VP, AI & ML

Upwork ($UPWK) is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to large, Fortune 100 enterprises with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work together in new ways that unlock their potential.

Last year, more than $3.8 billion of work was done through Upwork by skilled professionals who are gaining more control by finding work they are passionate about and innovating their careers.

In this role, you’ll work closely with a broad set of cross-functional teams and business units, such as Marketplace, Trust and Safety, Marketing and Enterprise to deeply understand the levers of our business to identify and capitalize on key areas of opportunities. This role is critical in helping our business better model and understand the potential impact of using machine learning to unlock the next phase of Gen AI and transformation. This role will report directly to the senior VP of Engineering and partner closely with the Extended Leadership team. 

As a leader in our Machine Learning Engineering organization, you will play a critical role in optimizing the  funnels for all of the marketplace delivery models as well as the core marketplace.  The focus of this role is to activate an organization that will  improve the experience and impact of all freelancers and clients on Upwork, optimizing the quality of search, acquisition, spend, and fraud and risk. A key focus of this role will be to use AI to automate and improve the efficiency and impact of our product experience and  business related to  marketplace supply, demand, and pricing. 

Your Responsibilities

• Lead multiple Machine Learning teams responsible for the entire product lifecycle to developing Machine Learning based proof-of-concepts.
• Identify new opportunities and set directions for the collaboration with Product, Marketing and Operations teams.
• Be in charge of the team’s technical strategy, planning and execution, and establish rituals to be aligned with partners.
• Advise, mentor and learn from team members in all the relevant areas from Product Engineering to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
• Drive a high standard of excellence for Machine Learning Researchers and Engineers to continuously achieve innovations while also ensuring high scalability and availability of current product systems.
• Proven ability to work in a fast-paced, iterative environment and lead the parallel development and delivery of features on multiple related product areas.
• Strong focus on the customer and the business, coupled with a burning desire to learn, respond to feedback and grow. We’re looking for people who thrive with learning new technologies and don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Our teams are widely distributed, and you will be required to communicate with technical and non-technical audiences across different cultures.

What It Takes To Catch Our Eye

• Tried leadership experience Machine Learning and Engineering teams.
• Experience working with high-performing distributed teams.
• Strong technical expertise in all aspects of Gen AI product development, including Product Thinking, Machine Learning, Analytics, Experimentation, and Application & Platform Engineering.
• Strong background of working across team boundaries to deliver fabulous customer experiences across the full AI/ML stack.
• Strong background in delivering ML-based innovations and validated products.
• Experience handling a platform running on Spark, Databricks, MLlib, Tensorflow, and microservice architecture.

• An eye for talent and ability to recruit and develop Machine learning engineers and Software Engineers.

The annual base salary for this position in California and Washington ranges from $260,000 - $437,000. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salary for this position in California and Washington, and individual base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Additionally, this position is eligible for the annual bonus plan or sales incentive plan and eligibility to participate in our long term equity incentive program.

Come change how the world works.

At Upwork, you’ll shape talent solutions for how the world works today. We are a remote-first organization working together to create exciting remote work opportunities for a global community of professionals. While we have physical offices in San Francisco and Chicago, currently we also hire full-time employees in 19 states in the United States. 

At the core of our vibrant culture are shared values that form the foundation of our organization. These values revolve around trust, risk-taking, customer focus, and excellence. Our overarching mission is to create economic opportunities so that people have better lives. We foster an environment where individuals are encouraged to bring their authentic selves to work, nurturing personal and professional growth through development opportunities, mentorship programs, and participation in Upwork Belonging Communities.

We take pride in providing exceptional benefits to our employees. These include comprehensive medical insurance coverage for both you and your family, unlimited paid time off, a 401(k) plan with matching contributions, 12 weeks of paid parental leave, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. To explore these benefits in detail, as well as gain insights into our company values, working principles, and the overall employee experience, we invite you to visit our Life at Upwork page.

Check out our Careers page to learn more about the employee experience.   

Upwork is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we never discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.