AI-powered solutions in Southfield, Michigan. This role involves strategic execution of ML initiatives and mentoring a team of engineers. Ideal candidates will have extensive experience in machine learning and decision science.

Responsibilities include collaborating with stakeholders, designing scalable systems, and guiding the technical vision. Benefits include comprehensive coverage, 401(k) matching, and a competitive salary range.

Qualifications

• PhD or MS with extensive experience in machine learning and software engineering.
• Proven experience designing and deploying AI models.
• Strong problem-solving skills and experience in a collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead ML/AI initiatives to create long-term value.
• Collaborate with management to define roadmaps.
• Design scalable AI/ML systems using best practices.
• Mentor the ML engineering team.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues.

Skills

Machine Learning

Generative AI

Decision Science

Deep Learning

Reinforcement Learning

Programming

Education

PhD in Computer Science or related field

MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Databricks

Apache Airflow

Kafka/Kinesis

Job description

Senior Manager, MLE – ML and AI Engineering (Credit Acceptance)

Position based in Southfield, Michigan with the option to work from home and occasional planned travel to the office. We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced leader with a strong technical background in decision science, machine learning, and generative AI to drive AI‑powered solutions across multiple business areas.

Responsibilities

• Lead the vision and strategic execution of ML/AI initiatives to create long‑term value.
• Collaborate with management and stakeholders to define roadmaps and translate them into actionable quarterly plans.
• Drive execution and delivery of ML/AI solutions by managing priorities, deadlines, and deliverables.
• Design and deliver scalable, secure systems using state‑of‑the‑art AI/ML technologies and industry best practices.
• Mentor a team of ML engineers, fostering growth and providing guidance on design principles, coding standards, and AI productivity tools.
• Explore and apply advanced techniques including LLMs, deep learning, graph neural networks, and reinforcement learning.
• Ensure security, scalability, and architectural integrity of feature designs through cross‑team reviews.
• Help build ML and Gen‑AI platforms and inference pipelines, and collaborate on production‑grade model serving.
• Perform troubleshooting and resolve complex technical issues to improve reliability and efficiency.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, or related field with 8+ years of experience, or MS with 10+ years of experience in machine learning and software engineering.
• 8+ years of hands‑on experience designing, building, and deploying AI (ML, DL, Gen‑AI) models, including reinforcement learning, recommendation systems, transformers, fine‑tuned LLMs, regressions, and others.
• Hands‑on expertise in scaling and maintaining production‑grade ML services, with focus on ML/LLM operations (versioning, automation, observability, training, monitoring).
• Strong problem‑solving skills and a bias for action.
• Experience partnering with engineering, product, business operations, legal, and other cross‑functional teams.
• Knowledge of model interpretability, responsible AI practices, and data‑science experimentation techniques.
• Experience with model‑serving platforms such as Databricks Model Serving or equivalent.
• Preferred: automotive industry experience, DAG pipeline building (e.g., Kubeflow, DVC, Ray), and microservice design (gRPC, GraphQL).

Preferred Skills

• Expertise in advanced experimentation, visualization, and pipeline orchestration tools like Apache Airflow, Spark, Flink, Kafka/Kinesis.
• Experience with parameter‑efficient fine‑tuning, model quantization, and LLM prompting strategies (Chain‑of‑Thoughts, Tree‑of‑Thoughts, Graph‑of‑Thoughts).
• Knowledge of Databricks MLflow for lifecycle management.

Compensation

Competitive base salary range: $184,354 – $270,386. Eligible for an annual variable bonus (15–30% of base) based on performance. Compensation may be increased for candidates residing in major metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical/dental/vision coverage.
• 401(k) plan with company match.
• Adoption assistance, parental leave, tuition reimbursement.
• Other non‑standard benefits.

EEO Statement

Credit Acceptance is dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive working environment for all. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and value a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status, criminal history, or any other legally protected characteristic.

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