AI MANAGER

Job Title: AI MANAGER
Location: Tucson AZ
Duration: 12 Months
Visa: USC GC H1B and EAD
Contract Type: W2

This position manages a team of five AI professionals responsible for designing developing and deploying AI-powered tools applications and capabilities that advance the Universitys academic research and administrative priorities. The manager drives applied AI strategy identifies high-impact opportunities for AI tool adoption across campus and ensures delivered solutions are scalable responsible and aligned with institutional AI governance standards. The position serves as a key bridge between emerging AI technologies and the practical needs of faculty staff students and campus partners championing innovation while maintaining rigorous standards for responsible AI implementation.

Job Duties:

AI Tool Development & Application Delivery:

• Leads the design development and deployment of AI-powered tools applications and workflows for campus use with a focus on practical high-impact solutions that advance University research teaching and operational objectives.
• Manages the full application development lifecycle from requirements gathering and prototyping through testing deployment and iteration.
• Ensures developed tools meet institutional standards for responsible AI data privacy accessibility and security.
• Directs team members in applying AI/ML techniques LLM integrations API development and software engineering best practices to deliver reliable scalable campus solutions

• Plans directs and evaluates the day-to-day work of a team of five AI professionals including AI/ML engineers developers and applied researchers.
• Establishes clear performance expectations provides ongoing coaching and feedback and conducts formal performance evaluations.
• Identifies and supports individual development opportunities to build technical depth and innovation capacity across the team.
• Fosters a collaborative mission-driven team environment aligned with ORAIs responsible AI values and the Universitys commitment to inclusive excellence.

• Identifies prioritizes and advances opportunities to deploy AI tools and capabilities that meet the evolving needs of campus faculty staff students and administrative units.
• Partners with colleges departments and research groups to understand requirements and co-develop applied AI solutions.
• Communicates AI tool capabilities limitations and responsible use guidelines to various campus audiences.
• Represents AI S/ORAI in campus working groups advisory bodies and innovation initiatives related to applied AI adoption.
• Research Software Engineering & Technical Infrastructure:
• Applies research software engineering principles to ensure AI tools and applications are built on robust maintainable and interoperable technical foundations.
• Oversees integration of AI capabilities with existing University platforms APIs and research computing infrastructure including cloud-based AI services (e.g. AWS Bedrock).
• Ensures documentation version control testing protocols and deployment pipelines meet institutional and software engineering standards.
• Collaborates with the Cyberinfrastructure & Systems team to align application development with underlying infrastructure capabilities.

• Ensures all AI tools and applications developed by the team adhere to the Universitys responsible AI framework data governance policies and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Reviews and evaluates AI solutions for bias fairness transparency and alignment with ethical AI principles.
• Contributes to ORAI AI governance activities policy development and institutional reporting on applied AI initiatives.
• Maintains awareness of emerging AI technologies regulatory developments and peer institution practices to inform continuous improvement of the teams approach.

• Practical knowledge of AI/ML concepts techniques and application development including large language models (LLMs) generative AI predictive modeling and data analysis.
• Knowledge and understanding of research software engineering principles software development lifecycles and technical documentation standards.
• Knowledge of responsible AI frameworks data privacy regulations (e.g. FERPA HIPAA applicability) and institutional AI governance practices.
• Knowledge and understanding of cloud AI platforms API ecosystems and integration patterns for enterprise AI tool deployment.
• Knowledge and understanding of responsible AI principles data privacy regulations and AI governance frameworks.
• Strong applied AI and software development skills with demonstrated ability to move from concept to working application.
• Effective team leadership and people management skills including performance coaching goal-setting and staff development.
• Ability to provide clear and accessible communication skills including the ability to explain AI capabilities and limitations to non-technical campus stakeholders.
• Project management and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives in a dynamic environment.
• Proficiency in AI/ML frameworks and tools (e.g. Python LangChain OpenAI/Anthropic APIs Hugging Face or equivalent) and software development practices including version control CI/CD and API development.
• Ability to identify high-impact opportunities for AI tool adoption and translate campus needs into practical responsible AI solutions.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships across varioius university stakeholders including faculty staff administrators and technical teams.
• Ability to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies and evaluate their applicability and responsible use in a university context.
• Ability to cultivate an innovative and mission-aligned team culture consistent with ORAIs responsible AI values.

• Experience designing developing and deploying AI/ML-powered tools or applications in an applied or enterprise environment.
• Experience managing or leading a technical team including setting priorities evaluating performance and supporting professional development.
• Experience working with cloud-based AI platforms (e.g. AWS Bedrock Azure OpenAI or equivalent) preferred.
• Experience in a higher education research or public sector environment preferred.
• Masters degree in Computer Science Artificial Intelligence Data Science Information Science or a related field preferred