Scientist 5, Data Science (12+ years experience . Generative AI, interpretable ML, Statistics) at WesternDigital

Role summary We’re hiring a hands-on technologist to lead the design, delivery and operational scaling of mission-critical AI/ML systems. This is a senior technical leadership role, combining end-to-end system design, deep ML engineering, research translation and team enablement. You will set technical direction, unblock engineering teams, and take direct ownership for measurable business outcomes.   Core responsibilities • Own end-to-end system design and architecture for production ML/AI solutions — from problem framing, data design, model selection and infra to monitoring, runbooks and cost control. • Lead hands-on technical delivery: prototype, validate, harden and ship models and agentic components into live systems; ensure reliability, observability, and automated CI/CD for models and data pipelines. • Act as the single technical escalation point — remove blockers, resolve cross-team technical tradeoffs, and make final architecture decisions that balance performance, scalability, cost and vendor dependencies. • Mentor and grow engineering teams (ML engineers, data engineers, OR engineers), set engineering standards, code/architecture reviews and champion best practices (MLOps, testing, data contracts). • Translate research into product: evaluate papers, run experiments, lead IP efforts (patents, trade secrets) and supervise research to production pipelines. • Drive multiple projects in parallel with clear prioritization, milestones and delivery SLAs; align technical plans to business KPIs. • Define, track and report success metrics and ROI for all ML initiatives; continuously tune models and design experiments for measurable impact. • Collaborate with product, platform, security, legal and operations teams to ensure compliance, data privacy and safe, explainable model behavior. • Works closely with Product, Platform, Security, Legal, and Business stakeholders. • Become a visible technical leader within the company — represent technical strategy externally when needed.