Principal Machine Learning Engineer

SharkNinja•Needham, MA

About The Position

SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5-star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market, and developing one consumer product after another has allowed SharkNinja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains. Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 3,600+ associates, the company’s products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world. The Principal Machine Learning Engineer is a senior technical authority responsible for shaping SharkNinja’s machine learning strategy, architecture, and long-term technical direction. This role operates as a force multiplier across teams—solving the hardest problems, defining standards, and influencing how ML is built, deployed, and scaled across the enterprise. You will lead high-impact initiatives, guide architectural decisions, and mentor senior engineers while remaining deeply hands-on with critical systems.

Requirements

Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field.
10+ years of experience in machine learning, with significant experience designing and deploying large-scale ML systems.
Deep expertise in multiple ML domains (e.g., predictive modeling, personalization, optimization, computer vision, or NLP).
Strong proficiency in Python and ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
Extensive experience with cloud-native ML architectures and MLOps at scale.
Proven track record of influencing technical strategy and architectural decisions across organizations.
Exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, high-impact situations.
Strong executive-level communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading ML strategy in a global, multi-brand, or consumer-facing organization.
Background in IoT, connected devices, or embedded ML.
Experience building internal ML platforms or enabling ML at scale across multiple teams.
Publications, patents, or open-source contributions in ML or AI.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the technical vision and architecture for machine learning systems across SharkNinja.
Lead the design of scalable, reliable, and secure ML platforms and services that support global products and operations.
Own the most complex ML initiatives, from early exploration through enterprise-scale deployment.
Partner with executive stakeholders, product leaders, and engineering leadership to identify where ML can deliver outsized business impact.
Establish best practices, standards, and reference architectures for ML development, deployment, and governance.
Serve as a technical mentor and advisor to ML engineers, data scientists, and software engineers across teams.
Influence data strategy, tooling decisions, and platform investments related to ML and AI.
Evaluate and integrate emerging ML technologies, frameworks, and approaches where they provide clear value.
Represent SharkNinja as a thought leader in applied machine learning, internally and externally as needed.