Shutterfly
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Principal AI Engineer
role at Shutterfly
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.
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. You will build systems that intelligently evaluate and rank photos for their potential as personalized physical products, 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
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, and transformer‑based models for recommendation systems.
Proficiency in Python and relevant ML libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV, etc.).
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. We welcome all applicants and evaluate them based on their qualifications, without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality, sex, or other characteristic covered by law.
This position will accept applications on an ongoing basis until filled.
Seniority level: Mid‑Senior; Employment type: Full‑time; Job function: Engineering and Information Technology; Industries: Photography.
Compensation (base pay) ranges by location:
California: $156,000‑$221,000
Connecticut and New York: $156,000‑$202,250
Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and Washington: $156,000‑$187,250
Nevada: $146,750‑$202,250
Maryland and New Jersey: $168,500‑$202,250
Hawaii: $146,750‑$176,000
Possible bonus incentive, health benefits, a 401(k) program, and other employee perks are available. More details can be found at https://shutterflyinc.com/benefits/.
This role may be remote, but candidates must reside in a state in which Shutterfly is registered to do business. This includes all US states except District of Columbia, North Dakota, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming.
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Principal AI Engineer
role at Shutterfly
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.
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. You will build systems that intelligently evaluate and rank photos for their potential as personalized physical products, 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
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, and transformer‑based models for recommendation systems.
Proficiency in Python and relevant ML libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV, etc.).
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. We welcome all applicants and evaluate them based on their qualifications, without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality, sex, or other characteristic covered by law.
This position will accept applications on an ongoing basis until filled.
Seniority level: Mid‑Senior; Employment type: Full‑time; Job function: Engineering and Information Technology; Industries: Photography.
Compensation (base pay) ranges by location:
California: $156,000‑$221,000
Connecticut and New York: $156,000‑$202,250
Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and Washington: $156,000‑$187,250
Nevada: $146,750‑$202,250
Maryland and New Jersey: $168,500‑$202,250
Hawaii: $146,750‑$176,000
Possible bonus incentive, health benefits, a 401(k) program, and other employee perks are available. More details can be found at https://shutterflyinc.com/benefits/.
This role may be remote, but candidates must reside in a state in which Shutterfly is registered to do business. This includes all US states except District of Columbia, North Dakota, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming.
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