Head of Artificial Intelligence

Are you ready to be a big part of something big? 

At carsales, we're all about making buying and selling a great experience. For over 25 years we’ve been evolving with the new economy to help people choose how they move today and tomorrow. 

When it comes to your career, we want to provide big opportunities to help you make a big impact. But for this to be possible, we strive to feel small. Small enough to quickly change tack, small enough to learn from different departments and small enough to connect authentically with leadership. 

With a vision to be the global leader in online vehicle marketplaces. We transform how people buy and sell across the globe. We discover new ideas and make them happen. We continue to grow, and we continue to evolve – and we aren’t afraid to make big bets.

Not something you’d expect from one of the country’s biggest tech companies, is it? 

Our Head of Artificial Intelligence provides visionary leadership across a multidisciplinary team, driving the development of intelligent, customer-centric solutions. Blending deep technical expertise in artificial intelligence with a strong emphasis on people leadership—cultivating a culture of innovation, ethical AI practices, and continuous learning. 

We embrace a hybrid way of working – mixing working from home with the energy and connection that comes from being together in the office. We champion flexibility and have many policies, procedures and leave options to support flexible work. 

What’s on offer: 

• A place where you can move your career forward, where you’ll be continuously backed to make new ideas happen, and the chance to do work that makes real, significant impact in the world. 
• We’re proud to be recognised as one of Australia’s Best Workplaces™ by Great Place to Work®, a Family Friendly Workplace, a WORK180 endorsed employer for women. 
• The support of a highly engaged, high-performing team including a leadership team that’s you’ll actually have face time with. 
• 24 weeks paid parental leave for primary caregivers, four weeks paid secondary caregivers leave, six weeks paid gender transition leave. 

What you’ll do: 

The Head of Artificial Intelligence will shape both the strategic direction of AI initiatives and the teams that bring them to life. Collaborating closely with cross-functional stakeholders to align AI strategies with broader business objectives, ensuring scalable, high-impact outcomes. With a commitment to mentoring and capability building.  

• Own carsales’ strategy for technologies enabling AI solutions
• Collaborate with senior leaders to align company-wide priorities and create long-term, commercially sound plans
• Actively engage in outlining the investment needed to achieve strategic objectives and inform annual planning
• Drive behavioural and cultural standards across your vertical (Tech & Data) and across collaborating functions (Product, Design, Marketing)
• Take an oversight role into Science and ML engineering initiatives and ensures they are aligned with carsales’ commercial and technical goals
• Provide guidance to senior leadership across carsales in solving the problems necessary to advancing the AI agenda
• Deep dive when necessary to bring a strategic lens to critical decisions within a delivery group
• Provide technical leadership to specialists working on ML/AI initiatives, getting hands-on when needed
• Hold your teams, collaborators and themselves accountable for delivering strategic outcomes to a high standard
• Establish disciplines that balance innovation velocity with operational reliability  

What are we looking for? 

• Success leading strong data & AI teams, and an all-of-business-first culture
• Demonstrated influence skills to navigate cross-functional dynamics, enable robust debate and create unified commitment ('disagree and commit') towards shared objectives
• Grounding in software engineering (e.g. software design, testing etc.) data engineering (e.g. MapReduce, partitioning etc.) and the machine learning (e.g. model training, evalution etc.) to lead teams effectively
• Technical agility to lead decision-making across disciplines. Proficiencies including: Python, Spark, Kubernetes, core backend and front-end frameworks, architecture and design patterns (e.g. API design).
• Advanced understanding of management practices for engineering delivery for large teams
• Experienced guiding senior leadership on advancing product development and technical excellence agendas
• Experience negotiating complex trade-offs between commercial needs and research and operationalisation considerations in delivering AI products
• The operating range to work broad and deep, communicating appropriately with stakeholders at a range of levels

A few other things we want to let you know about... 

• carsales is an equal opportunity employer and we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We encourage everyone of all ages, genders and backgrounds to apply. If you’re a candidate with a disability or you’ll need some adjustments to be at your best, let us know how we can provide you with additional support. 
• We know how important keeping that balance between work/life is and have a range of flexible working options on offer, including part time work. We are open to this conversation during our recruitment process - if you want to know more just ask. 
• We are a proud Circle Back Initiative Employer which means we are committed to responding to every job applicant. 
• Successful candidates joining the carsales family are required to undergo a National Police Record check and must have full-time Australian working rights on an ongoing basis. 

So come and join our team - because every role is a big role in our plans to go big.