Lead Machine Learning Engineer, Generative AI (Image & Video)

About the role

Snap Inc is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.

The Company operates Snapchat, a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world, and Specs Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to making computing more human, in addition to Bitmoji, Saturn, and other digital services.

We’re looking for a Lead Machine Learning Engineer to join the Consumer Gen AI Product MLE team at Snap!

As the team’s hands-on technical lead, you’ll set direction, build alongside engineers, and turn advances in generative AI into creative experiences for millions of Snapchatters.

What you’ll do:

- Lead the development of ML-powered products and AI Lenses, focusing on image and video generation and editing, as well as LLM-powered experiences

- Define the team’s technical roadmap and architecture for GenAI pipelines, including diffusion and flow matching models. Balance visual quality, latency, reliability, and cost

- Drive complex projects from prototype to production. Turn ambiguous ideas into clear technical plans, guide execution, and stay hands-on to ship initial consumer-facing experiences within weeks

- Partner with Product, Software Engineering, Lens Content, and Data Science to shape ideas, align priorities, and improve experiences through A/B testing and user feedback

- Turn emerging research into practical improvements. Evaluate open-source models and third-party APIs, establish quality benchmarks, and lead build-versus-buy decisions

- Mentor and unblock engineers through hands-on collaboration, technical design, and code reviews. Build reusable capabilities that help the team deliver better products, faster

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

- A passion for machine learning, with the curiosity to explore new research and the judgment to know what is worth building

- Deep understanding of mathematics, deep learning, and generative modeling

- Ability to set technical direction and lead complex initiatives through ambiguity

- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain trade-offs, align partners, and help other engineers grow

- Strong product judgment and meticulous attention to visual quality

Minimum Qualifications:

- Strong background in Machine Learning, with experience developing generative models, computer vision systems, or related deep learning applications

- Strong programming skills in Python or C++, with proficiency in PyTorch or a comparable deep learning framework

- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience