About this role
Job Description
Director - Applied AI Engineering - Erlanger, KY
This is an exempt level position
Position Summary
ADM Global Technology is accelerating ADM’s transformation through AI-powered solutions that create measurable business value. Applied AI Engineering is at the center of this mission — building the intelligent products and capabilities that help ADM operate smarter, faster, and more effectively across its global business.
We are seeking a “Director – Applied AI Engineering” to lead the team responsible for building AI solutions that directly address business needs across ADM. This leader will own the end-to-end delivery of AI products and capabilities — from discovery and scoping through production — and will build and scale a high-performing team of Applied AI Engineers. The Director will serve as the primary bridge between business partners and AI execution, ensuring that use cases are well-defined, solutions are delivered with rigor, and outcomes are measurable. Expertise in building and shipping AI solutions is the core requirement; familiarity with AI platforms, cloud infrastructure, and architecture is a plus that will strengthen the team’s delivery capability.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the Applied AI Engineering team in designing, building, and delivering AI-powered solutions that directly address business priorities across ADM’s global operations.
- Own the AI solution delivery lifecycle — from use case identification and scoping through rapid prototyping, MVP development, and production-grade deployment — ensuring consistent quality, speed, and business alignment.
- Partner with business leaders, product owners, and cross-functional stakeholders to build a prioritized pipeline of high-value AI use cases, maintaining clear alignment between engineering delivery and business outcomes.
- Build and develop a team of Applied AI Engineers; attract top talent, set clear expectations, provide ongoing coaching and performance feedback, and create a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.
- Own the budget and headcount plan for the Applied AI Engineering function — including annual planning, vendor contracts, tooling investments, and ongoing resource allocation to ensure the team is appropriately staffed and equipped to deliver.
- Define and own a 1–3 year capability and technology roadmap for Applied AI Engineering — articulating where the function is headed, what capabilities need to be built or acquired, and how the team’s investment connects to ADM’s broader digital and business strategy.
- Manage strategic vendor and partner relationships (e.g., Microsoft/Azure, OpenAI, and third-party AI solution providers), including performance management, contract oversight, and identification of partnership opportunities that accelerate the team’s delivery.
- Collaborate with the Advanced Analytics and Data Engineering teams to ensure the data foundations required for AI solutions are in place and well-structured.
- Work in close partnership with AI Platform Engineers and AI Architects to ensure that solutions built by the Applied AI team are deployed on durable, scalable, and secure foundations.
- Define and uphold engineering standards for the Applied AI team, including code quality, model evaluation rigor, documentation practices, and responsible AI principles.
- Serve as a senior technical voice and thought leader on applied AI within the Digital & Innovation organization, advising on the appropriateness of AI approaches for given business problems and championing pragmatic, high-impact execution.
:
- Champion responsible AI practices, ensuring that all solutions reflect ADM’s values and comply with relevant AI governance, data privacy, and regulatory requirements.
Standard Job Requirements
- Applied AI Leadership: Demonstrated track record leading teams that build and deliver AI-powered products and solutions in production. Comfort operating at the intersection of business strategy and technical execution.
- Generative AI & ML Expertise: Deep hands-on understanding of Generative AI techniques (Prompt Engineering, RAG, fine-tuning, agentic frameworks) and classical machine learning approaches. Ability to guide teams in selecting the right methods for the right problems. Familiarity with commercial and open-source models and frameworks (e.g., Azure OpenAI, LangChain, LlamaIndex, HuggingFace).
- Solution Delivery Discipline: Proven ability to drive structured AI solution delivery — from ambiguous business problems through working production systems — with a strong focus on measurable business value.
- People & Team Development: Experience building, growing, and leading high-performing engineering teams. Strong coaching instincts and the ability to attract and retain exceptional AI engineering talent.
- Business Partnership: Ability to engage credibly and effectively with senior business stakeholders — shaping use cases, setting expectations, presenting options, and communicating outcomes with clarity and influence.
- Platform & Architecture Awareness: Working knowledge of cloud environments (preferably Azure), AI/ML platforms, and deployment concepts is advantageous. Not required to be the deepest technical expert in infrastructure, but must be conversant enough to partner effectively with AI Platform Engineers and AI Architects.
- Responsible AI & Governance: Understanding of responsible AI principles, data privacy considerations, and the governance frameworks relevant to enterprise AI deployment.
Education, Experience & Soft Skills
- Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- 12+ years of experience in AI, machine learning, or applied data science, with at least 5+ years in a leadership or management role overseeing AI engineering teams or delivery functions. Total of 15+ years in technology roles preferred.
- Experience leading teams that ship AI-powered products or capabilities to internal or external users, with demonstrated business impact.
- Strong executive presence; skilled at navigating organizational complexity and influencing decisions across business and technology stakeholders.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal; able to represent the team’s work credibly at all levels of the organization.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to balance short-term delivery pressure with longer-term capability building.
- Proven ability to lead through ambiguity, set direction under uncertainty, and drive teams to high-quality outcomes in a dynamic environment.
- Industry knowledge within agriculture, commodities, supply chain, or manufacturing is a plus but not required.
Before applying for an exempt, non-exempt or hourly job opportunity, you are expected to initiate a discussion and share your intentions with your supervisor.
- If you’ve been in your current position for more than 18 months, supervisor approval is not required.
- If you’ve been in your current position for less than 18 months, verbal supervisor approval is required.
Hiring Manager- Jagadeesh Manukonda
Recruiter- Sapna Upadhyay
:
Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours.
If hired, employees will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.
The pay range for this position is expected to be between:
:
About ADM
At ADM, we unlock the power of nature to provide access to nutrition worldwide. With industry-advancing innovations, a complete portfolio of ingredients and solutions to meet any taste, and a commitment to sustainability, we give customers an edge in solving the nutritional challenges of today and tomorrow. We’re a global leader in human and animal nutrition and the world’s premier agricultural origination and processing company. Our breadth, depth, insights, facilities and logistical expertise give us unparalleled capabilities to meet needs for food, beverages, health and wellness, and more. From the seed of the idea to the outcome of the solution, we enrich the quality of life the world over. Learn more at www.adm.com.