Role Summary

The Director of AI Program Management is responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering AI initiatives from intake through production. This role ensures that AI projects are executed on time, within scope, and aligned with business objectives while managing the unique risks, dependencies, and lifecycle considerations of AI and data‑driven systems.

The Director of AI Program Management serves as the execution leader for AI programs, coordinating cross‑functional teams across data science, engineering, product, security, legal, and business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

1. AI Program Execution

• Manage end‑to‑end delivery of AI and machine‑learning initiatives, from problem definition through development, deployment, and post‑launch monitoring.
• Develop and maintain program plans, timelines, milestones, dependencies, and resource allocations.
• Track progress across multiple AI projects and ensure alignment with approved objectives.

2. Cross‑Functional Coordination

• Coordinate work across data science, ML engineering, software engineering, product, IT, and business teams.
• Facilitate regular program rituals (planning, reviews, retrospectives) and resolve inter‑team dependencies.
• Partner with external vendors or AI platform providers when applicable.

3. Risk, Quality & Readiness Management

• Identify and manage AI‑specific risks including data quality, model performance, bias, scalability, and integration constraints.
• Ensure AI solutions meet production readiness standards, including testing, documentation, and operational handoff.
• Escalate delivery risks and blockers with clear mitigation plans.

4. Stakeholder Communication

• Provide clear, concise status reporting to stakeholders and sponsors, including scope, schedule, risks, and dependencies.
• Translate technical progress into business‑relevant updates for non‑technical leaders.
• Support change‑management activities including training, rollout coordination, and adoption tracking.

5. Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Define and track program KPIs such as delivery milestones, model readiness, adoption metrics, and business impact indicators.
• Capture lessons learned and contribute to improving AI delivery processes, standards, and tooling.
• Support intake and prioritization processes for new AI initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, technology, engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of program or project management experience in technology, data, or digital transformation environments.
• 2+ years supporting or managing AI/ML, analytics, or data‑driven initiatives.
• Strong working knowledge of AI/ML concepts, data pipelines, and model lifecycle fundamentals.
• Proven ability to manage cross‑functional teams and communicate effectively across technical and non‑technical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience delivering AI solutions into production environments.
• Familiarity with AI governance, responsible AI principles, and enterprise risk considerations.
• Certifications such as PMP, PgMP, Agile/Scrum, or AI fundamentals.
• Experience with common program management tools (JIRA, Smartsheet, MS Project, etc.).