Independent Board Director (ML-Driven Product & Data Platform Leader)

Location: USA (Remote) / Barcelona, Spain

Department: Executive Team

We are seeking an independent board director with deep experience operating ML-driven products and data platforms at scale.

This role is not focused on academic research or algorithm development. Instead, we are looking for a leader who has built organizations where data, experimentation, and machine learning directly drive product decisions, optimization, and revenue growth.

The ideal candidate brings expertise in areas such as:

• building strong data science organizations;
• designing data platforms and experimentation infrastructure;
• integrating ML into product decision loops;
• developing operating cultures built around data and experimentation;

This is a non-executive board position, not an operating role.

Appodeal is building a performance-driven technology platform powered by data and machine learning.

Our systems rely on:

• large-scale data pipelines;
• real-time decision systems;
• automated optimization;
• experimentation and model iteration.

The company operates an ecosystem including:

• advertising infrastructure;
• demand-side platform (DSP);
• supply-side platform (SSP);
• mobile game publishing and development.

Machine learning and data infrastructure are core to the company’s long-term competitive advantage.

Strategic Focus of the Role

The mission of this role is to strengthen the board’s ability to guide the company in building a world-class data and machine learning organization.

The director will contribute a perspective on:

• structuring and scaling data science teams;
• designing experimentation-driven product cultures;
• building high-quality data platforms and infrastructure;
• integrating ML systems into business decision processes;
• best practices for data-driven product development;
• organizational structures that allow ML systems to improve continuously.

This role focuses on how ML-driven companies operate, rather than on the underlying algorithms themselves.

Responsibilities

Board members are expected to:

• Participate in quarterly board meetings;
• Provide independent strategic guidance to the CEO and leadership team;
• Contribute to discussions around data platform strategy and ML-driven product development;
• Provide perspective on organizational structure for data science and ML teams;
• Help evaluate major technical and infrastructure investments;
• Share insight from companies where ML directly drives business outcomes;
• Board members are not involved in day-to-day operations.

Ideal Background

We are looking for a technology or product leader who has built ML-driven product organizations where data science plays a central role in revenue generation and product optimization.

Prior board experience is welcome but not required. 

What We Value

We are looking for individuals who bring:

• deep experience running ML-driven product organizations:
• strong operational judgment;
• experience building data-driven engineering cultures;
• an independent mindset;
  willingness to challenge assumptions constructively.
  
  

Time Commitment

Estimated commitment: approximately four weeks per year. This includes preparation and participation in board meetings as well as occasional strategic discussions with the leadership team.