Sr. Director - Engineering, ML

About the role

Machinify is a leading healthcare intelligence company with expertise across the payment continuum, delivering unmatched value, transparency, and efficiency to health plan clients across the country. Deployed by over 85 health plans, including many of the top 20, and representing more than 270 million lives, Machinify brings together a fully configurable and content-rich, AI-powered platform along with best-in-class expertise. We're constantly reimagining what's possible in our industry, creating disruptively simple, powerfully clear ways to maximize financial outcomes and drive down healthcare costs. We're seeking a hands-on, technically deep Sr/Director of Engineering to lead our ML Engineering team! You will manage and grow a team of engineers who build and own the core AI/ML platform for the company, and running it at massive scale. You will also serve as a key thought partner to our Chief AI Officer, bridging the gap between data science proof-of-concepts and scalable, production-grade services. The ideal candidate blends AI/ML engineering depth with applied data science fluency. You understand what it takes to productize AI/ML capabilities - serving, observability, reliability, and scale - and you're fluent enough in data science concepts to anticipate platform needs and influence upstream design decisions. You have opinions on LLM and agent architecture, not just executing someone else's roadmap. You're structured in managing deliverables across engineering and data science, surface ambiguities early, and drive down production incidents with a culture of efficient response. Does this sound like the right opportunity to explore?... Let's connect! (What you'll do) Responsibilities/Impact: Lead and grow the AI/ML Engineering team, while coordinating execution across contributors including data scientists on collaborative projects. Design, deliver and operate the core AI/ML platform: agent frameworks, evaluation harnesses, labeling systems, document processing systems, semantic search, knowledge bases, model hosting, and more. Run AI/ML systems at scale in production with reliability, observability, performance, and incident response. Build a culture of operational excellence. Create processes to ensure proof-of-concept code from Data Science can be designed as production-grade services. Partner with the Chief AI Officer and Product Manager to build forward-looking product strategy. Drive structured thinking in ambiguity. Run tight, streamlined stand-ups across engineering and data science. Do capacity planning for driving predictability and velocity around delivery. Provide leadership in ensuring the cross-functional team can utilize AI technologies to accelerate team excellence in coding, PR reviews, testing, observability and incident response. Keep up with the latest developments in LLM/agent advances and modern AI/ML infrastructure. (What you'll bring) Required Skills/Qualifications: BS or MS in Computer Science (or equivalent experience). 5+ years managing teams of ~8+ engineers with hands-on technical leadership. 8+ years direct hands on technical contributor in backend services experience. 3+ years specifically building AI/ML production-grade services at scale for multiple use cases. Direct co-working with data science and engineering. Strong in Java, Scala, Rust, or similar backend languages, plus Python. Understanding of what it takes to productize ML/AI platforms - workflows, serving, observability, reliability, and scale. Fluent enough in data science concepts to be a real partner to DS leadership. Strong communicator, organized, and proactive. Comfortable with ambiguity and taking the initiative. Nice to Have: Healthcare domain experience. What We Offer Work from anywhere in the US! Machinify is digital-first. Top Medical/Dental/Vision offerings FSA/HSA Tuition reimbursement Competitive salary, 401(k) with company match Unlimited PTO Additional health and wellness benefits and perks Flexible and trusting environment where you'll feel empowered to do your best work The salary for this position is based on an array of factors unique to each candidate: Such as years and depth of experience, set skills, certifications, etc. We are hiring for different levels and the base salary can vary based on your assessed level. Compensation also includes meaningful equity, healthcare, unlimited PTO, and more. Equal Employment Opportunity at Machinify We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Machinify is an employment at will employer. We participate in E-Verify as required by applicable law. In accordance with applicable state laws, we do not inquire about salary history during the recruitment process. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete any