Job Description
Head of AI & DATA
Job Location:  Lisbon, Portugal
Contract type:  Permanent

 

Acolad is the global leader in content and language solutions. Its mission is to support companies in every industry to scale across markets and enable growth through cutting-edge technology and localization expertise. Established in 1995, the group is present in 22 countries across Europe, North America and Asia, with over 1.600 employees supported by a network of +10.000 linguists around the world.

At Acolad, every position is key to our global growth: we know that we will only succeed if our people succeed.
Joining Acolad means a unique opportunity for professional development through a collaborative global environment that promotes talent and creativity. We are continuously looking for new talent (like you!) to support our mission to drive growth and innovation across some of the world’s leading brands.

Check out Our brand video to learn more about us!

 

About the role

We are seeking an exceptional and visionary Vice President of AI to lead our Artificial Intelligence strategy, development, and innovation. This pivotal role will be responsible for defining the future of AI within our organization, overseeing the entire lifecycle of our AIdriven products and platforms, and building a world-class team of AI engineers, data scientists, and MLOps specialists.

The ideal candidate will possess a deep technical understanding of cutting-edge AI technologies, particularly in Large Language Models (LLMs) and real-time speech AI, coupled with proven leadership experience in scaling AI solutions from concept to robust, production-grade systems. You will drive the integration of AI across our product offerings, ensuring our solutions are innovative, scalable, efficient, and directly contribute to our business objectives in redefining translation and content journeys through intelligent automation. 

Key Responsibilities

  • AI Strategy & Vision: Define and articulate a compelling AI strategy and roadmap that aligns with company goals, anticipates market trends, and leverages emerging technologies to create a competitive advantage among our Product offering.
  • Team Leadership & Development: Build, mentor, and lead high-performing teams across AI engineering, data science, and MLOps. Foster a culture of innovation, continuous learning, accountability, and excellence.
  • Product & Platform Ownership: Oversee the end-to-end development and deployment of our AI platform and services, including Automatic Post Editing, Quality Estimation, Content Rating, Document Triage, AI Workflow Optimization, and the expansion of our AI Studio.
  • Technical Excellence & Architecture: Provide strategic technical guidance and oversight for the design, development, and optimization of scalable, low-latency, and high-performance AI models and systems. Ensure best practices in software engineering, cloud architecture (AWS, GCP, Azure), and MLOps are consistently applied.
  • Innovation & Research: Drive a culture of experimentation and rapid prototyping, exploring new AI/ML techniques, including advanced LLM applications, vector databases, and real-time speech technologies (S2S, STT, TTS), to unlock new capabilities and solve complex problems. 
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner closely with executive leadership, product management, engineering, sales, and marketing teams to identify opportunities for AI integration, translate business needs into AI solutions, and ensure seamless product delivery and adoption. 
  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Champion a data-driven approach to AI development, leveraging analytics and user feedback to continuously refine product features, optimize model performance, and ensure scalability.
  • Market & Industry Leadership: Stay abreast of the latest advancements in AI, machine learning, and competitive landscapes. Represent the company as an AI thought leader in industry forums and conferences. 
  • Budget & Resource Management: Manage the AI department's budget, resources, and operational efficiency to maximize impact and ROI. 

Requirements

  • Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in AI/ML, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role (e.g., Head of AI, VP of Engineering/AI) managing multiple teams and large-scale AI initiatives.
  • Technical Depth: Deep expertise in machine learning, deep learning, and neural networks, with a strong understanding of their application in real-world production environments. 
  • LLM & Speech AI Expertise: Proven experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), including their experimentation, fine-tuning, and productionization. Strong understanding of real-time speech technologies (ASR, TTS, Speech Translation) and low-latency AI optimization. 
  • Cloud Platforms: Extensive hands-on experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) for deploying and managing AI applications at scale.
  • MLOps & Productionization: Demonstrated success in implementing MLOps best practices, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring, and feedback loops for continuous delivery and optimization of AI models. 
  • Programming Proficiency: Strong proficiency in Python and experience with other relevant languages. 
  • Strategic & Problem-Solving Skills: Exceptional analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities, with a track record of delivering practical, impactful solutions to complex technical and business challenges.
  • Leadership & Communication: Outstanding leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire teams, influence stakeholders, and articulate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
  • Education: Master's or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or a related quantitative field. 

Benefits

  • The opportunity to shape the future of AI-driven translation services and directly impact global communication. 
  • A highly visible and impactful role at the forefront of AI innovation. 
  • A dynamic, challenging, and fast-paced environment that values ownership, rapid iteration, and tangible results. 
  • Competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and significant opportunities for professional growth and executive leadership development. 
  • A culture that fosters collaboration, creativity, and a "get shit done" mentality. If you are a visionary AI leader passionate about building transformative technologies and driving business impact, we encourage you to apply! 

Acolad is committed to creating a diverse and equitable workforce. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms—gender, age, disability, marital status, ethnic or social origin, religion, belief, or sexual orientation—enrich the workplace. It opens opportunities for individuals to express their talents, both individually and collectively, and strengthens our ability to adapt to a changing world. As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their backgrounds.