Senior Engineering Manager, Machine Learning

Who We Are

Babylist is the leading registry, e-commerce, and content platform for growing families. More than 9 million people shop with Babylist every year, making it the go-to destination for seamless purchasing, trusted guidance, and expert product recommendations for new parents and the people who love them. What began as a universal registry has grown into a full ecosystem for new parents, including the Babylist Shop, Babylist Health, and a flagship showroom in Los Angeles. Hundreds of brands in baby and beyond partner with Babylist to engage meaningfully with families during one of life’s most important transitions. With over $1 billion in annual GMV, and more than $500 million in 2024 revenue, Babylist is reshaping the $320 billion baby product industry. We’re helping parents feel confident, connected, and cared for at every step. As we build the generational brand in baby, our mission remains simple: to connect growing families with everything they need to thrive.To learn more, visit www.babylist.com.

Our Ways of Working

Babylist thrives as a remote-first company, with HQ team members located across the U.S. and Canada. We meet in person twice a year—once as a company and once by department to strengthen the relationships that power our work. We show up consistently, stay purpose-driven, leverage AI to amplify our impact, and achieve results—together, from anywhere.

How We Build

Babylist is in the middle of a fundamental shift in how software gets made, and we are not tiptoeing into it. We are rebuilding our engineering culture around a simple belief: AI changes everything. How teams are structured, how decisions get made, how fast ideas become working software. Our engineers own problems end to end, working directly with product, design, and business partners with short feedback loops and real stakeholder access. We ship, learn, and iterate fast. When something is not working, we throw it out and start over — project failure and personal failure are not the same thing here. AI tools are as natural to our workflow as an IDE or version control. We are not exploring this, we are living it. Our engineers use AI to explore tradeoffs, pressure-test designs, and move from problem to solution in hours instead of days. They generate code with AI so they can stay focused on the decisions that actually require human judgment — not the routine ones. More velocity means more time for craft: better test coverage, stronger architecture, and deeper customer understanding. We hold ourselves to a higher quality bar because of AI, not in spite of it. We are building this playbook in real time, and we are looking for people who want to build it with us. If you have already changed how you work because of AI — or you are ready to — and you care more about shipping something great than following a prescribed process, we should talk.

Our Tech Stack 

• React, Native iOS and Android
• Ruby on Rails
• AWS, Terraform
• MySQL
• Sidekiq
• Redis
• Shopify

What the Role Is

As Babylist’s Senior Engineering Manager, Machine Learning & Discovery+Site Monetization, you’ll lead the team driving the next era of our machine learning and personalization efforts across the product. This is a hands-on leadership role for a manager who remains technically fluent while scaling people, systems, and impact. You’ll manage and grow a high-performing ML-focused pod spanning product recommendations, search, PLPs, and site monetization, with a clear mandate: maximize revenue and user value across surface areas through personalization.

You’ll guide the team on technical direction behind our homepage feed, “add next” experience, and other core personalization surfaces, while building the foundations for long-term ML excellence at Babylist.

Who You Are

• 3+ years of experience as a front-line manager delivering production-grade software or ML systems
• 5+ years of experience as an individual contributor in ML or Data Science, plus proven experience leading teams that build end-to-end machine learning systems, ideally in personalization, recommendations, or consumer-facing ML products
• Deep familiarity with the Python ML ecosystem (e.g., pandas, sklearn, xgboost, PyTorch) and comfortable reviewing designs, unblocking technical challenges, and setting high technical standards
• Experience supervising ML Engineers and/or Data Scientists; bonus points for experience managing Software Engineers
• Strong understanding of the full ML lifecycle, including data pipelines, workflow orchestration (e.g., Airflow), deployment, monitoring, and iteration in production
• Product-minded: passionate about technology, but primarily motivated by solving real user problems and driving business impact
• Experience working with large-scale, real-time or near-real-time data systems
• Comfortable owning and evolving the ML tech stack end-to-end, from data and modeling through production systems
• Background in consumer-facing products; experience in e-commerce, marketplaces, or complex user journeys is strongly preferred
• You're comfortable and enthusiastic about working in an AI-forward environment where AI tools are part of daily operations

How You Will Make An Impact

• Build and lead the ML & personalization function: Hire, mentor, and support a multidisciplinary team (Machine Learning Engineers, Software Engineers, Product Manager, and occasional Designer), shaping the roadmap, standards, and culture for ML at Babylist
• Own high-impact ML initiatives: Deliver personalization systems that improve discovery, engagement, and monetization across key surfaces, directly impacting business outcomes
• Set technical and algorithmic direction: Define modeling approaches, data strategy, and system architecture in partnership with senior technical leaders, balancing experimentation with scalable execution
• Be hands-on when needed: Review ML/DS designs and code, build proof-of-concept models, and conduct your own data science research to de-risk ideas and accelerate progress
• Develop talent: Coach engineers on technical growth, career progression, and performance, combining strong technical standards with empowerment
• Drive cross-functional alignment: Partner closely with Product, Design, Analytics Engineering, and Data to translate ambiguous business problems into clear technical direction
• Understand the full funnel: Develop a deep understanding of Babylist’s user journeys, user feedback loops, and financial models — and how ML systems influence them end-to-end

Why You Will Love Working At Babylist

Our Culture

• We work with focus and intention, then step away to recharge
• We believe in exceptional management and invest in tools and opportunities to connect with colleagues
• We build products that positively impact millions of people's lives
• AI tools are as natural to how we work as your IDE or version control — we're not exploring this, we're living it.

Growth & Development

• Competitive pay and meaningful opportunities for career advancement
• We believe technology and data can solve hard problems
• We're committed to career progression and performance-based advancement

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary with equity and bonus opportunities
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Retirement savings plan with company matching and flexible spending accounts
• Generous paid parental leave and PTO
• Remote work stipend to set up your office
• Perks for physical, mental, and emotional health, parenting, childcare, and financial planning

About Compensation

We use a market-based approach to compensation. The starting salary range for this role is:

USD - $250,000 to $308,000
CAD - $230,000 to $288,000

Your starting salary will be based on your location, experience, and qualifications, with increases over time tied to performance, role growth, and internal pay equity.

Important Notices

Interview Process & Consent
Babylist uses AI to record and transcribe all interviews for evaluation purposes in accordance with CCPA and GDPR. By participating in an interview, you consent to this recording and transcription.

Interview Integrity
During the interview process, we're evaluating your individual problem-solving skills, creativity, and approach to challenges. While AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor are part of your daily toolkit once you join Babylist, all interviews, assessments, and take-home assignments must be completed independently. 

You may not use AI tools, third-party services, coaching platforms, or content-farming services during any part of the interview process unless we explicitly permit it. We will clearly communicate when AI tools are allowed for specific assessments.

Any indication of third-party assistance or AI-generated responses will result in immediate disqualification. We may also verify educational credentials through third-party sources—providing false or misleading information will result in removal from consideration.

Official Communication
All communication will come only from the Babylist Talent Team via an @babylist.com email address. We will never request payment, bank information, or personal financial details. Be cautious of fraudulent outreach via non-company email addresses, messaging platforms (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram), or unsolicited phone calls. Verify legitimate opportunities on our careers page.

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