Senior Director - Machine Learning and AI

About Auror

At Auror, we’re empowering the retail industry to tackle theft and Organised Retail Crime, a $150 Billion problem globally. It’s high volume crime that’s increasingly organised in nature and is putting people, retailers, and communities at risk every day.

Founded in New Zealand 12 years ago, we’re working with some of the best and largest retailers in the world across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

Auror is connecting people and intelligence to reduce crime. We’re using technology for good. 

In partnership with our leading retail partners, we need people with the passion, determination, and innovation required to overcome one of the world's largest problems. If you’re looking to make a difference with and for the people dedicated to stopping crime, for good, then we want you on our team.

We're also embracing the potential of AI to supercharge our impact, whether that's enhancing the way we detect trends, support our customers, or improve internal workflows. As a company, we're committed to responsibly incorporating AI into how we work and what we build, and we encourage all Aurors to be curious about how AI can elevate their work, regardless of role or function.

About The Role 

As the Senior Director - Machine Learning and AI, you are the driving force for how Auror harnesses ML and AI to accelerate our mission of reducing retail crime. This role goes beyond model development, it’s about visionary leadership, product innovation, and shaping how responsible AI unlocks transformative value for our customers, our business, and the communities we serve that help us achieve our mission of 50 in 5.

You will lead our Data Science organisation and partner closely with Product, Engineering, Customer, and our Executive Team to define how AI becomes a core strategic lever for Auror. You’ll push the boundaries of what’s possible today while shaping the horizon for tomorrow, identifying new opportunities, new product verticals, and new ways AI can strengthen our impact.

Vision & Strategy

• Define and deliver Auror’s 3 year AI & ML strategy, ensuring it strengthens customer value, business growth, and our position as the global leader in responsible AI for retail crime intelligence.
• Partner with the CPO and Mission Control to shape strategic investment in AI, bringing deep expertise and pragmatic decision-making to the table.
• Set a clear vision for how ML/AI accelerates our mission today, while scanning the horizon for what comes next, this includes new technologies, new product directions, and new opportunities for impact.

Innovation & Product Impact

• Lead the roadmap for embedding AI into our platform in ways that drive measurable outcomes, this includes revenue growth, customer retention, competitive differentiation, and meaningful crime-prevention outcomes.
• Drive ML/AI powered product innovation, working with Product to shape future product verticals and AI enabled features.
• Oversee research and development across machine learning, generative AI, predictive modelling, computer vision, natural language processing, and emerging techniques.
• Identify and integrate new data sources, models, and AI capabilities that unlock business and customer value.

Governance & Responsible AI

• Establish and uphold clear guardrails for responsible AI, this includes model lifecycle management, ethical AI, fairness, transparency, and privacy.
• Monitor and manage AI-related risks (bias, compliance, data quality), while ensuring we move fast responsibly and maintain customer trust.
• Partner with Security, Privacy, and Compliance to ensure AI systems meet the highest standards.

Adoption & Influence

• Champion AI adoption across Auror by building organisational confidence, raising literacy, and role-modelling best practice.
• Act as a thought leader, internally and externally, on responsible AI in retail and law enforcement.
• Represent Auror with customers, partners, government agencies, and industry forums, shaping the narrative on how AI combats retail crime.
• Build strategic partnerships with research institutions, technology providers, and startups to accelerate innovation.

Leadership & Delivery

• Lead and grow a high-performing Data Science team, mentoring the next generation of ML/AI leaders at Auror.
• Foster a culture of experimentation, pragmatism, and delivery, balancing research with real shipped impact.
• Define and track metrics that measure the impact of ML/AI across customer outcomes, business value, and mission progress.
• Ensure that ML models in production are reliable, fair, monitored, and continually improved, in partnership with Engineering.

*Example Performance Metrics

• Customer & Product Impact: 
• % of customers actively using AI-powered features; (baseline established FY26 Q1&2, % target growth year-on-year).
• Measurable improvements in crime prevention outcomes attributable to AI features (e.g., % increase in incidents prevented or detection accuracy).
• Adoption & Engagement: 
• AI adoption rate across Auror teams; (tracked through survey/usage metrics).
• Quarterly AI strategy discussions with PSG & Mission Control.
• One internal AI capability-building session delivered per quarter.
• Speed & Pragmatism: 
• Decrease average time from AI concept to production; 
• % of ML/AI initiatives shipped with measurable customer or business impact
• Balance between exploratory projects and productionised features (e.g., no more than 30% of effort spent in R&D without a productisation plan
• Team & Capability Growth: 
• Engagement and retention of Data Science team
• Closing skill gaps through hiring and development.
• Operational Excellence: 
• Reliability and scalability of AI systems
• All production AI models monitored for accuracy, fairness, and drift
• Quarterly AI governance reviews with documented outcomes (e.g., quarterly ethics/privacy reviews).
• Compliance with privacy, security, and ethical standards.

