ML Open Source Lead

About the role

The Senior Open-Source ML Lead at Ideogram is responsible for defining and executing the open-source strategy that translates cutting-edge research into influential public tools. This role owns the end-to-end lifecycle of releasing model weights, methodologies, and code, ensuring they meet high standards of quality and usability. The hire will build and nurture a thriving developer community across platforms like GitHub and Hugging Face, driving adoption and engagement. They will serve as a vocal advocate for open science by creating demos, publishing technical content, and representing Ideogram at industry events. This position bridges internal research teams with the external ecosystem, leading the conversion of proprietary implementations into polished, reproducible open-source projects. The role influences Ideogram's broader open-source roadmap by mentoring engineers and establishing best practices. The hire will operate with significant autonomy, quickly mastering new tools and driving initiatives from concept to execution. Success is measured by meaningful community adoption, high-quality releases, and strengthened relationships across the AI open-source landscape.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Define and own the open-source strategy for releasing model weights, methodologies, and code in close partnership with research and leadership teams.
• Build and scale the GitHub and Hugging Face community, establishing standards for repository quality, documentation, and contributor experience.
• Champion open science by developing open-source demos, including implementations such as LoRA fine-tuning for our models, and publishing technical blog posts.
• Represent Ideogram at conferences and industry events, engaging deeply with the community to promote open-source collaboration.
• Lead the conversion of internal, proprietary implementations into polished, reproducible open-source code that sets quality and usability benchmarks.
• Guide internal engineers and researchers on open-source best practices, helping to shape Ideogram's broader open-source strategy and roadmap.
• Establish and maintain relationships with model providers, internal engineers, and external contributors to advance AI accessibility and strengthen Ideogram's standing in the open-source ecosystem.
• Drive community growth and engagement through proactive outreach, high-quality contributions, and consistent platform stewardship.
• Ensure all public repositories meet rigorous standards for documentation, testing, clarity, and ease of contribution.
• Act as a technical thought leader, publishing insights and demos that highlight the capabilities and use cases of Ideogram's models.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, research, and engineering teams to align open-source releases with company goals and customer needs.
• Mentor team members on open-source workflows, versioning, licensing, and contribution processes to elevate the entire organization.

Requirements

• Hold an advanced degree (MS or PhD) or possess equivalent extensive research experience in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, or a related field.
• Demonstrate a proven track record of leading open-source ML projects that achieve meaningful community adoption or real-world impact.
• Show deep, hands-on expertise in Python and major ML research libraries such as PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow.
• Exhibit a strong command of LLMs and modern deep learning architectures, including Transformers, diffusion models, and RLHF.
• Provide a history of publishing research and/or maintaining widely-used open-source projects in ML, computer vision, or NLP.
• Maintain an established presence in the ML or open-source community through recognized contributions, talks, publications, or a strong following on relevant platforms.
• Communicate exceptionally well, comfortably representing the company externally and building relationships with researchers, engineers, and the broader community.
• Show genuine passion for open-source work and community-driven research, tooling, and infrastructure.
• Operate effectively with significant autonomy, quickly learning new tools, and driving initiatives from ambiguity to execution.
• Align with Ideogram's culture of high ownership, collaboration, mentorship, and rigorous craftsmanship.

Nice to have

• Contributions to widely-adopted open-source libraries or frameworks used in production environments.
• Experience building and launching machine learning or AI demos that gained traction in developer communities.
• Public speaking experience at major AI or developer conferences.
• A portfolio of influential open-source projects with substantial star counts or active contributor networks.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex research into accessible, well-documented tools for practitioners.
• Familiarity with generative media models, diffusion processes, and AI creative workflows.
• Experience working in fast-paced, flat organizational structures where ownership and initiative are highly valued.

Practical notes

Work location is either Toronto or New York. This is a full-time role. Compensation includes competitive pay and equity, with additional details omitted per source information. The position offers 4 weeks of vacation, comprehensive health vision and dental coverage from day one, and an RRSP/401k with employer match up to 4 percent. Ideal candidates are based in or are able to relocate to either Toronto or New York to work closely with the team.