Artificial Intelligence – VP Research & Development

Client is a computer vision, deep learning software engineering company based in Montreal, a renowned hub for AI.

This profitable startup has a number of Fortune 100 customers and partners and is currently in the process of establishing itself as the number one Visual AI and machine learning runtime engine in the entertainment, robotics, sports, and health & Safety industry. This company has great roots, establishing itself in TandemLaunch, an AI focused incubator that has created over 25 ventures, collectively raised over $150M in capital, and valued at over $500M.

Scope of Position :

As the VP R&D, the candidate will play an integral part in the leadership team as you guide and mentor the brilliant minds of the R&D team. You will lead the team implementing new technologies, outlining development goals, and using stakeholder feedback to build a world-class Visual AI technology engine and tool set. You will be challenged to keep a customer-focused outlook as the company continues to partner with some of the largest players in the entertainment, sports and analytics, health and safety, and robotics.

The R&D team will be on the forefront of AI, computer vision, and machine learning. The client’s runtime engine is designed to extract human motion and activities from standard video. It analyses regular 2D RGB video and returns 3D motion data in real-time. The client’s solution processes multiple 2D camera feeds and recognizes human motion and behavior, enabling developers to create applications in a wide range of industries, such as entertainment, sports and analytics, health and safety, and robotics.

The ideal candidate will take on the leadership role while transitioning an extremely talented team from an early-stage company environment to a scaling one. This person will have a strong technical background, willing to lead by example and coach a growing and dynamic team through the various phases of the company’s scale-up journey. The candidate will have an appreciation for an early-stage environment and will creatively work around constraints and unforeseen challenges.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will bring a demonstrated ability to :

• Lead a diverse team of software developers and research scientists in the field of AI, Machine Learning, and Computer Vision.
• Hire, coach, and mentor a growing technical team that is world-class.
• Interface and collaborate with all business functions, from the Product Owner to Sales and other support functions to ensure that the feature set requirements are in line with market expectations and are designed to enhance the customer experience.
• Prioritize and manage all software development efforts to ensure they are aligned with business objectives, and work with peers, mainly VP Products and VP Production, to develop and maintain a product requirements / feature backlog.
• Define and implement a design methodology and process that emphasizes best practices in delivering cutting-edge software.
• Drive continuous improvement within the science and the software development teams to consistently improve quality, cycle, and deployment time.
• Assist with client presentations, demonstrations, and technical meetings.
• Monitor new emerging technologies and execute the technology roadmap based on market demand / constraints.
• Develop the science and software development teams to ensure the required skills, training, and staffing levels are available, coordinating with the business to ensure the team is suited to the expected workload.
• Conduct performance reviews of all team members.
• Promote a strong, driven, and dependable team environment through strong leadership and the effective use of hiring, mentoring, coaching, performance management, and skills development.
• Meet overall schedule and budget commitments in the development plan.

Preferred Experience and Education

The following indicates specific industry, academic, and functional experience / qualifications that are important to the successful achievement of the identified responsibilities and performance deliverables.

Remuneration and Benefits

Competitive salary, stock options, and comprehensive benefits package that includes medical / dental insurance plan, 50% of a gym membership paid, and group RRSP. Four weeks’ vacation as well as an additional week at Christmas – New Years.

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