Head of Machine Learning

BLANKSLATE Partners

Head of Machine Learning advancing AI algorithms for AquaEye, a handheld intelligent sonar device for water rescue. Leading embedded ML strategy, model development, datasets, and a high-performing technical team.

Posted 8/18/2026full-timeVancouver • 🇨🇦 CanadaLead💰 CA$120,000 - CA$180,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in machine learning strategy, architecture design, and MLOps practices, with a strong focus on model performance optimization and data pipeline management. Proven ability to lead high-performing teams and translate customer needs into effective ML solutions.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Machine Learning StrategyMLOps PracticesPython ProficiencyEmbedded Systems DevelopmentProject Management with JIRA

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Machine LearningSignal ProcessingModel SelectionData Pipeline ManagementAlgorithm DevelopmentC ProgrammingDecision TreesLogistic RegressionBayesian AnalysisData Cleaning

Soft Skills

Technical LeadershipOrganizational SkillsTechnical CommunicationMentoringCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

AWSAzureJIRAPyTorchScikit-learn

Industry Keywords

Machine Learning ModelsData GovernanceEmbedded MLIoT DevicesField Data Collection

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudIoTPythonPyTorchScikit-Learn

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Define and execute the machine learning strategy aligned with product and business objectives.
Lead the design and evolution of signal processing and machine learning architectures for production systems.
Establish technical standards, best practices, and development processes for ML systems.
Evaluate emerging ML technologies and identify opportunities to enhance product capabilities.
Provide technical leadership on architecture decisions, model selection, and system performance optimization.
Oversee development, validation, deployment, and lifecycle management of machine learning models.
Oversee the design, optimization, and scalability of signal processing pipelines.
Define model performance metrics and drive improvements through evaluation and experimentation.
Ensure robustness, maintainability, and scalability of production ML infrastructure, data pipelines, and supporting databases.
Oversee MLOps practices, including model versioning, reproducibility, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
Establish standards for dataset acquisition, quality, governance, and lifecycle management.
Lead field data collection initiatives and expand/refine training datasets.
Innovate data labeling, preprocessing, quality assurance, and representativeness methodologies.
Collaborate with Product Management, Engineering, and executive leadership on the AI roadmap and development priorities.
Translate customer needs and operational challenges into ML solutions and product capabilities.
Provide technical leadership during customer demonstrations, field trials, and critical deployments.
Serve as the organization’s machine learning subject matter expert.
Lead and mentor a high-performing machine learning team.
Establish project priorities, resource allocation, and development plans.
Drive project execution through planning, risk management, and Jira.
Define engineering processes, conduct technical reviews, and promote knowledge sharing.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field.
5–10 years of experience in machine learning, AI, and software development.
Experience with AWS.
Experience with Claude.
Ability to write in C for embedded systems.
Proficiency in Python and scripting.
Ability to convert algorithms to code and apply machine learning concepts such as decision trees, logistic regression, and Bayesian analysis to complex datasets.
Proven track record leading machine learning teams and delivering quality products.
Experience with embedded ML on hardware or IoT devices.
Experience translating real-world applications and customer needs into ML solutions.
Strong proficiency in Python, including PyTorch and Scikit-learn.
End-to-end ML project experience covering data pipelines, data cleaning, preprocessing, model design, training, validation, and deployment.
Experience with project management tools, including JIRA.
Experience with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.
Strong technical communication, documentation, and organizational skills.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive salary and performance-based incentives.
Employee ownership opportunities.
Health, dental, and vision coverage.
4 weeks paid vacation plus company closure between Dec 24 – Jan 1.
Flexible and dynamic work environment.
Opportunity to directly impact the design and development of end product.
Opportunity to work on a variety of tasks and be a part of the creation process of new products.