Lead AI Automation Engineer

Job Description

As a Lead AI Automation Engineer, you will drive measurable business impact by designing and implementing AI‑powered automation solutions that transform how our Corporate Services and HR business partners operate. You'll serve as the critical bridge between complex business needs and technical execution—deeply understanding current‑state processes, translating inefficiencies into innovative automation opportunities, and leveraging enterprise tools and AI agents to deliver rapid ROI.

This role reports to the Director, BTS Corporate Services within the Business Technology Solutions department. We set the vision for how AI and automation enhance our enterprise systems and work closely with business partners to bring that vision to life. This role is on site in Lake County, IL; we’re flexible and work from home 2 days/week.

• Business‑savvy technologists who quickly learn and understand current‑state processes, apply design thinking to diagnose inefficiencies, and design end‑to‑end solutions that deliver clear ROI and efficiency gains.
• Forward thinkers who stand at the forefront of AI and automation, focused on what’s practical, measurable, and real.
• Strong technical leaders who stay current with evolving AI technologies, frameworks, and enterprise tools, and code at a detailed technical level.
• Quick‑to‑value developers who prioritize rapid prototyping, iteration, and production deployment.
• Highly agile individuals who learn by building, experimenting, and iterating, comfortable with ambiguity and evolving requirements.
• Exceptional coaches and mentors who develop engineers, architects, and business analysts in design thinking, agentic workflows, and automation best practices.
• Stakeholder champions who build relationships, communicate technical concepts to non‑technical audiences, and secure buy‑in through clear demonstration of value.

• Engage deeply with Corporate Services and HR stakeholders to understand current‑state processes, pain points, constraints, future business requirements, and success metrics, translating these into technical solution designs that deliver measurable efficiency gains.
• Engineer and implement scalable AI automation solutions, delivering clean, production‑ready code that integrates with enterprise systems and optimizes business partner workflows.
• Prioritize rapid prototyping and iterative development, building MVPs quickly to validate solutions with stakeholders and refining based on feedback to accelerate time‑to‑value.
• Cultivate cross‑team relationships and expand technical knowledge, identifying existing capabilities, shared platforms, and collaborative opportunities to maximize internal resources and drive productivity gains.
• Ensure code quality, maintainability, and adherence to coding standards through thorough reviews, quality assurance plans, and technical guidance to the development team.
• Manage the software development lifecycle and required documentation, serving as the system owner and driving projects to successful completion by resolving key hurdles and tracking milestones and deliverables.
• Mentor and coach staff in design thinking principles, agentic AI development, automation best practices, and modern development methodologies.
• Support multiple projects simultaneously and advocate for optimal solutions while working within constraints including cost, security, regulatory compliance, and organizational change management.
• Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding applicable corporate and divisional policies, including code of conduct, safety, GxP compliance, data security, and the software development lifecycle.
• Operate with high autonomy and minimal supervision, proactively managing stakeholder expectations and keeping leadership informed through clear, concise verbal and written communication.

• Bachelor’s Degree with 7+ years of experience;
  Master’s Degree with 6+ years; or PhD with 2+ years of relevant experience.
• Expert‑level Python proficiency for writing production‑quality code for automation, AI/ML implementations, and enterprise integrations.
• Experience with AI/ML frameworks and tools,…