Head of Machine Learning

SwingVision is the AI racket sports app that provides automated stats, highlights, and line calling using just your phone. Our mission is to democratize the pro sports experience for all athletes.

Led by AI experts from Tesla & Apple, we are a small but passionate team building a category-leading consumer product and pushing the limits of what’s possible on a mobile device.

Recent achievements include:

• Apple Design Award, Editors' Choice on the App Store, and 4x App of the Day
• Featured in Apple Keynote events, Forbes, Financial Times & The New York Times
• Trusted by 500k+ players, coaches, and federations all across the globe
• $10m+ raised from Sony, Tennis Australia and Andy Roddick

The Role

We are currently seeking a Head of Machine Learning to lead our machine learning team. You will own the machine learning lifecycle from research to deployment, driving the computer vision capabilities that power our category-defining app.

The annual salary range for this role is $150,000-$250,000. The final salary will be based on a number of factors, including the candidate's experience, qualifications, and location.

Additional benefits include: equity, performance-based bonus, PTO, 401(k); and medical, dental & vision.

Responsibilities

ML Strategy & Vision

• Own the Technical Roadmap: Define and execute the long-term machine learning vision, ensuring our models continue to set the industry standard for real-time sports AI.

• Innovation Leadership: Identify new capabilities in ML/AI and translate complex research into performant models that run efficiently on mobile edge devices.

Execution & Delivery

• End-to-End Execution: Orchestrate the entire ML lifecycle - from data collection and annotation strategies to model training, evaluation, and deployment on iOS.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Work closely with our world-class iOS engineering, product, and design teams to remove roadblocks, integrate models seamlessly, and ensure the high-velocity delivery of core features.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• People Management: Directly manage, mentor, and elevate a talented, high-performing team of machine learning engineers and data scientists, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and technical excellence.

• Empower & Develop: Conduct regular 1:1s, guide career progression, and ensure the team is aligned with the company's strategic goals while proactively removing blockers so they can execute efficiently.

Performance & Edge Optimization

• Edge Computing Mastery: Act as the ultimate advocate for on-device performance, continuously optimizing neural networks for speed, memory, and battery efficiency using Core ML and the Apple Neural Engine.

• Data-Driven Accuracy: Rigorously analyze model performance data to uncover edge cases in real-world environments (varying lighting, camera angles) and propose architectural experiments to increase tracking accuracy and precision.

Requirements

• 5+ Years in Machine Learning / Computer Vision: You have a proven track record of shipping successful, production-grade computer vision models, ideally for consumer or edge-computing applications.

• Proven People Leader: 2+ years of experience directly managing machine learning or data science teams, with a strong ability to recruit, retain, and develop top-tier technical talent.

• Technical Leadership: You have the experience and confidence required to step into a leadership role, quickly auditing existing architectures and taking full accountability for ML outcomes.

• The "Player-Coach" Mentality: You are strategic enough to present the technical roadmap to the Board but scrappy enough to write PyTorch code, debug a model's latency, or review data pipelines.

• Strong Communicator: Exceptional communication skills - you know how to distill complex AI concepts and architectural trade-offs for non-technical stakeholders and product teams.

• Product Passion: Avid user of SwingVision.

⭐ Preferred

• Startup DNA: Experience working in a Series A or similar high-growth environment (team size <50>

• Technical Stack: Deep expertise in Python, PyTorch, C++, Swift, and Apple's Core ML framework.

• Academic Mastery: MS or PhD in Computer Science, Statistics or a related major.

• Domain Expertise: Background in sports analytics, kinematics, or a deep understanding of racket sports mechanics.

SwingVision is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.