Director, AI/ML Platform Engineering

This role is eligible for our hybrid work model: Two days in-office.

This job posting is for an existing, currently vacant position.

Director, AI/ML Platform Engineering

Our AI/ML Platform team is where intelligent systems get built at scale. We're building the foundational infrastructure that powers machine learning across Priceline—from LLM integrations and agentic workflows to MLOps pipelines and model serving platforms. We enable data scientists and engineers to move from experimentation to production faster, while ensuring governance, observability, and cost efficiency. If you thrive in a fast-paced, innovation-driven environment where platform engineering meets cutting-edge AI, you're in the right place.

Why This Job's a Big Deal

AI and machine learning are transforming how Priceline delivers personalized experiences, optimizes operations, and drives business value. This role leads the engineering vision and execution for Priceline's AI/ML Platform—the unified infrastructure that enables model development, deployment, orchestration, and productionization at scale. From MLOps tooling and feature stores to LLM infrastructure and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations, you'll architect the systems that empower teams to build, deploy, and scale AI-driven products safely and efficiently.

In This Role You Will Get To

• Define and execute the technical strategy for Priceline's AI/ML Platform—encompassing MLOps, model serving, feature engineering, experimentation, LLM orchestration, and agentic AI workflows.

• Lead multiple global engineering teams building highly available, scalable ML infrastructure that serves hundreds of models and supports diverse use cases from personalization to fraud detection.

• Architect and evolve MLOps pipelines for the full ML lifecycle: data versioning, feature stores, model training, evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and retraining automation.

• Build and scale LLM infrastructure including prompt management, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), fine-tuning pipelines, evaluation frameworks, and cost optimization for foundation model workloads.

• Drive adoption of Model Context Protocol (MCP) and agentic frameworks to enable intelligent, context-aware AI applications across Priceline's ecosystem.

• Collaborate closely with data science, ML engineering, product, and platform teams to deliver self-service tools that accelerate model development and reduce time-to-production.

• Champion ML observability, governance, and responsible AI practices—ensuring models are explainable, fair, performant, and compliant with privacy regulations.

• Drive engineering excellence through automation, CI/CD for ML, infrastructure-as-code, and platform reliability engineering—focusing on developer productivity and operational efficiency.

• Mentor, coach, and grow talent within distributed engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation, experimentation, and technical excellence.

• Engage with leadership and stakeholders across product, engineering, and data teams to align AI/ML platform priorities with Priceline's business objectives and AI strategy.

Who You Are

• 10+ years of experience in software, platform, or ML engineering, with at least 5 years leading teams that build large-scale AI/ML platforms or MLOps infrastructure.

• Proven expertise in MLOps and ML infrastructure: model training orchestration, feature stores, model registries, serving infrastructure, A/B testing frameworks, and monitoring/observability for ML systems.

• Hands-on experience with modern ML platforms and tools: Vertex AI, Kubeflow, MLflow or equivalent; experience with LLM tooling (LangChain, LlamaIndex, vector databases, prompt engineering frameworks).

• Deep understanding of LLM operations: fine-tuning, embeddings, RAG architectures, inference optimization, cost management, and evaluation frameworks for generative AI.

• Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar standards for enabling AI agents and context-aware applications—or strong ability to drive adoption of emerging AI infrastructure patterns.

• Strong cloud and data platform skills (GCP preferred): BigQuery, Dataflow, Dataproc, GKE, Cloud Run, Pub/Sub, Airflow/Composer, dbt, Spark, Kafka.

• Experience with ML governance: model versioning, lineage tracking, bias detection, explainability, privacy-preserving ML, and compliance (GDPR, CCPA, AI regulations).

• Excellent collaborator who thrives in cross-functional environments and can translate complex ML platform capabilities into business value and product velocity.

• Strategic thinker with the ability to balance long-term platform vision (next-generation AI capabilities) with near-term delivery (enabling teams today).

• Passion for platform engineering: You love building tools and infrastructure that make other engineers 10x more productive.

• Embodies Priceline's core values: Customer, Innovation, Team, Accountability, and Trust—achieving the right results, the right way.

• Illustrated history of living the values necessary to Priceline: Customer, Innovation, Team, Accountability and Trust.

• The Right Results, the Right Way is not just a motto at Priceline; it's a way of life. Unquestionable integrity and ethics is essential.

There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought/required. In addition to a competitive base salary, certain roles may be eligible for an annual bonus and/or equity grant.

The salary range for this position is $170,000 to $200,000K CAD

#LI-VM1

#LI-Hybri

WE ARE PRICELINE.

Our success as one of the biggest players in online travel is all thanks to our incredible, dedicated team of talented employees. Priceliners are focused on being the best travel deal makers in the world, motivated by our passion to help everyone experience the moments that matter most in their lives. Whether it’s a dream vacation, your cousin’s graduation, or your best friend’s wedding - we make travel affordable and accessible to our customers. 

Our culture is unique and inspiring (that’s what our employees tell us). We’re a grown-up, startup. We deliver the excitement of a new venture, without the struggles and chaos that can come with a business that hasn’t stabilized.  

We’re on the cutting edge of innovative technologies. We keep the customer at the center of all that we do. Our ability to meet their needs relies on the strength of a workforce as diverse as the customers we serve. We bring together employees from all walks of life and we are proud to provide the kind of inclusive environment that stimulates innovation, creativity and collaboration.

Priceline is part of the Booking Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: BKNG) family of companies, a highly profitable global online travel company with a market capitalization of over $80 billion. Our sister companies include Booking.com, BookingGo, Agoda, Kayak and OpenTable. 

If you want to be part of something truly special, check us out! 

Priceline is following a hybrid working model, which includes two days onsite as determined by you and your manager (ideally selecting among Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday). On the remaining days, you can choose to be remote or in the office.

Our benefits are designed to support your health, wellbeing, and life inside and outside of work. Eligible Priceliners have access to:

Health & wellness coverage including medical, dental, vision, and mental health resources

Generous time off including PTO, holidays, a company-wide Priceline Pause reset week, and paid volunteer days

Work/life support including the ability to work up to 4 weeks per year from anywhere, parental leave, dependent care and family support resources, Summer Fridays, and office perks like stocked kitchens and catered meals (varies by location)

Financial security programs such as retirement plans with company contributions, life and disability coverage, and tax-advantaged accounts

Signature travel perks including employee-only discounts on hotels and flights, VIP deals, and Big Deal Bucks credits

Additional perks & discounts like travel and partner discounts, tuition support, legal support, and pet benefits

A people-first culture with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), social events, recognition programs, and service awards that help you connect, grow, and celebrate together

Specific benefits and programs vary by location.

To be the best travel dealmakers in the world, we believe our team should reflect the broad range of customers and communities we serve. We are committed to cultivating a culture where all employees have the freedom to bring their individual perspectives, life experiences, and passion to work.

Priceline is a proud equal opportunity employer. We embrace and celebrate the unique lenses through which our employees see the world. We’d love for you to join us and help shape what makes our team extraordinary.

Applying for this position

We're excited that you are interested in a career with us. For all current employees, please use the internal portal to find jobs and apply.

External candidates are required to have an account before applying. When you click Apply, returning candidates can log in, or new candidates can quickly create an account to save/view applications.