What You'll Do
As an AI and ML Technical Product Owner (TPO) at Avalara, you will lead the development and integration of cutting-edge AI and Machine Learning solutions into our suite of tax compliance products. You’ll collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Product managers, ML Engineers, Software Development Engineers, Content Researchers and designers, to conceptualize, build, and deploy models that drive significant business impact. Your role will involve translating complex technical concepts into strategic product initiatives, ensuring the successful execution of these initiatives from ideation to deployment. With a focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of our AI-driven tax compliance products, driving Avalara’s competitive edge in a rapidly evolving industry.
Job Duties
- Product strategy and vision
- Define and drive the vision, strategy, and roadmap for AI & ML products, aligning them with Avalara’s overall business goals and customer needs.
- Identify new AI & ML opportunities by staying updated on industry trends, competitive landscape, and emerging technologies.
- Communicate product vision and strategy to stakeholders, including executives, engineering teams, and customers.
- Cross-functional leadership
- Collaborate with data scientists, engineers, and designers to define, prioritize, and execute AI/ML product initiatives.
- Work closely with engineering teams to translate product requirements into technical specifications and ensure timely delivery of high-quality features.
- Liaise with Avalara product teams, marketing, sales, and customer support teams to ensure successful product launches and adoption.
- Product development and execution
- Oversee the end-to-end product development lifecycle, from ideation and prototyping to testing, deployment, and iteration.
- Manage the backlog, prioritizing features and improvements based on customer feedback, market research, and business impact.
- Ensure the AI & ML models are properly integrated into products, focusing on scalability, performance, continuous improvement and ethical considerations.
- Data-driven decision making
- Use data to inform product decisions, leveraging metrics, user feedback, and A/B testing to guide development priorities.
- Monitor the performance of AI & ML models and products post-launch, using analytics to identify areas for improvement and optimization.
- Continuously refine and iterate on the product based on insights gathered from data and customer feedback.
- Stakeholder communication and reporting
- Present product updates, milestones, and performance metrics to executive leadership and other stakeholders.
- Facilitate regular meetings with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and address any challenges or roadblocks.
- Prepare detailed reports on the progress of AI & ML initiatives, including successes, challenges, and next steps.
- Ethical AI considerations
- Ensure that AI & ML products adhere to ethical guidelines and industry best practices, including fairness, transparency, and data privacy.
- Advocate for responsible AI practices within the organization, ensuring that models and data usage align with legal and ethical standards.
- Customer and market insights
- Engage with customers, users, and industry experts to gather insights on market needs and pain points.
- Use these insights to inform product features and improvements, ensuring that the AI & ML products deliver real value to end users.
- Budget and resource management
- Manage budgets related to AI & ML product development, including resource allocation, vendor management, and investment planning.
- Optimize the use of resources, balancing project timelines and quality with cost considerations.
- Innovation and continuous learning
- Promote a culture of innovation, encouraging experimentation with new technologies, tools, and approaches in AI & ML.
- Continuously learn and adapt to new advancements in AI & ML, ensuring that the product remains competitive and cutting-edge.
- Foster a collaborative and growth-oriented environment.
What You'll Need to be Successful
- Product Management Experience: Proven track record of managing AI/ML products from conception to launch, including experience with roadmaps, prioritization, and stakeholder management. Ability to envisage new products from the perspective of the end user in B2B and B2C contexts.
- Educational Background: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, or Computer Science. Advanced degrees or certifications in AI & ML are a plus.
- Technical Skills: Proficiency in machine learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow), programming languages (e.g., Python, R, C++), and cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure). Familiarity with data engineering pipelines, model deployment, and MLOps.
- Analytical and Problem-Solving Abilities: Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data and make data-driven decisions. Experience with A/B testing, metrics, and model evaluation.
- Collaboration and Communication: Excellent communication skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams, translating technical requirements into actionable plans. Ability to present complex ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Industry Knowledge: Understanding of the latest trends and advancements in AI and Machine Learning, with the ability to leverage this knowledge to drive innovation in product development specific to the tax compliance domain.
About The Team
We are the AI & ML enablement group in Avalara.
We empower Avalara's Product and Engineering teams with cutting-edge AI & ML capabilities, driving easy-to-use, automated compliance solutions that position Avalara as the industry AI technology leader and the go-to choice for all compliance needs.
About Avalara
We’re Avalara. We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech.
We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing nearly 40 billion customer API calls and over 5 million tax returns a year.
Last year, we became a billion-dollar business
, and our tribe expanded by a cool thousand people - there’s nearly 5,000 of us now. Our growth is real, and we’re not slowing down - not until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.
We’re bright, innovative and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we’ve designed, that empowers our people to win. Ownership and achievement go hand in hand here. We instill passion in our people through the trust we place in them.
We’ve been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.
EEO Statement
We’re an Equal Opportunity Employer. Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
