Senior Manager – AI Platform Lead

Job Title: Senior Manager - AI Platform Lead

Job Location: Remote/ Bolingbrook, IL

Interview: Virtual

Job Duration: Long Term Contract

We are seeking a hands-on AI Platform Architecture Lead to drive the design, evolution, and scalability of enterprise AI platforms. This role combines strategic leadership with deep technical expertise in AI/ML, cloud architecture and MLOps. You will lead a team of engineers and architects, define platform strategy, and ensure high performance, reliability, and compliance across AI systems.

Key Responsibilities

Platform Strategy & Architecture

• Translate enterprise AI strategy into actionable platform roadmaps and technical priorities
• Define end-to-end AI architecture (data pipelines, model lifecycle, deployment, compute)
• Lead build vs. buy decisions, tool evaluations, and cost/performance optimization
• Design and scale cloud-native AI platforms (GCP, Databricks)
• Drive AI/ML/Agentic Ops strategy, including tooling, standards, and automation

Architecture Design & Governance

• Architect core AI/ML platform components (training, inference, orchestration, monitoring)
• Establish best practices, standards, and governance for AI/ML systems
• Ensure compliance with enterprise architecture, security, and AI governance requirements
• Implement observability, monitoring, and continuous training pipelines

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with product, data science, engineering, security, and infrastructure teams
• Align platform evolution with enterprise architecture and AI leadership
• Communicate technical strategy to executive stakeholders

Team Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of AI engineers, architects, and AI Ops specialists
• Drive high engineering standards, code quality, and scalable design practices
• Own hiring, onboarding, and talent development

Operational Excellence

• Ensure platform scalability, reliability, uptime, and cost efficiency
• Implement monitoring, incident response, and continuous improvement processes
• Maintain compliance with responsible AI, data privacy, and security standards

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years in software engineering/architecture; 3+ years in leadership roles
• Strong expertise in AI/ML ecosystems, MLOps, and AI Ops frameworks
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, Databricks) and CI/CD
• Knowledge of multi-agent architectures (orchestration, memory/state, observability)
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and deliver enterprise AI solutions
• Strong understanding of security, compliance, and governance in AI platforms
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills (including VP-level)

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field (or equivalent experience)