Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
### Why this Role is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Within the SaaS ecosystem, this role stands out because it sits at the “platform layer” of AI: building shared machine learning capabilities that multiple product surfaces depend on. While Spotify is a consumer subscription business rather than a classic B2B SaaS vendor, its operating model—recurring revenue, continuous delivery, and product-led engagement at massive scale—maps closely to how modern SaaS companies run.
For a long-term SaaS career, leading an AI foundation function develops the kind of systems thinking that transfers across categories: how to create reusable ML services, set technical roadmaps tied to measurable outcomes, and govern reliability when models become core product infrastructure. The remit also implies regular cross-functional alignment with product and partner teams, a common pattern in SaaS organizations where shared platforms must serve many internal “customers.”
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
The Personalization team powers consumer AI at Spotify — shaping the experience for 650M+ listeners by helping them find the perfect thing to play next. We’re relentlessly focused on making Spotify feel uniquely tailored to every individual, every time.
From iconic products like Discover Weekly and Daily Mix to next-generation Generative AI features like AI DJ and AI Playlists, this team builds some of Spotify’s most beloved experiences, including the Spotify Homepage itself.
Join us, and you’ll help millions find music, podcasts and audiobooks they’ll love , by creating smarter, more intuitive, and more interactive recommendations powered by ground breaking AI and personalization technologies — reaching every single user, every single day.
In this role, you will lead the “AI Foundation” studio, which develops the core ML and AI systems that power all personalized experiences on Spotify. Your impact and technology leadership will extend to the entire company, and you will help Spotify remain a world leader in personalized experiences throughout the current AI revolution.
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What You'll Do- Build, grow, and lead a Studio of skilled engineers, data scientists and product managers fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment where technical excellence thrives. Our engineers are spread out across the US with concentrations in Boston and New York.
- Architect and deliver impactful, innovative AI systems and capabilities that power Spotify’s product ecosystem.
- Design, maintain and complete a technical roadmap, ensuring alignment with user needs, strategic business objectives, partner expectations, and technological advancements.
- Define, track, and report metrics and targets that measure the success and impact of your team's AI solutions.
- Build strong relationships with cross-functional teams, aligning on strategy, vision, and execution to achieve company-wide goals.
- Ensure the health, resilience, and growth of your teams, cultivating a high-performance, but supportive, culture that drives happiness, growth, engagement, and innovation.
- Join meetings with key external partners to innovate on new and impactful opportunities that span the AI space.
- You will work East Coast hours.
Who You Are - You have 15+ years of experience leading and managing large-scale engineering teams to deliver impactful, well-loved, robust and scalable software solutions.
- You have a strong track record of defining technical strategies, gaining leadership consensus, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and delivering AI-driven technologies at scale for multi-million user products.
- You have hands-on experience with AI, Machine Learning, Large Language Models, and diffusion technologies, with demonstrated success in achieving measurable business impact, and pushing the state-of-the-art forward
- You possess excellent instincts paired with deep analytical thinking, enabling you to prioritize effectively and make critical, data-driven decisions.
- You thrive in rapidly evolving landscapes, bringing clarity and focus to ambiguity while inspiring your teams to innovate and excel.
- You are adept at translating complex technical concepts into simple, actionable strategies and can effectively guide teams through challenging scenarios.
- You are passionate about creating user-centered solutions, partnering closely with product, design, and insights teams to bring transformative AI innovations to life.
- You are a skilled communicator, comfortable engaging with diverse team members including everyone from our interns to CEO and aligning them around a shared vision.
Where You'll Be - We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! For this role, you can be within the North America region as long as we have a work location
- This team operates within the Eastern Standard time zone for collaboration
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The United States base range for this position is $336,214 - $480,305 plus equity. The benefits available for this position include health insurance, six month paid parental leave, 401(k) retirement plan, monthly meal allowance, 23 paid days off, 13 paid flexible holidays, paid sick leave. These ranges may be modified in the future.
