Principal Machine Learning Scientist
Preferred Location : Seattle, WA (Hybrid : 1-2 days / week in office).
Open to remote for the right candidate
About Us
At RPI / Blurb, we are transforming how products are created, produced, and delivered worldwide. Every day, our cloud-based platform powers millions of personalized, on-demand items that reach customers with speed, quality, and sustainability. We partner with leading brands, publishers, and creative platforms, including Blurb, our consumer-facing self-publishing brand, to bring ideas to life at global scale. By combining innovative technology with a distributed manufacturing network, RPI / Blurb is reimagining the future of personalized production.
The Role
Reporting to the VP of Product & Design , the Principal Machine Learning Scientist will architect, research, and deploy advanced ML models to elevate creative user experiences and drive operational efficiency across our manufacturing and production platforms.
In our agile, startup environment, you'll have the ability to take end-to-end ownership of projects, working directly with the executive team, senior leaders, senior technical experts and cross functional teams, while putting your expertise into action from initial prototyping through product integration and large-scale deployment. Your contributions will directly shape the technical foundation of our platform and influence RPI / Blurb's overall trajectory, offering exceptional visibility and growth opportunities.
Core Responsibilities
- Set and drive the technical roadmap for machine learning across Blurb / RPI's creation tools and manufacturing systems, always adapting to new challenges and needs in a dynamic environment.
- Own projects from ideation through production-researching, designing, and implementing advanced ML models for creative automation, personalization, automated quality inspection, predictive maintenance, and process optimization.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and company leadership, influencing strategy and culture as a trusted expert and thought partner.
- Innovate rapidly, prototyping and iterating on ML solutions that bridge creative tools and industrial operations, and help establish best practices for future scale.
- Architect end-to-end ML pipelines, integrating AutoML, reinforcement learning, and MLOps to ensure scalable, sustainable impact.
- Conduct groundbreaking research in generative AI, computer vision, and predictive analytics, publishing new methods and results when possible.
- As an individual contributor, provide technical expertise, guidance, and mentorship without direct reports-empowering others through strong collaboration.
- Represent Blurb / RPI in external AI forums, conferences, and partnerships, articulating our mission, ambition, and technical innovation.
- Monitor, evaluate, and continuously improve deployed models, delivering actionable, data-driven change company-wide.
Qualifications
Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Data Science, Industrial Engineering, or a related field or equivalent practical experience developing and deploying ML models at scale.Extensive experience (typically 8+ years) advancing ML in manufacturing, creative automation, supply chain, or digital publishing.Deep understanding of :Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) : Familiarity with applying CNNs for visual inspection, defect detection, and creative generation.Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) : Familiarity with DNN architectures for sensor / time-series / operational data, predictive maintenance, and anomaly detection.Demonstrated capacity to lead the adoption of supervised / unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, AutoML, and production-scale model deployment as an individual contributor.Mastery of Python, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn, OpenCV, plus data engineering for IoT / sensor environments.Strong history integrating ML models into complex software and industrial systems.Recognized for published research, patents, or open-source contributions in ML / AI communities.Excellent communication, influence, and collaboration skills.Preferred Experience
High-impact IC leadership and execution of ML projects, with measurable improvements in creative or manufacturing efficiency.Influence on strategy and innovation as an expert practitioner.External representation-presentations, conference talks, AI partnerships.Portfolio of transformative projects, patents, publications, or industry recognition.Impact Areas
Creation Tools : Architect AI-powered design generation, layout optimization, image enhancement, and smart content suggestions.Manufacturing Platform : Drive state-of-the-art predictive scheduling, energy forecasting, print defect detection, and data-driven production automation.Scalability : Build foundational machine learning infrastructure that enables Blurb / RPI's rapid, global platform expansion.Work Arrangement & Travel
Hybrid : 1-3 days per week in Seattle office; remote / flexible otherwise.We hold quarterly team onsite sessions (for team building and focused ideation) that span 3-4 days each. These are held at one of our locations (Rochester, Seattle, Atlanta) and in-person attendance is expected.Some travel expected for partner meetings and industry events.Apply now to join our dynamic and innovative company!