VP of Engineering and AI Architecture

Job Title: VP, Engineering & AI Architecture Location: Remote (Atlanta / East Coast / Central Time Zone preferred) About The Company Our client is a national education and behavioral health organization dedicated to helping children achieve better academic, behavioral, and emotional outcomes through evidence-based programs delivered in partnership with schools, families, and communities. The company operates a continuum of services spanning specialized education, intervention programs, behavioral health, professional learning for educators, and autism therapy through their divisions. This client is transitioning from a people-centric model into one that leverages AI-enabled capabilities to create operational efficiency and enterprise value. They are committed to mission-driven innovation, forward-deployed execution, and building a lean, high-performance engineering organization that makes a measurable difference in the lives of children, families, and educators. Job Summary We are looking for a VP, Engineering & AI Architecture to join the client's transformation leadership team in a remote capacity. The ideal candidate is a hands-on architect-builder with deep technical credibility, strong AI engineering experience, and the executive presence to partner with senior leaders across the organization. This role will lead the design and execution of the client's interoperable engineering and AI architecture — transforming a largely outsourced and distributed engineering model into a product-minded, AI-enabled, forward-deployed engineering organization. Key Responsibilities Interoperable Infrastructure: Design shared services, APIs, integration patterns, platform capabilities, and reusable engineering components across the enterprise, enabling consistent and scalable architecture across all divisions. AI Architecture: Shape the architecture for Enterprise Claude, agentic workflows, AI governance, prompt and context strategies, retrieval patterns, and business-aligned automation — connecting AI capabilities directly to measurable operational outcomes. Vendor Transition & Engineering Standards: Manage and transition the current outsourced China third-party engineering environment within an 18-month horizon while establishing firm standards for software design, DevSecOps, CI/CD, code quality, observability, security, and architecture review. Forward-Deployed Engineering: Build a model where engineering partners directly with operating divisions to solve high-value workflow, automation, and product problems — shifting from centralized project delivery to a forward-deployed execution model. Team Building & Executive Partnership: Hire and lead a high-performing team of approximately six to seven engineering and AI resources; partner with the CEO, CIO, VP Enterprise Data, and operating leaders to align architecture and roadmap with business priorities and PE value creation goals. Requirements Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience. Experience: 12+ years of progressive experience across software engineering, enterprise architecture, platform engineering, AI engineering, cloud systems, or technical product leadership; demonstrated experience managing outsourced or offshore engineering vendors and transitioning knowledge to internal teams. Technical Skills: Hands-on familiarity with AWS-hosted operational systems, Azure SQL Server data pipelines, Microsoft Fabric, and Power BI; experience designing AI-enabled platforms, LLM applications, enterprise copilots, agentic workflows, prompt/context management, retrieval patterns, and AI governance; strong working knowledge of DevSecOps, CI/CD, observability, testing, code quality, security, and access control. Certifications: No specific certifications required; relevant cloud or architecture certifications (AWS, Azure) are a plus. Other: Ability to evaluate architecture, code quality, platform design, engineering velocity, vendor performance, and technical debt independently without a large supporting organization; comfort operating at speed in a lean, PE-backed environment where quality, innovation, and measurable value creation all matter. Preferred Qualifications Proven experience building AI and agentic capabilities in production enterprise environments, including Enterprise Claude or similar LLM platforms. Background in multi-site services, education, healthcare, or PE-backed organizations. Track record of standing up an engineering function, standards, and team from an early-stage maturity base. Strong product mindset — thinks beyond tickets and projects; focused on users, adoption, workflow outcomes, and operational change. Experience with token and value optimization for AI workloads, including cost-aware AI architecture and ROI measurement. OKR-based management experience in lean, high-accountability organizations. Benefits Competitive Salary: Competitive salary and bonus structure. Health and Wellness: Comprehensive benefits package available — details provided during the interview process. Work-Life Balance: Remote-first role with flexibility; East Coast / Central Time Zone preferred. Professional Development: High-visibility transformation role with direct partnership with CEO, CIO, and PE ownership — significant opportunity for career growth and enterprise impact. Additional Perks: Mission-driven organization improving outcomes for children, families, educators, and communities at scale; opportunity to build a function, team, and architecture from the ground up.