Senior Manager, AI Service Engineering

At FinAIra, we are building the future of financial services, powered by intelligent, data-driven systems. We are seeking a foundational leader for our AI & Machine Learning track. This is a core technology leadership position focused on research, development, and productization, acting as the bridge between our most advanced technical capabilities and the strategic needs of our financial services clients. You will be responsible for the strategic oversight and delivery of critical FinTech products or services. You will lead a team of top-tier scientists and engineers to build proprietary machine learning models that will become our core intellectual property and competitive advantage in the banking and FinTech landscape. This role will oversee multiple teams or complex AI/ML initiatives, drive the strategic direction and ensure the successful delivery of transformative AI solutions at scale. **The difference you will make:** * Recruit, lead, and mentor teams of world-class data scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of research, innovation, and engineering excellence. This includes managing other managers and lead individual contributors. * Drive the technical vision and architecture for our AI/ML platform across multiple initiatives. Design and oversee the development of scalable, production-grade machine learning systems for applications such as fraud detection, credit risk modeling, and agentic AI. * Partner with business development and product management to define new AI-powered service offerings. Ensure our R&D roadmap is directly aligned with market opportunities, revenue goals, and client demand. * Act as the firm's senior technical expert on AI/ML in high-stakes client engagements, discovery workshops, and strategic planning sessions. Translate complex client challenges into tractable machine learning problems. * Guide multiple teams through the entire ML lifecycle, from data ingestion and feature engineering to model training, deployment, and monitoring. You are expected to be able to dive deep into the code and mathematical foundations, providing high-level technical guidance and troubleshooting. * Implement and enforce best practices for the machine learning development lifecycle (MLOps) across the organization to ensure robust, repeatable, and high-quality delivery of our AI solutions to clients. * Develop and articulate our firm's point of view on the application of AI in banking and FinTech, representing the company through white papers, conference presentations, and executive briefings. * Proactively manage complex service incidents, problems, and changes across multiple projects or product lines, ensuring effective communication and resolution with stakeholders. * Drive continuous service improvement initiatives, leveraging data analysis and client feedback to enhance value delivery. * Lead the gathering of critical client feedback and collaborate strategically with business development to enhance service offerings and shape product roadmaps. * Manage budget, resources, and project portfolios for the AI/ML service engineering function, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives. **Requirements** **What you will bring to the role:** * Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Business Administration, or a related field. ITIL Expert or other advanced service management certifications strongly preferred. * Experience: 5+ years of hands-on software engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a leadership role managing software development teams. * Proven ability to engage with stakeholders and clients to define technical requirements and contribute to architecting enterprise-grade solutions. * Proven experience architecting, building, and operating scalable, distributed systems in cloud & on-prem environments (AWS, GCP, Azure, Openshift, etc.). * Expertise in modern backend development using languages like Go, Kotlin, Java, or Python. * Deep, practical experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), infrastructure as code (Terraform, Pulumi), and CI/CD tools. * Knowledge of Agile methodologies and practices. **Preferred Qualifications:** * Experience building financial-grade systems in banking, FinTech, or trading. * Experience in a professional services or technical consulting environment, delivering enterprise solutions. * Experience building a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or developer platform for internal teams. * Knowledge of network architecture and cybersecurity principles. * **Soft Skills:** o Strong leadership and people management skills. o Ability to inspire, motivate, and mentor software engineering teams. o Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. o Strong communication (verbal, written, presentation) and interpersonal skills. o Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business values. o Demonstrated ability to foster a culture of technical excellence and continuous improvement. Fina