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)