Head of AI at SKILLZ PLATFORM INC FKA SKILLZ INC

, , United States -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

27 Sep, 26

Salary

460000.0

Posted On

29 Jun, 26

Experience

10 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

AI Strategy, Machine Learning Engineering, LLM Orchestration, API-first Architecture, Prompt Engineering, Model Routing, Production Code Development, Cross-functional Leadership, Enterprise AI Governance, Change Management, Team Scaling, Strategic Planning

Industry

Entertainment Providers

Description

About FIRY FIRY (NYSE: FIRY) is a founder-led global holding company built to fuel business potential. Through three independent and complementary businesses, FIRY operates at the intersection of content, identity, commerce, and performance marketing. Founded in 2012 by serial entrepreneur Andrew Paradise, the company began as Skillz Inc. — inventing real-money skill-based mobile gaming from scratch and proving that fair and competitive play could be built into mobile games at scale. Fourteen years later, that foundation has grown into three distinct businesses: Skillz is the competition platform FIRY invented. Real-money skill-based gaming infrastructure, with 90M+ registered users, and the foundational source of first-party behavioral data across the portfolio. RZR is the AI-powered performance advertising platform, rebuilt from the ground up and rebranded in March 2026. Profitable for three consecutive quarters. Beamable is the backend and LiveOps infrastructure for game developers, acquired in 2026. One platform covering everything a studio needs to build, operate, and grow a live game. FIRY is publicly traded on the NYSE and headquartered in Las Vegas, with hubs in San Francisco, New York City, and Bengaluru. About the Role As Head of AI, you will define what artificial intelligence means for a portfolio holding company operating at the intersection of gaming, performance advertising, and developer infrastructure. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will build and lead the AI function across three core domains: Strategic AI resource for portfolio companies. Serve as a senior AI advisor that Skillz, RZR, and Beamable can engage as needed, similar to how group-level finance, accounting, and legal functions augment and support portfolio companies today. Business OS improvements and automation. Drive efficiency across FIRY's internal operations, identifying and delivering AI-powered solutions across processes like finance workflows, legal operations, the IC process, hiring, talent management, and project coordination. Shared AI infrastructure. Build the foundation that enables portfolio companies to leverage AI safely and compliantly, creating a force multiplier across the portfolio. This is a rare opportunity to shape how a multi-business portfolio operationalizes AI from the ground up. You will set the direction, build the function, and leave a lasting mark on how FIRY competes and operates. Responsibilities Define and drive the AI strategy. Set the vision and roadmap for how AI creates competitive advantage across the FIRY portfolio, partnering with the CEO and business leaders to prioritize and sequence the highest-impact opportunities. Build the enterprise AI foundation. Own the architecture, governance, and operating model for AI across the portfolio, establishing the infrastructure, standards, and frameworks that enable all three businesses to move faster and compound learnings. Elevate portfolio companies. Serve as a senior AI resource to Skillz, RZR, and Beamable, advising leadership on AI strategy and augmenting their teams when needed, similar to how group-level finance and legal functions support portfolio companies today. Build and lead a world-class AI organization. Recruit, develop, and retain top AI talent, and establish how the central AI function operates alongside business-level teams across the portfolio. Drive enterprise-wide AI adoption. Champion a culture where AI is embedded in how FIRY operates, owning the change management, enablement, and accountability needed to make AI the default across the organization. Key Competencies Strategic vision paired with hands-on execution, equal comfort setting long-term direction and shipping production code Cross-functional leadership across engineering, product, data, and business teams in a fast-moving, multi-product environment Ability to translate complex AI and ML concepts clearly for executive and non-technical audiences Builder's mentality, thrives in ambiguous, resource-constrained environments where the path is not yet defined Proven ability to build and scale high-performing teams, establishing clear goals, fostering a culture of innovation, and developing talent over time Experience Strong ML engineering background with hands-on experience building and deploying production ML systems at scale Deep knowledge of LLM orchestration, API-first architecture, prompt engineering at scale, and model routing; knowing when to use a local open-source model vs. a frontier model for a given task. You build systems that use AI, not systems that train it. Experience building or scaling an AI function at a startup or growth-stage company is a strong plus. Proficient coder with the ability to write and review production-quality code, and the technical depth to guide and advise an engineering team in building AI-powered solutions tailored to the company's evolving needs Gaming, adtech, or consumer tech experience strongly preferred. Total Starting Compensation including Base + Bonus + Equity: $460,000 Location: Remote, US Travel Requirement: Less than 10% Why FIRY You are at the center of everything. Corporate roles at FIRY do not support one business. They support the infrastructure, strategy, and execution that makes three independent businesses work and compounds as they grow together. Founder-led. Andrew Paradise founded Skillz in 2012 with a single conviction: that fair, real-money skill-based competition should exist at scale. Thirteen years later, he has taken the company public on the NYSE, built a portfolio of three independent businesses, earned 90+ patents, and won the largest false advertising verdict in U.S. history. He is still here, still the founder, still the CEO, still building. That kind of long-term commitment is rare. At FIRY, it defines the culture from the top down. A portfolio at the beginning of its compounding phase. Four consecutive quarters of sequential revenue growth. Q1 2026 revenue up 33% year-over-year. RZR at 120%+ year-over-year growth in Q1 2026 and profitable for three consecutive quarters. The flywheel is turning. A mission worth the work. FIRY's mission is to fuel business potential. The systems FIRY builds help developers build businesses, advertisers acquire the right users, and infrastructure that turns competitive play into a scalable commercial engine. The addressable market across performance marketing, gaming infrastructure, and skill-based competition is $45B+. Comprehensive Benefits. 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision for you and your dependents. 401K matching, equity incentives, pre-tax benefit options, and more. Wellness Support. Meditation and mental health resources, physical fitness coaching and classes, family planning assistance, virtual therapy sessions, and more. Time Off. Competitive PTO and company holidays. Las Vegas Headquarters. FIRY operates in a five-day-a-week, collaborative office environment at our 36,000+ square foot Las Vegas headquarters. Free daily catered lunch, snacks, a full-size gym with showers, commuter benefits, team events, and more. FIRY embraces diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to diversifying our workforce, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, gender, gender identity, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, veteran status, or disability status, and we operate in compliance with applicable fair chance ordinances. #LI-Onsite #LI-GC

How To Apply:

Incase you would like to apply to this job directly from the source, please click here

Responsibilities

Define and drive the AI strategy and infrastructure across a portfolio of gaming, advertising, and developer infrastructure companies. Lead the central AI function to improve internal business operations and provide strategic AI advisory to portfolio leadership.