Principal AI​/ML Engineer

Business Unit: Store Support Centre (SSC)

Time Type: Full-time

Who we are

lululemon is an innovative performance apparel company for yoga, running, training, and other athletic pursuits. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional design, we create transformational products and experiences that support people in moving, growing, connecting, and being well. We owe our success to our innovative product, emphasis on stores, commitment to our people, and the incredible connections we make in every community we're in.

As a company, we focus on creating positive change to build a healthier, thriving future. In particular, that includes creating an equitable , inclusive and growth-focused environment for our people.

About this team

The Enterprise Data & AI organization is a strategic and operational driver of growth for lululemon, owning and building the data and AI platforms and services that enable the enterprise tooperatewith intelligence  team leads the design and delivery of a trusted unified data foundation, AI-driven data analytics and insights, and AI solutions across lululemon’s vertically integrated retail ecosystem, while embedding strong data governance and responsible AI practices from the very beginning.

By applying AI to critical business challenges and creating new, transformative AI solutions, the team helps reshape how lululemon operates. Through deep partnership with product, technology, and business teams, Enterprise Data & AI accelerates product innovation, unlocks measurable value, elevates guest and educator experiences, and drives enterprise efficiency.

Core responsibilities

• Define the enterprise AI/ML engineering vision and implementation strategy spanning the enterprise AI platform and services, and common frameworks and tools for model development, training infrastructure, inference platforms, evaluation frameworks, and governance capabilities.
• Drive implementation of major AI initiatives, ensuring scalable, reliable, secure, and cost-effective AI solutions across the enterprise.
• Demonstrate expert-level coding proficiency by developing critical components of AI platforms, ML infrastructure, and production AI systems when hands-on technical leadership is required.
• Partner with enterprise architects, product team, and the Data and AI team to shape company-wide AI architecture, providing deep technical expertise on implementation feasibility, operational considerations, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
• Lead technical design of foundation model services, generative AI solutions, and agentic frameworks.
• Challenge and improve existing AI architectures by identifying platform limitations, technical risks, and opportunities for innovation, proposing solutions that advance enterprise AI capabilities.
• Provide executive-level technical advisory on complex AI investments, build-versus-buy decisions, model strategy, technology selection, responsible AI considerations, and implementation risk assessment.
• Drive enterprise-wide AI/ML engineering practices including model lifecycle management, experimentation standards, evaluation methodologies, observability, reliability, and responsible AI controls.
• Influence product strategy and business investment decisions through technical insights on AI feasibility, value realization, scalability, and organizational impact.
• Drive engineering productivity and AI adoption across multiple teams through platform enhancements, reusable AI capabilities, automation, and reduction of systemic technical barriers.
• Mentor Senior and Staff engineers while developing the next generation of AI technical leaders across the organization.
• Represent lululemon externally through industry conferences, technical publications, open-source contributions, and participation in the broader AI community.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent experience;
  Master's preferred.
• 11-15+ years of progressive software engineering and AI/ML engineering experience, including significant experience designing and operating enterprise-scale AI systems and platforms, or equivalent.
• Expert-level coding ability with a track record of developing production-grade AI/ML systems, platforms, and infrastructure that solve highly complex technical and business challenges. Retail experience preferred.
• Deep expertise across system design for complex ML solutions, model deployments, batch and real-time services, and evaluation frameworks.
• Proven experience defining implementation strategies and execution approaches for complex, cross-organizational AI initiatives with measurable business impact.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate and guide adoption of emerging AI technologies.
• Deep experience analyzing complex technical trade-offs involving model quality, latency, reliability, scalability, cost optimization, privacy, and governance requirements.
• Recognized expertise in implementing AI solutions combined with the ability to assess…