Titlesby GlyphHead of AI job title trend since Apr 2011
Leadership · Established · in 0.52% of HN hiring posts · 23 open roles at 18 companies · median $290k
Leads the AI or ML group below the C-suite: VP, director or head.
first seen Jul 2017, Hacker Newstook off May 2019
Why it exists
Written by rule from our own data
First seen in our data in July 2017, in a Hacker News Who is hiring post from iwoca. It took off in May 2019, when its share of Who is hiring posts first reached a quarter of its best year. Today 23 open roles use the title at 18 companies, most of them in consumer. Closest tracked titles: Chief AI Officer, Machine Learning Engineer, Engineering Manager.
- PostingAsk HN: Who is hiring? (July 2017)Hacker News, Jul 2017 · backs: first sighting
- PostingDirector of AI Engineering, Internal ProductsVia, Oct 2026 · backs: an open posting with the title
Where it is posted
Sectors
- Consumer4
- Data platform2
- AI application1
- Robotics and autonomy1
- Fintech1
- Developer tools1
- AI data1
Cities
- San Francisco7
- New York7
- Palo Alto4
- Montreal, Canada2
- Seattle2
- London, United Kingdom2
- San Diego1
- Zurich, Switzerland1
- Dublin, Ireland1
- Paris, France1
Countries and remote
- United States17
- Canada3
- United Kingdom2
- Switzerland1
- Ireland1
- France1
- Germany1
- Sweden1
Remote option30%
Posted pay
Middle half $255k to $339k, median $290k from 14 postings that state a base range (USD a year).
Pay by level and city on SalariesWho is hiring for it
Open postings on their own job boards, read 6h ago| # | Company | Open roles | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | ||
| 2 | 2 | ||
| 3 | 2 | ||
| 4 | ViaA company hiring most for Product Manager and Engineering Manager. | 2 | |
| 5 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 1 | ||
| 8 | 1 | ||
| 9 | 1 | ||
| 10 | 1 | ||
| 11 | KeplerA company hiring most for Forward Deployed Engineer and Head of AI. | 1 | |
| 12 | KrakenA company hiring most for Forward Deployed Engineer and AI Engineer. | 1 |
Open roles
8 of 23; company pages list the restProduct Finance Director, AI Products & GPU Investment Strategy
Mountain View, California; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington
Director, Machine Learning Engineering, Ads Quality
Palo Alto, CA, US; San Francisco, CA, US
| Role | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Director of AI Engineering, Internal ProductsViaNew York$250k to $290k | Via | New York | $250k to $290k |
| Product Finance Director, AI Products & GPU Investment Strategy | Mountain View, California; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington | $224k to $308k | |
| Director, AI Solutions Strategy & Planning | United States - Remote | $248k to $262k | |
| Engineering Director, AI Engineering | San Francisco | $300k to $425k | |
| Director, Machine Learning Engineering, Ads Quality | Palo Alto, CA, US; San Francisco, CA, US | $315k to $551k | |
| Sr. Director, AI Ecosystem Partnerships | United States | $240k to $260k | |
| Head of AI DeploymentPear VCNew York City$160k to $180k | Pear VC | New York City | $160k to $180k |
| Director, AI Commercialization | Bay Area, CA, United States of America | $240k to $359k |
Lineage
the AI lead moved into the C-suite · from how the titles are used
Share of Hacker News hiring posts
97 posts since Apr 2011November 2026 1 of 207 postings, 0.48%
Related titles
Chief AI OfficerThe executive who owns AI strategy across a company; common since 2024.0.03% of HN posts, 12 mo · since Jul 2026Machine Learning EngineerTrains, ships and maintains machine learning models in production.4.3% of HN posts, 12 mo · 331 open · $255k median · since Apr 2011Engineering ManagerManages a team of engineers: hiring, delivery and careers.3.7% of HN posts, 12 mo · 512 open · $262k median · since Nov 2011Staff EngineerThe senior individual-contributor track: technical leadership without managing people.8.7% of HN posts, 12 mo · 1,178 open · $255k median · since Jul 2011Head of DataLeads a company's data team: analytics, data science and data engineering.0.36% of HN posts, 12 mo · 18 open · $284k median · since Dec 2011Chief Data OfficerThe executive who owns data governance, quality and analytics.0% of HN posts, 12 mo · since Feb 2016
About this title
Leads the AI or ML group below the C-suite: VP, director or head.
Also counted: head of ML, VP of AI, director of machine learning
First sighting
...- Python Developer - Technical Business Analyst - Head of Machine Learning - German Fluent Data Analyst - Polish Fluent Data Analyst - Check...
Median posted salary $290k from 14 postings that state a base pay range (the median of their midpoints, USD a year). Not a survey of what people earn.