AI Engineering LeadManager

We are seeking an experienced AI Engineering Lead/Manager to lead a team that builds and ships AI-powered features across our client-facing applications. You will bring hands-on experience integrating AI capabilities such as AI image generation agentic actions and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations into production software used by customers. This role blends technical leadership hands-on engineering and strong business sense: you will partner closely with Product Management to define features and shape the roadmap then lead your team in turning that vision into reliable delightful experiences.

Job Description

• Lead and grow a team of engineers building AI-powered features into our client applications setting technical direction and a high bar for quality.
• Partner closely with Product Management to define AI features and shape the product roadmap balancing customer value business impact technical feasibility and cost.
• Architect and deliver end-to-end integrations of AI capabilities into client-facing software (e.g. AI image generation agentic actions and workflows and MCP-based tool and data integrations).
• Stay hands-on: write review and ship production code and help your team work through the hardest technical problems.
• Evaluate models vendors and APIs (hosted and open-source) making pragmatic build-vs-buy recommendations based on quality latency cost and reliability.
• Establish practices for evaluating and monitoring AI features including evals quality metrics guardrails and user feedback loops.
• Build AI experiences that are safe and trustworthy addressing content safety privacy prompt injection and responsible AI considerations.
• Collaborate with UX on intuitive interaction patterns for AI features including handling latency uncertainty and failures gracefully.
• Work with data and ML partners to understand model training fine-tuning and data pipelines and translate those capabilities into product opportunities.
• Ship behind feature flags with progressive rollout and kill-switches validating new behavior with production telemetry before ramping.
• Own the health of AI features through telemetry by tracking adoption output quality latency cost per request and defect trends.
• Champion agentic coding tools in your teams daily workflow (AI-assisted code review automated test generation) while maintaining code quality security and human oversight.
• Mentor engineers lead effective code reviews and foster a culture of learning and experimentation.
• Stay current on the rapidly evolving AI landscape and recommend adoption where it would meaningfully improve our products or team.

Qualifications :

• Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science Software Engineering or a related field.
• 5 years of hands-on professional software development experience in one or more of: Angular Kotlin Swift C# or Python.
• 2 years of experience as a technical lead or engineering manager leading engineers to deliver customer-facing software.
• Proven experience integrating AI-based features into client-facing production software such as AI image generation agentic actions LLM-powered experiences or MCP (Model Context Protocol) integrations.
• Practical experience with AI/LLM APIs and SDKs (e.g. OpenAI Anthropic Google Gemini Stability AI or open-source models) including prompt design tool/function calling and structured outputs.
• Solid understanding of production AI tradeoffs including latency cost reliability evaluation and safety.
• Strong business sense with a track record of partnering with Product to define features prioritize a roadmap and measure outcomes.
• Experience designing and consuming REST APIs and integrating client applications with backend services.
• Experience with automated testing (unit integration end-to-end) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience instrumenting applications with telemetry/observability tools (e.g. Datadog Firebase or platform-native logging).
• Hands-on pragmatic use of modern AI engineering tools (Claude Code Cursor Copilot etc.).

Nice to Have

• Knowledge of machine learning concepts such as how models are trained fine-tuned and evaluated and how data pipelines support them.
• Experience with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) embeddings or vector databases.
• Experience with computer vision such as image classification object detection segmentation or image understanding.
• Experience with creative or design-focused applications including 2D graphics or image processing.

Soft Skills

• Communicates clearly with engineering product design and business stakeholders and can explain AI capabilities and limitations to non-technical audiences.
• Brings strong product and business judgment connecting technical decisions to customer value and business outcomes.
• Builds alignment on scope priorities and tradeoffs with Product Management and UX.
• Leads by example mentors engineers and helps the team grow.
• Stays curious about the fast-moving AI landscape and brings practical improvements to the team.

Additional Information :

Weve Got You Covered

At Cricut we take care of our people. Enjoy competitive Medical Dental and Vision coverage a 401(k) match generous PTO tuition reimbursement and a yearly lifestyle stipend to support your wellness and passions. Youll also receive exclusive employee discountsand best of all youll be surrounded by some of the most talented creative and curious minds out there.

A Quick Note Before You Apply

Cricut is in an exciting chapter of transformation. Were evolving fastrefining our strategy growing our teams and raising the bar across everything we do. This is an incredible opportunity for the right kind of personbut its not for everyone.

Were looking for A-playerspeople who thrive in dynamic environments turn challenges into momentum and consistently deliver their best work. If that sounds like you read on.

Heres what makes someone a great fit for this role (and for this moment at Cricut):

• You move with urgency. You dont wait for perfect clarity to actyou start learn and adjust.
• You set high standards. You take ownership deliver quality and hold yourself accountable.
• You stay focused when things move fast. You prioritize what matters most and tune out the noise.
• You collaborate like a pro. You elevate others communicate clearly and bring a low-ego high-output energy.
• You embrace AI as part of your toolkit. From idea exploration to data analysis and creative problem-solving you leverage AI to accelerate innovation and amplify impactbecause technology and creativity go hand-in-hand here.

One More Thing (Its a Big One)

This role is in-office at least 45 days per week. We believe real collaboration innovation and culture are built face-to-face. If youre energized by working alongside smart kind creative peopleand love those hallway conversations that spark the next great ideayoull feel right at home.

If youre looking for a fully remote role this may not be the right fit. But if youre excited by challenge purpose and building something betterlets make something amazing together.

Relocation Statement:

 This position is eligible for relocation assistance.

What to Do Next: Please attach your resume cover letter and/or include links to your portfolio or other social presence. If you want to show your super powers in other ways include that information too. You can be sure that Cricut is an employer who values individuality equality and diversity so tell us what youre all about. If you are a Maker or a DIY enthusiast whether you think you are a good one or not we would love to hear about it when you send us your information.

Cricut is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. This position is contingent on successfully completing a Criminal Background Check upon hire. Cricut participates in E-Verify.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time