Offer summary

Qualifications:

Minimum 10 years of software engineering experience, with at least 5 years in AI/ML roles., Deep expertise in computer vision techniques, including CNNs and vision transformers., Proficiency in Python and ML libraries such as PyTorch and TensorFlow., Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field..

Key responsibilities:

Lead development of AI-driven photo evaluation and recommendation systems.

Design and implement computer vision models for analyzing and tagging images.

Build and deploy personalized recommendation models based on user behavior.

Provide technical leadership and strategic direction for AI components.

Job description

Description

At Shutterfly, we make life’s experiences unforgettable. We believe there is extraordinary power in the self-expression. That’s why our family of brands helps customers create products and capture moments that reflect who they uniquely are.

This position is based in Canada and only Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be considered.

We are seeking a Principal AI Engineer with deep expertise in computer vision and machine learning to lead the development of our next-generation AI-driven photo evaluation and personalized recommendation platform. We are seeing an engineer well versed in both CNNs and transformer-based vision models to build systems that can intelligently evaluate and rank photos for their potential as personalized physical products. You’ll lead efforts in combining semantic image understanding, aesthetic scoring, and behavioral personalization into a unified recommendation pipeline. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in building AI systems that analyze visual media, extract rich metadata, and leverage user behavior data to deliver hyper-personalized product recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

Computer Vision & Image Intelligence

Expertise in any CNN based models (MobileNetV3 VGG, Inception) as well as transformer-based vision models (e.g., ViT, CLIP, BLIP, DINOv2) for analyzing, scoring, performing similarity vector analysis and tagging photos with metadata such as:

Facial expression, recognition and grouping
Contextual categories (e.g., vacations, events, portraits)
Aesthetic appeal and print-worthiness
Facial recognition and grouping
Object and scene detection

Develop scalable pipelines for processing large volumes of image data and generating structured, query-able metadata.

Integrate image intelligence with downstream applications such as search, ranking, and personalization.

Behavioral AI & Recommendation Systems
Build and deploy transformer-based ML models that analyze historical user behavior and purchasing patterns to generate personalized product recommendations.
Correlate behavior data with metadata from image scoring models to curate visual content for individual users.
Lead experimentation frameworks (e.g., A/B testing) to optimize recommendation relevance and conversion.
Leadership & Architecture
Define architectural direction for AI components and ensure their integration with core systems.
Provide hands-on technical leadership, mentorship, and code contributions across teams.
Drive strategic decisions regarding data acquisition, model training, deployment, and monitoring.

Required Qualifications

10+ years of experience in software engineering with at least 5+ years in AI/ML-focused roles.
Deep knowledge of computer vision techniques including CNNs, vision transformers, facial recognition, object detection, image classification, and image embedding.
Strong experience with recommendation systems, collaborative filtering, deep learning for personalization, as well as transformer-based models for recommendation systems.
Proficiency in Python and relevant ML libraries (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV,
Experience deploying ML models at scale (e.g., using Docker, AWS/GCP, or similar).
Proven ability to lead cross-functional technical initiatives from ideation to delivery.
Strong grasp of ML lifecycle best practices (data management, model evaluation, explainability, observability).
MS in Computer Science or related field.

Supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce is important to Shutterfly not only because it directly reflects our value of Embracing our Differences, but also because it’s the right thing to do for our business and for our people. We welcome all applicants and evaluate them based on their qualifications, without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality, sex, or other characteristic covered by law. Learn more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on our Career Site.

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