Senior Technical Program Manager, Machine Learning Infrastructure

Who are we?

Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.

We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.

We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.

We are a global technology company co-headquartered in Toronto and San Francisco, with key offices in London, New York City, Montreal, Seoul, Germany and Paris. Join us!

WHY THIS ROLE?

As Cohere continues to grow, the size and complexity of our programs has continued increasing over time. To help us manage this, we are looking to bring in exceptional Technical Program Managers (TPM) to manage this!

At Cohere, TPMs are pivotal to our success, being seen as operational experts specializing in cross-functional efforts. Great TPMs at Cohere are well-rounded, executing with precision at the tactical level, while partnering with senior leaders and shaping the big picture at a strategic level, and the opportunities are endless in growing the scale and impact of their work. Cohere’s TPMs are often described by their stakeholders as organized, execution-oriented, pragmatic, and adaptable to the needs of the company and the programs they lead.

As a reward for the depth and breadth of expertize that you bring to the table, you will get to work alongside some of the most talented engineers in the world on building cutting edge AI technology. No day will be the same as the one before, and the dynamic high growth environment will be absolutely perfect for anyone excited about solving novel problems, bringing structure to oftentimes chaotic and fast-paced environments, and ambitious about scaling their own impact and growth alongside the company!

Please note: While we are remote-first and accept candidates from all over the world, we are strongly prioritizing hiring for candidates in the Eastern Time (ET) timezone.

AS A TECHNICAL PROGRAM MANAGER FOR MACHINE LEARNING INFRASTRUCTURE, YOU WILL:

• Manage the program portfolio covering inference, efficiency, serving, and endpoints to guarantee that Cohere’s infrastructure continues to scale for a rapidly expanding user base of internal and external users
• Lead the end-to-end coordination and execution across the program, with a particular focus on cross-functional collaboration with Modeling and customer-facing teams
• Identify pain points and establish processes to ensure that the team can focus on development, while meeting needs of internal and external users of the models, and improving engineering best practices
• Build a strong culture around continuous improvement, such as liaising with incident management leads, ensuring that problems are accurately root caused, and that required fixes are provided in a timely manner
• Manage various overlapping projects and programs, ruthlessly prioritizing asks, to ensure that the company’s top priorities are met
• Collaborate with stakeholders across the company to set, track, and manage timelines, deliverables, budgets, and scope to ensure successful program execution
• Deliver clear, timely, and consistent updates across engineering, leadership, and non–technical teams on the progress, plans, and incidents
• Act as a strong tactical and strategic partner to the senior leads across your program, whether that be providing low-level tactical support or help answer high-level strategic problems that drives impact at the company-level.

YOU MAY BE A GOOD FIT IF YOU HAVE:

• 5+ years of Technical Program Management experience focusing on Machine Learning Infrastructure, specifically covering areas such as model inference, serving, efficiency, and endpoints design & implementation
• In-depth technical knowledge around ML infrastructure design and implementation, as well as engineering best practices, supporting a balance of velocity and structure in rapidly growing organizations
• Experience working in a chaotic, fast paced, low structure environment. We need an EPM who is pragmatic, can roll up their sleeves when needed, and can function at the tactical and strategic level to do whatever it takes to make Cohere’s models succeed
• (optional, but strongly preferred) Have technical experience in a hands-on capacity. We don’t necessarily need someone who has been working hands-on in a technical role, but the programs are inherently extremely technical. You need to dive into the depths of internal systems, and develop a reputation as a subject matter expert who brings in engineering best practices and the right amount of structure to continuously improve the program
• (optional, but preferred) Experience working with ML teams, and a working understanding of how machine learning models are built in order to advocate for both the needs of the infrastructure teams and modeling teams in building scalable, highly performant ML infrastructure.

If some of the above - other than the ML Infrastructure experience - doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply! If you consider yourself a thoughtful worker, a lifelong learner, and a kind and playful team member, Cohere is the place for you.

We welcome applicants of all kinds and are committed to providing both an equal opportunity process and work environment. We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all.

FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES AT COHERE ENJOY THESE PERKS:

• A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch.
• Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health.
• RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme.
• 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent.
• Annual enrichment benefits:

Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit.

Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching.

• 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!)
• Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite.

HOW AND WHERE WE WORK:

• Cohere is remote-friendly. We have offices in Toronto, San Francisco, New York City, London, Paris, Montreal, and more coming soon.
• For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events.
• For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city.
• Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly.

If any of the above doesn’t line up exactly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply.

We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12a6IrLdF3kI2nonKSr4tiFuz18rLQbaeYV-JM9L4o9Q/edit, and we will work together to meet your needs.

We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider.