Staff Machine Learning & AI Engineer

Company Description

Dedicated to telling stories and creating experiences, Indigo is always looking for bright, energetic and customer-focused people who can help bring our exciting mission to life in one of our more than 170 Indigo, Indigospirit, Chapters and Coles stores across Canada. We offer a variety of exciting opportunities at our retail stores, distribution centres, and home office for people who share our passions and want to be part of a dynamic and enriching culture.

Who We Are

• We love books and all things beautiful
• We are Canada’s Cultural Department Store
• Books are our heart and our soul and Great Books are JUST the Beginning…

We play by the following rules:

• We exist to add joy to our customers’ lives each and every time they interact with us and our products
• Our job is to create joyful moments for our customers
• We treat each other the way we’d treat a valued friend
• We inspire each other to do our best work
• We seek to ignite creativity and innovation every day
• We give back to the communities in which we operate

Job Description

This role is for a Staff Machine Learning and AI Software Engineer to join the Machine Learning and AI team at Indigo. The primary scope of this role is to design, build, and deploy robust, scalable, and efficient ML models and AI agents. You will be a key player in the full lifecycle of AI products, from ideation and development to deployment and maintenance. As a Staff-level engineer, you will provide technical leadership, mentor junior team members, and drive the overall technical direction of the team.

Key Deliverables

• AI recommendation engine
• ML and AI supply chain optimization
• AI vision and recognition solution
• Agentic frameworks

Key Accountabilities

Functional

• Design, build, and deploy production-grade machine learning models and AI agents.
• Collaborate closely with data scientists to transition prototypes into scalable, production systems.
• Develop and maintain automated and orchestrated ML workflows, including data ingestion, feature engineering, model training, and deployment.
• Optimize ML models and AI agents for performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.
• Implement monitoring, alerting, and logging mechanisms to ensure the reliability and stability of deployed models.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in machine learning, AI, and MLOps, continuously refining best practices.
• Act as an advocate for the customer by placing them at the forefront of all decision-making and design processes
• Proactively identify and anticipate customer expectations and needs
• Embrace and seek out technology that creates high tech and high touch solutions for Indigo’s customers
• Challenge the status quo by consistently identifying areas for improvement, diagnosing issues and working to resolve them

People

• Collaborate with others to drive flexible and iterative solutions, quickly and easily
• Share technical knowledge with others and actively seek to learn from those more knowledgeable than yourself
• Help others see the impacts of their efforts and proactively engage other functions to get input
• Encourage others to freely share their point of view and be open to feedback

Cultural

• Model Indigo’s beliefs and convey a positive image in everything you do
• Celebrate diversity of thought and have an open mindset
• Take an active role in fostering a culture of continual learning, taking risks without the fear of making mistakes
• Embrace, champion and influence change through your team and/or the organization

Scope

Reports to: VP, Digital Technology & AI

Key Relationships

Internal:

• VP OF ENG
• VP of Marketing
• VP of Digital

Qualifications

Work Experience / Education / Certifications

• Bachelor’s or master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on machine learning, AI, and data engineering.
• Proven experience building and deploying production-grade ML models and AI agents.

Competencies / Skills / Attributes

• 1 year in building AI agents using Langchain, Langflow, or similar libraries
• Proficiency in Python and deep understanding of ML frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Scikit-learn.
• Experience with cloud platforms, preferably Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and services related to AI/ML such as Vertex AI.
• Strong understanding of MLOps principles, CI/CD pipelines, and tools like Kubernetes and Docker.
• Experience with workflow orchestration tools such as Apache Airflow.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills with an attention to detail.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with data scientists and other cross-functional teams.
• A customer-first mindset and passion for building valuable, user-centric products.
• Problem-solving excellence and a commitment to streamlining processes.
• Adaptability and innovation to quickly learn new technologies and improve the platform.
• Ownership and initiative to take charge of key components and drive impactful improvements

Other (travel, Bilingual, etc.)

• Based in Downtown Toronto.
• Must be able to thrive in a collaborative, creative, and diverse group.

Additional Information

At Indigo, we are committed to our communities, our customers, and each other; together we can make a positive impact. We know that fostering diversity and inclusion brings out your full potential and creates a joyful and welcoming environment for everyone. We are driven to be an equitable employer, which highly values your diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We believe that you, in all your uniqueness, belong at Indigo. We welcome all applicants and encourage applications from individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, a person of colour, LGBTQ2+ and people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request to individuals who self-identify as having a disability or special need. Please contact Human Resources at or Support-HR@indigo.ca if you require an accommodation at any time during the recruitment process. 

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