Thanks for your interest in Success Academy! Running a large, fast-growing, and high-performing network of public charter schools takes a village - families, children, teachers, staff and faculty, advocates, and supporters alike. We are growing fast in New York and expanding to Florida, and we would love to welcome you to our community! We work tirelessly every day to ensure children have access to a fun, rigorous, whole-child education regardless of zip code or economic status. When you join SA, you play a part in giving every student who walks through our doors a fair shot at reaching his or her potential.
We are looking for a visionary, results-driven Head of AI Engineering to join our Technology leadership team and power the next generation of education. In this role, you will lead the strategy, architecture, and deployment of modern AI technologies across our network. You will build and manage an agile team of AI software engineers to ship high-impact, user-centric tools—leveraging generative models, agentic workflows, and cloud-native services—that transform how teachers instruct, how schools operate, and how students learn.
Key Responsibilities- AI Strategy & Vision: Define the network-wide AI roadmap in close collaboration with executive leadership, educators, and product teams to turn cutting-edge AI capabilities into scalable tools.
- Engineering Leadership: Build, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of AI software engineers and product-focused developers, fostering a culture of rapid prototyping, continuous learning, and software excellence.
- Architecture & Delivery: Oversee the end-to-end design and integration of AI applications, intelligent agents, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, and custom UI/UX touchpoints into our enterprise stack.
- Enterprise Cloud Integration: Partner with Cloud Engineering to deploy secure, high-availability AI services across AWS and GCP environments using modern CI/CD practices.
- Stakeholder Enablement: Act as a trusted advisor to school leaders and non-technical stakeholders, translating complex AI capabilities into practical use cases that drive real-world adoption.
- Governance & Responsible AI: Establish enterprise guidelines for AI usage, data privacy (FERPA compliance), bias mitigation, model evaluation, and safety guardrails.
- Leadership Experience: 7+ years in software engineering leadership, with a track record of hiring, mentoring, and leading high-performing engineering teams.
- AI Application Delivery: 5+ years of experience delivering production-grade software applications, with demonstrable experience building and shipping AI/LLM-powered features at scale.
- Modern AI Tech Stack: Proficiency with LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex), AI APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Vertex AI, Bedrock), vector databases, and modern Python-based microservices.
- Software Engineering Foundations: Strong foundation in API design, cloud architecture (AWS/GCP), system integration, and standard software engineering practices.
- Product & User Focus: Proven ability to translate user needs into technical solutions with a strong focus on UX, user adoption, and business impact.
- Mission Alignment: Passion for K-12 education and a commitment to Success Academy’s mission.
At Success Academy, we invest boldly in our Network team with a comprehensive package designed to support your health, financial future, and overall well-being:
- Day-One Health & Wellness: Medical, dental, and vision coverage starting your first day (SA covers 82% of our core medical plan), plus a free One Medical membership and confidential mental health support via EAP/Talkspace.
- Financial Security: 403(b) retirement plan with a 3% employer match, up to $2,400/year in employer HSA contributions, employer-paid life/disability insurance, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) eligibility.
- Time to Recharge: Generous paid time off, paid holidays, and paid parental leave.
- Perks & Stipends: A $50/month cellphone stipend ($600/year), pre-tax commuter benefits, backup family care, and performance-based earning incentives.
Exact compensation may vary based on skills and experience.
Success Academy Charter Schools is an equal opportunity employer and actively encourages applications from people of all backgrounds. Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience. Success Academy offers a full benefits program and opportunities for professional growth.
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We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We actively seek applications from people of all backgrounds to strengthen our community and the perspectives needed to flourish in a multicultural world. Success Academy offers a full benefits program and opportunities for professional growth.
Success Academy Charter Schools does not offer employment-based immigration sponsorship.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of experience in AI/ML development with a strong portfolio of successfully delivered AI projects
- 7+ years of experience in a leadership or management role leading and mentoring AI or software development teams
- Experience designing and implementing end-to-end AI/ML solutions in production environments
- Experience with supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning techniques
- Experience with deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow and PyTorch
- Familiarity with AWS cloud platform and working knowledge of GCP and their AI/ML services
- Experience with MLOps principles and tools for model versioning, deployment, and monitoring
- Expertise in Python or other programming languages commonly used in AI development
- Strong understanding of data structures, algorithms, and software design principles
- Deep knowledge of machine learning algorithms, statistical modeling, and data science methodologies
- Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills
- Ability to translate complex business problems into technical AI solutions
- Strong problem-solving abilities and a data-driven approach to decision-making
- Experience deploying products in AWS infrastructure using Terraform and other deployment strategies
- Understanding of Google Cloud AI tools including Vertex AI, AutoML, BigQuery ML, Document AI, and Generative AI APIs
- Knowledge of open-source AI/ML frameworks including LangChain, Hugging Face, and LlamaIndex
- Understanding of responsible AI, bias mitigation, data privacy laws, and AWS cloud security for AI governance
- Passion for education and commitment to Success Academy’s mission
Success Academy Charter Schools Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Success Academy Charter Schools and has not been reviewed or approved by Success Academy Charter Schools.
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Affordable Benefits — Health coverage is considered affordable, with the employer paying a large share of medical premiums and offering multiple plan choices with HSA/FSA options. Employer HSA contributions and day-one eligibility in postings further support lower out-of-pocket costs.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid childcare leave for primary caregivers, adoption reimbursement, backup child care, and school lottery preference for employees’ children are highlighted. These offerings add tangible family-friendly value alongside core medical and retirement benefits.
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Pay Growth & Progression — Recruiting materials emphasize significant annual increases, performance incentives, and faster advancement pathways than traditional districts. Some roles also reference year-end bonuses that can accelerate early-career earnings.
Success Academy Charter Schools Insights
What We Do
Since 2006, Success Academy has tackled educational inequities head-on by providing exceptional public education for 20,000 K-12 students in New York City. Our network of over 50 free public charter schools is looking for diverse, ambitious, talented people like you to join our team! Starting on your first day, you’ll receive world-class training and mentorship while working in a collaborative environment with passionate colleagues. As part of the Success Academy team, you will have ample growth opportunities within our network — including leadership roles. Success Academy is seeking candidates from all majors and backgrounds. All interviews are virtual, and a degree in Education is not required to teach. If you graduated or will be graduating with a bachelor's degree between Dec 2023 and Dec 2024, we encourage you to apply! We encourage you to look at our current openings and consider applying.
