Director of AI Enablement

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  • Job type

    Permanent

  • Location

    CANADA

  • Profession

    Leadership

  • Industry

    Retail & Consumer Goods

  • Pay

    Salary & Bonus
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Director, AI Enablement – Leading AI Strategy in E-Commerce

Hays is currently partnering with a leading e-commerce organization to recruit a Director, AI Enablement. In this newly created role, you will lead the development and execution of the company’s AI strategy. This strategic leadership position involves working cross-functionally to identify, pilot, and implement high-impact AI initiatives. Balancing long-term vision with hands-on experimentation, the ideal candidate is a dynamic leader who thrives in ambiguity and can turn AI challenges into strategic opportunities. The Director will also ensure responsible AI use through governance, training, and vendor evaluation.

Key Responsibilities

AI Vision and Strategy
  • Define and lead the development of a company-wide AI strategy aligned with business goals.
  • Identify high-impact AI opportunities that drive revenue, improve operational efficiency, and enhance customer engagement.
  • Translate business challenges into scalable AI/ML solutions and clearly articulate ROI to stakeholders.
  • Connect AI capabilities to business outcomes.
  • Build a scalable operating model for AI adoption across teams.
  • Define a repeatable “Pilot → Scale” process and maintain a portfolio of initiatives.

Team Leadership
  • Build and lead a cross-functional AI team, potentially including ML Engineers, Automation Engineers, Prompt Engineers, and Data Analysts.
  • Partner with IT, Data, and Security teams to ensure architectural alignment and safe integration of AI into core systems.

Cross-Functional Partnership
  • Collaborate with departments such as Product Development, Marketing, Operations, Customer Service, and Sales to identify and support AI opportunities.
  • Guide teams on prioritization, workflow enhancements, and decision-making using AI.
  • Serve as an internal advisor, translating technical concepts into business value.
  • Lead the strategy and implementation of organization-wide reporting and analytics frameworks, leveraging AI to automate data extraction, visualization, and insight generation.

Vendor and Tool Evaluation
  • Source, evaluate, and recommend AI tools, platforms, and vendors.
  • Pilot tools in partnership with business teams and assess for ROI and scalability.
  • Manage relationships with external AI vendors and partners.

Governance and Ethics
  • Collaborate with Legal and IT to evaluate and mitigate AI-related risks and ensure compliance with privacy regulations.

Education and Change Management
  • Build AI literacy across the organization through training, workshops, and ongoing education.
  • Help teams understand both the opportunities and limitations of AI, fostering a culture of innovation grounded in realistic expectations.
  • Provide frameworks and change management support to move from pilot to scale.

Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Engineering, or a related field. MBA is a plus.
  • Proven track record leading AI, machine learning, or data science initiatives—from experimentation to scaled deployment.
  • Experience partnering with business, product, marketing, customer service, and/or operations teams to deliver AI-powered solutions.
  • 8+ years of progressive experience in data, analytics, or AI-related roles, with at least 3–5 years in a leadership position.
  • Experience leading automation, process reengineering, or digital innovation initiatives using AI or analytics.
  • Strong understanding of AI/ML technologies, data architecture, and cloud platforms (e.g., Azure, AWS, GCP).
  • Familiarity with tools such as Python, SQL, Power BI/Tableau, and enterprise data platforms.
  • Solid grasp of data governance, model lifecycle management, MLOps, and responsible AI practices.
  • Exposure to or involvement in developing frameworks for ethical AI use.
  • Experience in upskilling and educating teams on AI literacy, change management, or process adoption.

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Talk to Casey Thompson, the specialist consultant managing this position

Located in Toronto (EN), 8 King Street East, 20th FloorTelephone:  4378262564