Director Artificial Intelligence & Automation

Director Artificial Intelligence & Automation

Sonepar Management Group (SMG) supports our Sonepar brands in the US through a shared services model. These services include, but are not limited to: human resources, finance, digital enterprise, supply chain, vendor relations, marketing, legal, and communications. The SMG teams enable our brands to do business in their local regions while taking advantage of the scale and collective resources of a global enterprise.

SMG fosters an inclusive and supportive culture. We offer leadership and development programs to help you reach your career goals. Our associates share in our collective achievements, and we firmly believe that Sonepar is "Powered by Difference." By driving technology and innovation, enabling paths to success, and caring about our people and their families, we have built a workplace where you can build a fulfilling career.

The Director Artificial Intelligence & Automation is responsible for leading Sonepar North America's Artificial Intelligence and Automation delivery capabilities and executing the enterprise AI strategy. This role oversees the design, development, deployment, operation, and continuous improvement of scalable AI, Generative AI, agentic workflow, and intelligent automation solutions that drive measurable business outcomes. Working closely with AI Product Management, Data & Analytics, Enterprise Architecture, Cybersecurity, and application development teams, this leader delivers secure, reliable, and reusable AI capabilities while ensuring operational excellence, governance, and responsible AI practices.

The Director will play a critical role in shaping Sonepar's future technology landscape by identifying emerging technologies and transforming innovation into business value at scale.

• AI & Automation Portfolio Delivery
• AI Engineering & Operational Excellence
• Enterprise AI Standards & Architecture
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation
• Team Leadership & Capability Development
• Responsible AI, Risk & Compliance

10+ years of progressive leadership experience in information technology, software engineering, AI engineering, automation, data and analytics, digital platforms, or related technology disciplines. 5+ years leading enterprise-scale AI, automation, advanced analytics, technology delivery, digital product engineering, or platform teams in complex organizations. 5+ years of project and program leadership experience utilizing Agile, Dev Ops, and modern software delivery methodologies. Experience with enterprise data governance, cybersecurity, privacy, and risk management practices.

Proven track record deploying production-grade AI, automation, workflow, analytics, or software solutions that deliver measurable business value. Experience establishing engineering standards, delivery methodologies, Dev Ops/MLOps practices, testing frameworks, monitoring capabilities, and support models. Demonstrated success leading technical teams, managing vendors, and coordinating cross-functional delivery across architecture, data, security, infrastructure, and application teams.

Experience in wholesale distribution, industrial distribution, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, or related industries. Experience scaling enterprise Generative AI and intelligent automation capabilities. Experience supporting large, complex, multi-brand organizations.

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Data Science, Business, or a related field. Equivalent combination of education and professional experience may be considered.

• Artificial Intelligence & Automation
• Generative AI & Large Language Models (LLMs)
• AI Agents & Agentic Workflows
• Prompt Engineering & Prompt Frameworks
• Machine Learning & Deep Learning
• Intelligent Automation & Workflow Orchestration
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Computer Vision
• AI Governance & Responsible AI
• Engineering & Technology
• AI Engineering & Solution Delivery
• Dev Ops/MLOps
• Cloud Architecture & Integration
• API Development & Integration Patterns
• Enterprise Architecture Principles
• Data Platforms & Enterprise Data Foundations
• Application Lifecycle Management

Microsoft Copilot Ecosystem Azure AI & Azure OpenAI Services Microsoft Fabric Power Platform Power Automate AI Studio & Agent Frameworks Databricks Snowflake Hadoop, Spark, and Kafka Programming Languages Python R Java C++ SQL

We offer great family-friendly benefits to full-time associates:
Healthcare plans Dental & vision Paid time off Paid parental leave 401(k) retirement savings with company match Professional and personal development programs Opportunity to become a shareholder Employer-paid short- and long-term disability Employer-paid life insurance for spouse and…