MLOps Director: Real-Time ML Production & Strategy
Burtch Works, WorkFromHome, OH, United States
Job Title: Head of Machine Learning Operations (MLOps)
Location: Cincinnati, OH or Atlanta, GA (Hybrid – 3 days onsite/week)
About The Company
This organization is a global leader in financial technology, delivering innovative, data-driven solutions that power digital commerce and payment processing at scale. The company is focused on leveraging advanced analytics, machine learning, and real-time decisioning to optimize customer experiences and drive business performance across a highly complex and regulated environment.
Job Summary
We are seeking a Head of Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) to lead and scale a high-impact ML engineering function responsible for deploying production-grade machine learning solutions.
This is a hands-on leadership role requiring a balance of technical depth, strategic vision, and team leadership. You will partner closely with data science, engineering, and business teams to transform machine learning models into scalable, reliable, and secure production systems that support real-time decisioning across the payment lifecycle.
You will inherit a small but highly impactful team, with the opportunity to build, scale, and mature the MLOps function while directly contributing to architecture, development, and deployment efforts.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy & Vision
- Define and execute the MLOps strategy and technical roadmap, aligning with business objectives
- Build scalable infrastructure to support real-time ML decisioning systems
- Enable rapid experimentation while ensuring robust, secure, and scalable production deployments
- Recruit, hire, mentor, and lead a high-performing team of MLOps engineers
- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning
- Ensure delivery of high-quality solutions within defined timelines
- Lead the design, development, deployment, and maintenance of ML models and production systems
- Contribute to hands-on coding and architecture, especially in early-stage team growth
- Ensure systems meet requirements for:
- Scalability
- Performance and latency
- Explainability
- Regulatory compliance
- Establish and enforce best practices across MLOps, DevOps, and software engineering
- Evaluate and adopt modern tools, frameworks, and infrastructure
- Partner with data science, data engineering, infrastructure, and business teams to integrate ML into products
- Work closely with governance, security, and legal teams to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations
- Communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
Education
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field
- PhD is a plus
- 7+ years of experience in ML engineering, MLOps, or related fields
- 5+ years of experience deploying large-scale, real-time ML models in production environments
- 3+ years of experience in people leadership or team management
- Experience working in complex, enterprise-scale environments
- Strong experience building and deploying ML systems at scale
- Expertise in:
- Python (Pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn)
- SQL and NoSQL databases
- Experience with:
- Microservices architecture (API design, monitoring, deployment)
- Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Cloud platforms (AWS preferred)
- Databricks or similar data platforms
- Strong understanding of:
- Machine learning lifecycle and research workflows
- MLOps and DevOps best practices
- Model deployment, monitoring, and optimization
- Proven ability to lead teams and influence across organizations
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
- Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value
- Experience within payments, financial services, or highly regulated industries
- Familiarity with:
- Real-time payments and transaction processing
- Tokenization and authorization workflows
- Experience working in large, complex enterprise environments
- Experience working within Agile development frameworks
- Base Salary: $180,000
- Bonus: 15% annual bonus
- Employment Type: Direct Hire