Technical Lead Manager (TLM), AI & Data Science - Hybrid

XPO; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Full health insurance day one

Life and disability insurance

PTO 15 days first year

9 paid holidays

401(k) with company match

Education assistance

Incentive plan

Job summary

XPO is seeking a Technical Lead Manager for AI & Data Science in Boston. The role focuses on building scalable AI/ML systems, leading a technical team, and contributing code on critical components.

You will drive end-to-end machine learning initiatives and partner with dependent software teams to deploy models into production. The position emphasizes architecture reviews, governance, and delivering value via GenAI and MLOps best practices, with a compensation range reflecting senior leadership

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent related work or military experience.
• 5 years of experience in Machine Learning Engineering, Applied AI, Data Science, or MLOps, including hands-on experience architecting and building production ML/AI systems.
• 2+ years of experience leading or acting as technical lead for a focused technical team.
• Demonstrated ability to review model designs and code, evaluate architecture and technical tradeoffs, and contribute code directly when needed.
• Strong technical foundation in end-to-end AI systems, such as data requirements for building AI/ML systems and products.
• Designing and implementing scalable MLOps pipelines (training, evaluation, CI/CD, deployment, monitoring, governance).
• Building production-grade ML inference services and APIs (batch and real-time).
• Developing and deploying Multimodal Generative AI solutions, including LLM-powered applications, RAG pipelines, and Agents.

Responsibilities

• Set the technical agenda for the team's AI/ML initiatives, and prioritize and allocate work across scientists and engineers.
• Architect end-to-end AI/ML systems and review model designs, code, and technical approaches across the team.
• Contribute code directly on high-priority or high-risk components as needed.
• Run daily standups and provide weekly status updates to management.
• Manage stakeholder communication across business and technical audiences.
• Partner with dependent software development teams to integrate and launch models into production.
• Conduct architecture reviews, code reviews, and performance tuning to ensure high engineering standards.
• Mentor scientists and engineers on production-ready AI development and best practices.

Skills

Python

Communication

Leadership

Code review

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's/PhD preferred

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Job description

What you’ll need to succeed as a Technical Lead Manager (TLM), AI & Data Science at XPO

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent related work or military experience
• 5 years of experience in Machine Learning Engineering, Applied AI, Data Science, or MLOps, including hands‑on experience architecting and building production ML/AI systems
• 2+ years of experience leading or acting as technical lead for a focused technical team
• Demonstrated ability to review model designs and code, evaluate architecture and technical tradeoffs, and contribute code directly when needed
• Strong technical foundation in end-to-end AI systems, such as:
• Understanding data requirements (e.g. sources, volume, quality) for building AI/ML systems and products
• Designing and implementing scalable MLOps pipelines (training, evaluation, CI/CD, deployment, monitoring, governance)
• Building production-grade ML inference services and APIs (batch and real‑time)
• Developing and deploying Multimodal Generative AI solutions, including LLM-powered applications, RAG pipelines, and Agents
• Proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch)
• Experience integrating AI systems with enterprise applications and data platforms
• Strong communication skills, including experience running stakeholder updates, status reporting, and cross‑team coordination

Preferred qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or related field
• Experience setting technical direction for applied AI or optimization projects (e.g., network/route optimization, demand forecasting, GenAI applications)
• Hands‑on experience with:
• LLM application development, prompt engineering, evaluation frameworks, guardrails, and post‑training (e.g. fine‑tuning, reinforcement learning)
• Vector databases and retrieval systems
• Model monitoring, drift detection, and AI governance practices
• Experience deploying AI solutions in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Experience partnering with dependent software development teams to ship models into production
• Strong business acumen with experience driving measurable ROI from AI initiatives

About the Technical Lead Manager (TLM), AI & Data Science job

Pay, benefits and more

• C ompetitive compensation package
• Full health insurance benefits are available on day one
• Life and disability insurance
• Earn up to 15days of PTO over your first year
• 9 paid company holidays
• 401(k) option with company match
• Education assistance
• Opportunity to participate in a company incentive plan

What you’ll do on a typical day

• Set the technical agenda for the team's AI/ML initiatives, and prioritize and allocate work across scientists and engineers
• Architect end-to-end AI/ML systems and review model designs, code, and technical approaches across the team
• Contribute code directly on high‑priority or high‑risk components as needed
• Run daily standups and provide weekly status updates to management
• Manage stakeholder communication across business and technical audiences
• Partner with dependent software development teams to integrate and launch models into production
• Conduct architecture reviews, code reviews, and performance tuning to ensure high engineering standards
• Mentor scientists and engineers on production‑ready AI development and best practices
• Stay at the forefront of advancements in AI/ML engineering, GenAI, and MLOps to guide technology decisions and adoption

Annual Salary Range: $155,000 to $180,000 Actual compensation may vary due to factors such as experience and skill set. This is an incentive-based position, which may include bonuses, incentive or commission plans.

About XPO

XPO is a top ten global provider of transportation services, with a highly integrated network of people, technology and physical assets. At XPO, we look for employees who like a challenge and can communicate effectively in all situations. We want to leverage your skills and years of experience to drive positive results while ensuring a bright future for yourself and XPO. If you’re looking for a growth opportunity, join us at XPO.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, disability, veteran or other protected status.

All applicants who receive a conditional offer of employment may be required to take and pass a pre‑employment drug test.

Review XPO's candidate privacy statement here.

The above statements are not an exhaustive list of all required responsibilities, duties and skills for this job classification.