Job Title:  Staff AI/ML Engineer

What You Need To Know

Shape a remarkable future with us. Build a career working for an industry leader that truly invests in their people – and equips them with leading technology, continuous learning, and the ability to bring their best selves to work. As the premier wine and spirits distributor, Southern Glazer’s isn't just one of Forbes’ Top Private Companies; it's a family-owned business with deep roots dating back to 1933.

The reputation of Southern Glazer’s is well-established, and it's no surprise that we are regularly recognized for our culture. Southern Glazer’s has been recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Inclusion and Diversity, as well as for Women and Parents & Families. These accolades speak volumes about our commitment to creating a supportive and inclusive culture of belonging for all employees.

As a full-time employee, you can choose from a wide-ranging menu of our Top Shelf Benefits, including comprehensive medical and prescription drug coverage, dental and vision plans, tax-saving Flexible Spending Accounts, disability coverage, life insurance plans, and a 401(k) plan. We also offer tuition assistance, a wellness program, parental leave, vacation accrual, paid sick leave, and more.

By joining Southern Glazer’s, you would be part of a team that values excellence, innovation, and community. This is more than just a job – it's an opportunity to build the future of beverage distribution and grow with a company that truly cares about its people.

Overview

The Staff AI/ML Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for the end-to-end design, delivery, and evolution of AI/ML systems with enterprise-wide impact at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (SGWS). This role blends hands-on engineering excellence with technical leadership—leading by example while owning architectural direction, technical strategy, and measurable outcomes.

This role maintains full technical line of sight across Next Best Action (NBA) capabilities, including recommendation engines and sales-driving reasoning, with accountability for ROI measurement and delivery. The Staff AI/ML Engineer partners across Platforms, DevSecOps, FinOps, Architecture, and Engineering to negotiate technical approaches, align on solutions, and drive execution forward.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead technically by example, contributing hands-on while guiding system design and delivery
• Own the technical structure of NBA systems, recommendations, and sales reasoning including ROI measurement
• Define and communicate technical options, trade-offs, and decisions for new and existing systems
• Partner with Platforms, DevSecOps, FinOps, and Architecture to align on solutions and execution paths
• Represent AI/ML initiatives as the primary technical point of contact in stakeholder sessions
• Design, build, and deploy scalable ML pipelines and production-grade systems
• Select appropriate ML algorithms aligned to business goals and constraints
• Establish evaluation frameworks, monitoring, and drift detection tied to business impact
• Ensure AI solutions meet ethical, regulatory, and governance expectations
• Coach and develop junior engineers and data scientists
  Explore and lead small, value-driven AI pilots to validate emerging AI strategies

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, or related field
• 6–8+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering or applied data science
• Proven experience owning ML systems in production
• Experience in DevOps and Agile environments
• Ability to operate as both a hands-on engineer and technical leader

Physical Demands

• Physical demands include a considerable amount of time sitting and typing/keyboarding, using a computer (e.g., keyboard, mouse, and monitor), or adding machine
• Physical demands with activity or condition may include walking, bending, reaching, standing, squatting, and stooping
• May require occasional lifting/lowering, pushing, carrying, or pulling up to 20lbs

EEO Statement

Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits, an Affirmative Action/EEO employer, prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. SGWS complies with all federal, state and local laws concerning consideration of a qualified applicant's arrest and/or criminal conviction records. Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits provides competitive compensation based on estimated performance level consistent with the past relevant experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and education of employees. Unless otherwise expressly stated, any pay ranges posted here are estimates from outside of Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits and do not reflect Southern Glazer's pay bands or ranges.

If you have any questions or concerns about whether this posting complies/adheres with local pay transparency requirements, please contact the SGWS talent acquisition team at NationalTA@sgws.com