The VP of AI & Engineering Strategy will lead a large, multidisciplinary engineering organization responsible for delivering innovative AI-driven solutions and agentic experiences. This role provides strategic and operational leadership, drives execution of multi-year roadmaps, and partners with executive management to influence business strategy and technology direction.
Key Responsibilities:
- Strategic Leadership: Provide direct and ongoing leadership for a large functional organization encompassing multiple engineering disciplines, including software, systems, and solutions engineering.
- Operational & Resource Management: Develop and execute tactical and strategic plans, including headcount, deliverables, schedules, and budgets to meet functional and organizational objectives.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Partner with program managers, marketing, supply chain, technical leaders, and executives to guide decision-making and escalate critical issues.
- AI Strategy & Innovation: Lead AI initiatives, assess emerging industry trends, and define multi-year roadmaps for conversational and agentic AI solutions. Ensure adoption of leading AI technologies, including LLMs, RAG, agents, and multi-agent orchestration frameworks.
- Vendor & Partner Management: Manage relationships with outsourced partners and suppliers, setting expectations for deliverables, quality, costs, and schedules.
- People Leadership: Oversee hiring, performance management, coaching, and career development for managers and high-level individual contributors. Foster organization-wide performance standards, team development, and a culture of innovation.
- Governance & Compliance: Ensure adherence to organizational policies, processes, and emerging standards in AI and engineering.
Education & Experience Required:
- First-level university degree required; advanced degree preferred.
- 15+ years of relevant experience, including 10+ years of people management in large, complex engineering or AI organizations.
Knowledge & Skills:
- Strong leadership skills, including coaching, team-building, and conflict resolution.
- Advanced organizational and strategic management skills, including budget planning, business forecasting, and operational planning.
- Expertise in AI initiatives, including LLMs, RAG, agent frameworks, LangChain, LangGraph, Python AI ecosystem, and generative AI guardrails.
- Advanced analytical and problem-solving capabilities with a strong business and technical acumen.
- Proven ability to manage human capital across geographies and drive workforce development.
- Advanced multi-tasking, prioritization, and relationship management skills with senior management, partners, and executives.
Impact / Scope:
- Leads highly complex, multidisciplinary engineering and AI initiatives.
- Influences corporate strategy and contributes to enterprise-wide AI transformation.
- Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders, including VPs, SVPs, and senior partners.
