AI Strategist

AI Lead

As a technical and strategic leader, the AI Lead will work closely with IT, Operations, Finance, Security, Legal, and Business stakeholders to ensure AI initiatives are secure, ethical, production-ready, and measurable. This role plays a critical part in shaping the company's AI roadmap, supporting AI and Data Governance Working Groups, and enabling teams to leverage AI as a force multiplier across our organizations.

AI Strategy & Practice Leadership

• Serve as a core member of the IT team contributing to governance, risk management, prioritization, and policy development.

• Help develop and execute an enterprise AI strategy and roadmap, aligned with business priorities.

• Act as the authoritative voice on AI capability, readiness, and feasibility across the organization.

Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture with a strong emphasis on learning, experimentation, and accountability.

• Define role profiles, skills development plans, and career pathways for AI practitioners.

Technology Support

• Stay current on advancements in AI, Machine Learning, NLP, LLMs, GenAI, and cloud-based AI platforms.

• Support the evaluation of emerging AI tools, frameworks, and vendors to ensure suitability for Washington Corporations security posture, and operations.

• Lead the design and implementation of reusable AI architectures, pipelines, and components that can be leveraged across projects.

• Support and Manage AI Platforms.

Business Engagement & Value Delivery

• Partner with business leaders and technical teams to translate operational challenges into AI-enabled solutions.

• Lead discovery and solution design efforts to ensure AI initiatives address real business problems and deliver measurable outcomes.

• Oversee delivery of AI use cases that improve operational efficiency, decision-making, quality, safety, and program visibility.

• Ensure AI initiatives move beyond proof-of-concept into production, with clear ownership, performance metrics, and lifecycle management.

Governance, Risk & Responsible AI

• Embed ethical AI principles, transparency, and risk mitigation practices into solution design and delivery.

• Collaborate with Legal, Privacy, Security, and Data Governance teams to manage AI-related risks.

• Support development of guidance for acceptable AI use, data handling, and model lifecycle management.

Communication & Change Enablement

• Act as a bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders, translating complex AI concepts into clear, actionable insights, promoting responsible adoption and practical value creation.

• Support change management, training, and adoption efforts to build confidence and trust in AI solutions.

• Contribute to executive-level updates, business cases, and decision materials related to AI initiatives.

Technical Skills & Knowledge

• Strong understanding of AI and machine learning concepts, including supervised/unsupervised learning, NLP, and LLM-based solutions.

• Experience with cloud-based AI and data platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, or equivalent enterprise environments).

• Familiarity with AI/MLOps / model lifecycle management, including deployment, monitoring, and retraining.

• Working knowledge of data architecture, integration patterns, and enterprise systems (ERP, PLM, operational systems).

• Understanding of data governance, security, privacy, and responsible AI principles.

• Ability to evaluate and guide the use of open-source and commercial AI tools.

Skills and Competencies Required:

• Organization:
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously.

• Communication:
Clear verbal and written communication skills for reporting and stakeholder engagement.

• Analytical Thinking:
Ability to analyze project data, spot trends, and provide actionable insights.

• Attention to Detail:
High level of accuracy in tracking project progress, budgets, and timelines.

• Teamwork:
Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and support project managers.

• Problem Solving:
Basic problem-solving skills to assist with identifying and…