This role reports to Tanya Johnson, Chief Product Officer

Founder of Women in Tech NZ's Slack community and the Auckland Women in Tech Meetup, I'm really motivated by doing work that makes a meaningful difference in the world, and with supporting people in all the different ways they need to work well. "Context, Collaboration, and Cake" pretty accurately sums up my approach not only to work but to life in general. I'm enthusiastic about Taekwondo (which teaches me how to fail repeatedly and still persevere), love reading sci-fi and fantasy, and consider baking a good form of meditation. I'm excited to work with people who are curious about how things work, enjoy solving problems, think strategically, and are good at digging into details. Check out my LinkedIn here.

Requirements

About you

You are energised by the possibilities ML and AI create and you bring others along with that excitement. You’re a visionary and a builder, someone who loves shaping the future while delivering impact today.

Technical expertise

• Significant experience leading AI/ML functions, with a proven track record of shaping and executing enterprise-level AI strategy.
• Demonstrated success deploying large-scale ML systems into production environments that deliver measurable business or customer value.
• Strong proficiency in modern ML techniques, frameworks, and tooling, with the ability to guide teams using Python and contemporary ML/AI stacks.
• Deep experience with cloud-based ML ecosystems and MLOps practices, including model lifecycle management, monitoring, and continuous improvement.

Leadership and influence

• A builder at heart, you grow systems, strategies, and high-performing teams, with a record of leading and scaling Data Science or ML organisations.
• You balance speed and pragmatism, helping teams move from “why not” to “how might we.” and making experimentation feel safe and purposeful.
• You anticipate emerging AI trends and position Auror to leverage them responsibly and commercially 
• You’re an excellent communicator who is able to influence across teams, engage the ELT, and contribute confidently at Board level, helping leaders and teams see what’s possible with AI while keeping a clear line of sight to practical outcomes.
• You are confident as the expert voice in the room, able to challenge assumptions and guide leaders toward practical, impactful AI adoption.
• You see leadership as a multiplier, you grow leaders who can operate strategically and execute with excellence, and grow the next generation of AI talent.
• You view AI as a strategic differentiator, and you know how to turn cutting edge science into real customer and business value.

We are looking for people who demonstrate a strong alignment to our Guiding Principles (you can find these on our Careers page).

Auror is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible application process to all candidates and we are actively working to improve diversity within the tech industry. We celebrate diversity and inclusiveness at Auror, regardless of (but not limited to) race, gender, sexual orientation, family status, religion, ethnicity, national origin, physical disability, veteran status, or age.

If you need adjustments to any part of our recruitment process because of accessibility reasons, please do not hesitate to let us know during the application process. We will work with you to identify adjustments that will allow you to perform at your best.

Benefits

• Competitive salary Range: Depending on level of experience of NZD$200,000 - $270,000 (PL5 / PL6)
• Annual bonus: discretionary bonus based on company revenue targets

• Employee share scheme: You’ll own part of a company making a real difference!
• Flexibility: We are hard-working and outcome focused, but recognise there is more to life than work. We promote a healthy work/life blend.
• Shorter work weeks (at full pay): Everyone gets Friday afternoons off, so you can start your weekend early, and do more of whatever it is that makes you happy.
• Focus on mental and physical health: We understand how vital our health is and have policies to support your wellness, including: Wellness Days,  and up to three expert sessions paid for every year.
• Family-friendly: We offer comprehensive paid parental leave - 12 weeks for birth parents and 6 weeks for non-birth parents following birth, adoption, or surrogacy, available to all Aurors from day one.
• Personal growth: We support our team to participate in courses, conferences, or events that will help them develop their skills.
• Team love: We have regular team lunches and social events where most (if not all) activities are during work hours.

Next steps:

If you’re excited about our mission and you have the experience and a passion for this role, please hit “Apply”.

If you’re not sure that you tick all the boxes but feel you’re close to what we’re looking for, please apply anyway! We’re proud that Auror is a place where everyone can learn and grow so we’d love to hear from you.

You'll be asked to submit a cover letter as part of your application. While this is optional we do encourage it, as we find cover letters can tell a story that resumes alone often cannot. Our hiring team love to understand what attracted you to this role and why you are excited about the opportunity to join Auror.

Once you apply, you’ll hear from us to acknowledge your application. If you have questions about any of the above, or if you have any accessibility requirements, we’ll be able to help you from there.