Machine Learning Manager

Title: Machine Learning Manager
Locations: Irvine, CA - Hybrid
Duration: 12+ Months

Note: Occasional travel to deployment sites or test locations may be needed.
Job Description:

• Lead the development and operationalization of machine learning systems powering the Voice AI experience. This role is central to ensuring performance, scalability, and reliability across real-time models that support speech, natural language understanding, and agent behaviour. Manage a team of MLEs and partner with AI Engineers, QA, and DevOps to deliver high-quality agent performance with a strong focus on latency, integration with restaurant systems (e.g., HME, POS), and production excellence.
  Key Responsibilities
  ML System Design & Architecture
• Lead the design of end-to-end ML pipelines for speech, ASR, and NLU modules
• Optimize model performance for real-time interaction, including latency, uptime, and inference cost
• Implement and evolve model evaluation, testing, and monitoring frameworks
• Infrastructure & Integration
• Collaborate with engineering to integrate ML components with external systems (HME, menu boards, POS)
• Support scalable deployment strategies across markets and environments
• Drive MLOps best practices in CI/CD, rollback, logging, and observability
• Leadership & Collaboration
• Mentor and guide a team of MLEs and junior ML engineers
• Partner with product, AI engineering, and QA to define technical scope, delivery targets, and quality standards
• Support internal upskilling and technical review of AI-driven components

Required Qualifications:

• 6+ years of experience in machine learning, including at least 2 years in technical leadership roles
• Proven expertise in deploying NLP, ASR, or LLM-based systems in real-time applications
• Strong programming skills in Python and ML tooling (e.g., PyTorch, HuggingFace, ONNX, MLflow)
• Experience optimizing model latency and integrating ML with backend infrastructure