Principal AI Engineer

Join to apply for the Principal AI Engineer role at Shutterfly
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At Shutterfly, we make life’s experiences unforgettable. We believe there is extraordinary power in self‑expression, and our family of brands helps customers create products and capture moments that reflect who they uniquely are.

• Computer Vision & Image Intelligence
  • Expertise in any CNN‑based models (Mobile Net V3 , VGG, Inception) as well as transformer‑based vision models (e.g., ViT, CLIP, BLIP, DINOv2) for analyzing, scoring, performing similarity vector analysis, and tagging photos with metadata such as:
    • Facial expression, recognition, and grouping
    • Contextual categories (e.g., vacations, events, portraits)
    • Aesthetic appeal and print‑worthiness
    • Object and scene detection
  • Develop scalable pipelines for processing large volumes of image data and generating structured, query‑able metadata.
  • Integrate image intelligence with downstream applications such as search, ranking, and personalization.
• Behavioral AI & Recommendation Systems
  • Build and deploy transformer‑based ML models that analyze historical user behavior and purchasing patterns to generate personalized product recommendations.
  • Correlate behavior data with metadata from image scoring models to curate visual content for individual users.
  • Lead experimentation frameworks (e.g., A/B testing) to optimize recommendation relevance and conversion.
• Leadership & Architecture
  • Define architectural direction for AI components and ensure their integration with core systems.
  • Provide hands‑on technical leadership, mentorship, and code contributions across teams.
  • Drive strategic decisions regarding data acquisition, model training, deployment, and monitoring.

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering with at least 5+ years in AI/ML‑focused roles.
• Deep knowledge of computer vision techniques including CNNs, vision transformers, facial recognition, object detection, image classification, and image embedding.
• Strong experience with recommendation systems, collaborative filtering, deep learning for personalization, and transformer‑based models for recommendation systems.
• Proficiency in Python and relevant ML libraries (e.g., PyTorch, Tensor Flow, OpenCV).
• Experience deploying ML models at scale (e.g., using Docker, AWS, GCP, or similar).
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional technical initiatives from ideation to delivery.
• Strong grasp of ML lifecycle best practices (data management, model evaluation, explainability, observability).
• MS in Computer Science or related field.

Supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce is important to Shutterfly because it reflects our value of Embracing our Differences and is the right thing to do for our business and our people. We welcome all applicants and evaluate them based on their qualifications, without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality, sex, or other characteristic covered by law.

Learn more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on our Career Site.

This position will accept applications on an ongoing basis until filled.

• California: $156,000–$221,000
• Connecticut and New York: $156,000–$202,250
• Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and Washington: $156,000–$187,250
• Nevada: $146,750–$202,250
• Maryland and New Jersey: $168,500–$202,250
• Hawaii: $146,750–$176,000

This position may be eligible for a bonus incentive, health benefits, a 401K program, and other employee perks. More details about our company benefits can be found at

This opportunity can be remote, but candidates must reside in a state in which Shutterfly is registered to do business. This includes all US states except District of Columbia, North Dakota, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming.