Director - Machine Learning

Who You'll Work With

At Slalom Build we co-create modern technology and software products with clients who are ready to accelerate their digital transformation. We choose to imagine things made better, and then set out on a journey to realize what's possible. By blending design, product engineering, analytics, and automation, we build the custom-built software and data products of tomorrow. Slalom Build is looking for an entrepreneurial, progressive leader to grow and ensure the success of our Machine Learning practice in North America. The Machine Learning practice designs and delivers innovative Machine Learning solutions as part of intelligent products on Amazon Web Services, Azure and Google Cloud using core cloud data science tools, MLOps components, and other big data related technologies. As a Director, you will ultimately be accountable for the overall quality and execution of projects across Machine Learning.

We offer a flexible working environment to balance the need to work independently, with some days that may require in-person collaboration at our office.

What You'll Do

• You will be accountable for the growth of the practice, including driving sales, recruiting, account management, consulting, and all operational aspects.
  • Practice Building – Drive growth of the Machine Learning practice by participating in business development, oversight of delivery work, and thought leadership. Assemble best practices and develop case studies and other core deliverables to grow solution offerings.
  • Business Development – Relationship building with executive-level, client stakeholders and expand Slalom's client portfolio. Guide business development activities, partnering with Slalom leadership to pursue new and existing client relationships.
  • Team & Individual Development – Lead by example to build a team of leaders and engineers and create a passionate, team-player environment. Provide technical thought leadership in the Machine Learning space. Support recruiting, on-boarding of new employees, and the development of leaders.
  • Engagement Management – Handle engagement risk, project economics including planning and budgeting, carefully defining deliverable content, and ensuring consensus of proposed solutions from top management levels at the client.
• Cultivate a sense of community and encourage a culture of collaboration and curiosity by taking part in and coordinating opportunities, such as presenting at technical conferences, community groups, writing blog articles, and contributing to partner-coordinated workshops
• Build trust in Slalom's brand as an AI and Machine Learning market leader, highlighting industry and technical expertise, client success stories, and unique offerings in the market
• Advance the craft by developing and sharing Machine Learning thought leadership and vision, internally and to clients.
• Recommend and implement architecture to deploy machine leaning pipelines and CI/CD processes at scale for some of our most challenging engagements
• Stay abreast of new tools, packages, and Machine Learning techniques, while consistently pushing the limit of what is possible to deliver the best solutions for clients
• Collaborate with Product Owners to apply Slalom's Agile processes and be responsible for the initiation, delivery, and transition of projects for your team in a client-facing role
• Support pre-sales conversations with client's most technical Machine Learning staff
• Collaborate with a variety of stakeholders across the Slalom organization and our clients to discuss their project needs
• Support pre-sales conversations with client's most technical Machine Learning staff
• Ensure the delivery of successful outcomes for staffed teams
• Staff, lead, and mentor machine learning practitioners and engineers
• Share learnings and project findings with the wider Slalom Machine Learning Community
• Be a trusted partner to clients and uphold Slalom's values
• Willingness to travel up to 50%, at peak times

What You'll Bring

• Expert in cloud-based engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Agile delivery
• Deep experience with leading people, including technical and professional mentorship for ML Engineers and Architects
• Demonstrated professional growth and the proven ability to work cross-functionally
• Shown history of leveraging and growing existing client base; organic business development responsibilities, i.e. growing new account/clients from the ground up
• Ability to shape and lead a product delivery team from architecture to inception
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills to audiences of all levels including client facing skills

Must be able to speak articulately, support teams and communicate with clients on the following topics:

• Experience acting as a project manager and leading technical project delivery teams
• Experience with implementing ML solutions with two, or more, cloud frameworks (e.g., AWS Sagemaker, Azure ML Studio, Google Cloud Vertex AI)
• Experience implementing machine learning models in production
• Experience developing models and other data science work utilizing Python
• Familiarity, or strong desire to work with and gain an understanding of Generative AI, such as working with foundation models (GPT-3/4, Gemini, Mixtral, Llama, etc.)
• Experience with building computer vision models - Preferred
• Ability to lead exploratory data analysis within new subject matters or new data structures
• Familiarity with Agile project delivery (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, XP, and Lean)
• Experience with designing and engineering MLOps pipelines or CI/CD implementations
• Two or more of the following other languages: Python, SQL, Java, C#, R, JavaScript, Go, Spark

About Us

Slalom Build is a highly scalable, high-velocity Build as a Service firm. We work with clients in a flexible, collaborative, and repeatable methodology to create custom technology solutions for their most impactful initiatives and to accelerate their digital transformation journey. Over 1500 Builders strong, distributed across eleven dynamic cities, our innovation hubs attract the type of people who contribute to thriving teams. By placing builders in close proximity to clients – as well as their cultural and technology cohorts – we can assure the quality, versatility, and speed that product delivery demands, along with the elasticity and scale to tailor to individual client needs.

Slalom Build leverages a foundation of innovation inherited from Slalom, a Seattle-based firm that set out in 2001 to disrupt and redefine management consulting. Now 13,000+ professionals strong around the globe, Slalom is deeply engaged with some of the world's most influential, change-making enterprises. Learn more at

Compensation and Benefits

Slalom prides itself on helping team members thrive in their work and life. As a result, Slalom is proud to invest in benefits that include meaningful time off and paid holidays, parental leave, 401(k) with a match, a range of choices for highly subsidized health, dental, & vision coverage, adoption and fertility assistance, and short/long-term disability. We also offer yearly $350 reimbursement account for any well-being-related expenses, as well as discounted home, auto, and pet insurance.

Slalom is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. Actual compensation will depend upon an individual's skills, experience, qualifications, location, and other relevant factors. The salary pay range is subject to change and may be modified at any time.

EEO and Accommodations

Slalom is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to inclusion, diversity, and equity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veterans' status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Slalom will also consider qualified applications with criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. Slalom welcomes and encourages applications from individuals with disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are available for candidates during all aspects of the selection process. Please advise the talent acquisition team if you require accommodations during the interview process.