Head of Personalization, Machine Learning Modeling

Company Description

It all started with an idea at Block in 2013. Initially built to take the pain out of peer-to-peer payments, Cash App has gone from a simple product with a single purpose to a dynamic ecosystem, developing unique financial products, including Afterpay/Clearpay, to provide a better way to send, spend, invest, borrow and save to our 47 million monthly active customers. We want to redefine the world’s relationship with money to make it more relatable, instantly available, and universally accessible.

Today, Cash App has thousands of employees working globally across office and remote locations, with a culture geared toward innovation, collaboration and impact. We’ve been a distributed team since day one, and many of our roles can be done remotely from the countries where Cash App operates. No matter the location, we tailor our experience to ensure our employees are creative, productive, and happy.

Check out our locations, benefits, and more at cash.app/careers.

Job Description

We are looking for a senior machine learning and AI leader to join and lead Cash App’s Personalization ML organization. This group oversees all personalization ML modeling and engineering work for Cash App & Afterpay, including recommendations, search retrieval/ranking, growth, incentives, cross/up-sell, etc.

You will be a part of Cash App’s Machine Learning & Data Science (MLDS) team and report directly to the head of the organization, who reports to the CEO of Cash App. You will partner closely with our most senior product leaders on how to incorporate machine learning and AI into the development of new features and identify opportunities to leverage AI to personalize and enrich our existing products and features. Our goal is to establish ML/AI as a distinct pillar in product development alongside product management, engineering, and design.
 

You will:

• Grow, lead, and mentor a senior team of ~20-25 machine learning modelers, scientists, and engineers.
• Provide both technical and career guidance for each individual and sub-lead on your team.
• Create a tightly aligned and fruitful partnership between your modeling and engineering sub-teams (e.g. shared roadmapping, prioritization, goals, etc.).
• Partner and collaborate closely with Cash App’s senior-most product and business leaders.
• Work with your team to identify new opportunities, develop prototypes, achieve buy-in from partners, and deliver production-ready ML solutions that have a large impact on the business.
• Effectively communicate your team’s work with senior leadership and the executive team on a regular basis.
• Contribute directly to quarterly and annual strategic plans.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest state-of-the-art techniques in AI (e.g. LLMs and generative AI more broadly) and foster a culture of learning within the organization.
• Help shape Block’s overall ML and AI strategy.

Qualifications

You have:

• 8+ years of machine learning and AI industry experience.
• 5+ years of experience managing teams of machine learning engineers, modelers, and/or data scientists.
• An advanced degree in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Math, Statistics, Physics, or a related technical field.
• Very strong communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working cross-functionally to build and ship new products and features that leverage ML in a production environment.
• Deep knowledge of and experience with a wide range of machine learning algorithms and techniques, including many of the recent state-of-the-art developments in generative AI.
• Expertise in understanding how to apply ML and AI to solve/optimize complex problems and drive new/improved customer experiences.
• An appreciation for how to go from zero-to-one for new ML solutions as well as how to optimize mature, scaled ML applications.
• Strong statistical and mathematical intuition with an appreciation for concepts such as causality, selection bias, incrementality, hypothesis testing, etc.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals and the ability to manage teams that adhere to engineering best practices.
• Intellectual curiosity and a passion for Block’s purpose of economic empowerment.

Additional Information

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. U.S locations are categorized into one of four zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: USD $300,000.00
Outside Zone A: USD $300,000.00

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this salary-zones”>resource. If a location of interest is not listed, please speak with a recruiter for additional information. 

Full-time employee benefits include the following:

• Healthcare coverage (Medical, Vision and Dental insurance)
• Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Plans including company match 
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness programs, including access to mental health, 1:1 financial planners, and a monthly wellness allowance 
• Paid parental and caregiving leave
• Paid time off (including 12 paid holidays)
• Paid sick leave (1 hour per 26 hours worked (max 80 hours per calendar year to the extent legally permissible) for non-exempt employees and covered by our Flexible Time Off policy for exempt employees) 
• Learning and Development resources
• Paid Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits 

These benefits are further detailed in Block’s policies. This role is also eligible to participate in Block’s equity plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies, and may be eligible for a sign-on bonus. Sales roles may be eligible to participate in a commission plan subject to the terms of the applicable plans and policies. Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. 

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Additionally, we consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

We’ve noticed a rise in recruiting impersonations across the industry, where individuals are sending fake job offer emails. Contact from any of our recruiters or employees will always come from an email address ending with @block.xyz, @squareup.com, @tidal.com, or @afterpay.com, @clearpay.co.uk.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.

While there is no specific deadline to apply for this role, on average, U.S. open roles are posted for 70 days before being filled by a successful candidate.