Director of Business Value from Enterprise AI (R5463)

About the role

Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. This Director owns the full demand-to-value pipeline, including sensing where the business needs help, separating signal from noise, identifying the highest-leverage opportunities, deciding when to buy versus build, driving adoption, and proving measurable ROI.

Responsibilities

• Apply working technical knowledge of ML and generative AI to pressure-test vendor claims, size technical risk in buy/build calls, and shape use cases that are technically realistic.
• Distinguish generative AI from traditional ML in business conversations and translate that distinction into sharper prioritization and roadmap decisions.
• Partner with engineering and technical evaluators as a credible counterpart during vendor evaluation and market scans.
• Incorporate model performance, drift, and technical limitations into ROI frameworks and success metrics.
• Own the single demand pipeline across Workplace AI, including intake, shaping, prioritization, buy/build recommendation, rollout, adoption, and value measurement.
• Partner directly with business leaders to surface needs, pressure-test requests, and distinguish real opportunities from low-value noise.
• Lead build-versus-buy decisions, including market scans, vendor evaluation, recommendation development, and ownership of purchased-solution rollout.
• Establish baselines, define success metrics, and build the ROI cases that show whether a solution is working after deployment.
• Own adoption as seriously as selection, partnering with the business on training, behavior change, communications, and local champion models.
• Serve as the senior business-facing counterpart to the VP, integrating business pull and technical push into one clear prioritization and operating rhythm.
• Build, lead, and develop a team responsible for demand shaping, triage, and business-facing execution.
• Prepare decision memos, frame tradeoffs, and resolve most prioritization questions before they reach the VP.
• Act as the trusted AI advisor to non-engineering leaders, communicating in the language of outcomes, constraints, and business value.
• Own the strategic roadmap and budget for the demand-to-value function, aligning it to enterprise priorities over multi-quarter horizons.

Requirements

• 15+ years in business transformation, product, strategy, operations, enterprise technology, or related leadership roles.
• 5+ years leading cross-functional programs or transformations that required influencing senior stakeholders and driving behavior change, including direct people-management experience.
• Substantive technical fluency in modern AI and generative AI, including how models are trained, tuned, and evaluated, and where their practical limitations sit.
• Demonstrated ability to distinguish generative AI from traditional ML in terms of technical risk, skill requirements, cost, and timeline.
• Proven track record translating business needs into deployed technology solutions with measurable business impact.
• Strong judgment on build versus buy decisions, including vendor evaluation, external market scanning, and procurement partnership.
• Experience defining baselines, KPIs, and ROI frameworks for new tools, workflows, or transformation efforts.
• Exceptional executive communication skills, especially with non-technical leaders and sponsors.
• Proven track record building, leading, and developing high-performing teams, including hiring and mentoring talent.
• Strong operator instincts, including comfort with ambiguity, ability to create structure where little exists, and willingness to own outcomes rather than hand off work.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience in internal AI, automation, digital transformation, or enterprise productivity programs.
• Background in consulting, high-growth operating roles, or business-side product leadership.
• Experience leading vendor-backed implementations as well as internally built solution rollouts.
• Familiarity with change management, enablement, and adoption measurement in enterprise environments.
• Change-management certification or equivalent demonstrated practice.

Pay

The salary range for this position is $280,000 - $420,000 per year, with bonus, benefits, and equity also included in the offer package.

Benefits

The company offers a full-time regular employee offer package, including pay, bonus, benefits, and equity. Temporary employees are also eligible for a temporary benefits package after 60 days of employment.