Director of Artificial Intelligence

The Vertex Companies, LLC is seeking a Director of Artificial Intelligence to execute its enterprise AI strategy and roadmap by delivering secure, production-grade AI solutions at scale. The role designs AI architectures and data pipelines, establishes delivery standards and governance, and leads internal teams and external partners from development through deployment and ongoing improvement.

Responsibilities

• Own the AI execution roadmap, aligning AI initiatives with business priorities and leading delivery of solutions end to end
• Develop reference architectures, design patterns, and technical standards for scalable, secure, and maintainable delivery
• Design and build the data pipelines, indexing, embedding/vectorization, and retrieval layers that power RAG and other AI solutions
• Lead solutions across foundation models, vector stores, orchestration frameworks, and APIs
• Oversee prompt engineering, grounding, model evaluation, and guardrails to ensure accuracy, safety, and performance
• Establish and mature the AI delivery process, intake, prioritization, design, build, testing, deployment, security review and continuous improvement (MLOps / LLMOps)
• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI use cases, from prototype through production deployment, monitoring, and iteration
• Deliver on committed scope, timelines, and budgets, with clear status communication to technical and executive stakeholders
• Build and optimize data pipelines, ingestion, transformation, indexing, and vectorization, to prepare enterprise content for AI consumption
• Ensure AI solutions meet enterprise security, identity, access-control, privacy, and regulatory requirements
• Implement controls for data protection, model risk, auditability, and acceptable use
• Build, lead, and mentor a global team of AI engineers, data professionals, and solution developers
• Manage vendors, partners, and consultants delivering AI and integration work
• Communicate complex concepts clearly to both technical and leadership, and set and meet expectations on delivery

Preferred

• Experience in professional services, AEC, or a similarly project-driven industry
• Experience across multiple cloud and AI platforms and foundation-model providers
• Experience in integrating modern data platforms (warehouse / lakehouse), structured and non-structured data , CRM, ERP, and HRIS systems
• Relevant cloud, data, or AI engineering certifications
• Experience leading global teams (Onshore / offshore)
• Background in security, governance, or responsible AI frameworks
• Professional Services Industry Experience
• AEC Industry Experience
• Project-Driven Industry Experience
• Cloud Platforms
• AI Platforms
• Foundation Model Providers
• Data Platform Integration
• Data Warehouses
• Lakehouses
• Structured Data
• Unstructured Data
• CRM Systems
• ERP Systems
• HRIS Systems
• Cloud Engineering Certifications
• Data Engineering Certifications
• AI Engineering Certifications
• Security Frameworks
• Governance Frameworks
• Responsible AI Frameworks
• Global Team Leadership

Benefits

• A discretionary variable bonus program, depending on your level.
• Multiple healthcare and dental plan options.
• Company-paid Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability coverage.
• A 401(k) plan with immediate matching and full vesting.
• Flexible Spending Accounts.
• A robust Employee Assistance Program.
• A suite of exclusive perks that enhance everyday life.
• A generous paid time off program, including vacation, sick time, and paid holidays (with prorated options for eligible part-time employees).
• Tuition reimbursement and personalized support for employees pursuing advanced education through the “Lifetime of Learning” program.
• Remote work.

Company

• Global consulting firm for construction, environmental, and legal challenges
• New York, New York, USA
• http://vertexeng.com/
• Founded in 1995
• 501-1000 employees

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 12 years of related experience or a Master's degree and 8 years of related experience, and at least 5 years in management capacity
• Solution-architecture and hands on software-development background, with a proven record of architecting and delivering enterprise applications or platforms
• 5+ years architecting and delivering AI/ML, data, or advanced analytics solutions
• Proven deployment of AI use cases into production, not proofs-of-concept alone, with measurable business outcomes
• Hands-on experience integrating multiple platforms, applications, and data sources, and building data pipelines, indexing, and embedding/vectorization layers
• Experience designing and deploying RAG-based and custom generative-AI solutions in production, including retrieval, grounding, and evaluation
• Strong integration background, integration platforms (e.g., MuleSoft or comparable iPaaS), APIs, and event-driven enterprise integration
• Strong data analysis and data modeling skills across modern data platforms
• Platform- and vendor-agnostic across cloud AI services and foundation-model providers, with sound judgment on tool and model selection
• Demonstrated ability to move from architecture to hands-on execution in a fast-paced environment, with excellent communication and a track record of meeting timelines
• Experience leading, mentoring, and managing technical teams and external partners
• Experience in professional services, AEC, or a similarly project-driven industry
• Experience across multiple cloud and AI platforms and foundation-model providers
• Experience in integrating modern data platforms (warehouse / lakehouse), structured and non-structured data , CRM, ERP, and HRIS systems
• Relevant cloud, data, or AI engineering certifications
• Experience leading global teams (Onshore / offshore)
• Background in security, governance, or responsible AI frameworks
• Bachelor's degree and 12 years of related experience or a Master's degree and 8 years of related experience, and at least 5 years in management capacity.
• 5+ years architecting and delivering AI/ML, data, or advanced analytics solutions.

Required skills

• AI Security and Governance, AI/ML Solutions, API Integration, Cloud AI Platforms and Foundation Models, Data Analysis and Data Modeling, Data Pipelines and Vectorization, Event-Driven Integration, MuleSoft, Production AI Deployment, RAG and Generative AI, Software Development, Solution Architecture

Preferred skills

• Experience leading global teams (Onshore / offshore), Relevant cloud, data, or AI engineering certifications

Experience

• 8+ years