Director of Applied AI

About Searce

Searce is an AI-powered, engineering-led modern tech consultancy that solves differently and serves as a trusted co-innovation partner. We empower clients to realize their future vision by delivering intelligent, impactful, and transformative real business outcomes.

What are we looking for?

We seek a visionary leader who combines deep AI expertise with business acumen to lead our Applied AI Practice. You'll drive meaningful transformation for our clients by leveraging cutting-edge AI technologies while nurturing a team of AI specialists.

Unlike other firms that look for either:

People managers with limited technical depth, or

Technical specialists with limited leadership experience

We want someone exceptional who excels at both - a leader with the charisma and people skills to build and manage high-performing teams, plus the practical AI knowledge to create, contribute to, and oversee innovative solutions that deliver real business outcomes.

Roles and Responsibilities

Develop comprehensive AI roadmaps aligned with client business objectives, translating their vision into actionable implementation strategies.

Create and execute the Go-To-Market strategy for our AI solutions portfolio, identifying key market opportunities and positioning.

Build and lead a diverse cross-functional team of AI specialists to identify high-impact business areas across AI, NLP, Generative AI, Agentic AI, and cognitive solutions.

Architect reusable, scalable AI solutions that can be deployed across our customer base

Author thought leadership content including white papers, and establish strategic partnerships with AI industry leaders.

Create compelling demos and proof-of-concepts to showcase our AI capabilities to prospective clients and develop reusable accelerators, demos, and frameworks that can scale AI engagements.

Establish robust processes for the end-to-end lifecycle management of intelligent systems, including ethical considerations and governance.

Collaborate with business development teams to expand our AI services pipeline and support long-term growth plans through new revenue streams and aligning industry challenges with high-impact AI solutions.

Foster a culture of innovation that attracts and retains elite AI talent.

P&L responsibility of the practice with focus on sustainable growth in practice revenue and profitability.

Qualifications

Is Education overrated? Yes. We believe so. But there is no way to locate you otherwise. So we might look for at least a Master's in Computer Science, engineering, or an equivalent MBA degree along with:

Advanced or practical degree (PhD with few years experience or MS/BS with significant experience) in a quantitative field such as CS, Information Sciences, Statistics, Mathematics, or related discipline, with focus on applied AI/ML, NLP, and data-driven statistical analysis & modeling.

12+ years of experience applying AI/ML/NLP/deep learning solutions across multiple domains, with experience in enterprise solutions a plus.

Strong programming skills with modern AI frameworks including (but not limited to): TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face, LangChain, LLMs, Cloud AI/ML services (Google Vertex AI, AWS SageMaker, Azure ML)

Technical proficiency in: Python and related data science/ML libraries, Modern web technologies (JavaScript, React, etc.), Cloud platforms with emphasis on Google Cloud Platform and AWS, Database technologies including SQL and NoSQL solutions.

Demonstrated ability to go beyond using off-the-shelf tools, with experience developing custom algorithms and solutions.

Proven track record delivering successful advanced technology solutions (prototypes, POCs, research publications, and/or products) using AI/ML/NLP in multiple domains.

Experience with AI governance, responsible AI implementation, and practical ethical considerations.

Outstanding communication skills to effectively explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Experience leading and growing technical teams, with a focus on mentorship and professional development.

Strategic mindset with the ability to connect AI initiatives to business outcomes and ROI.

Are you the one? Quick Fit test:

Love for cloud: When was the last time you joked that you were “living in the clouds”

Passion for sales: When was the last time you convinced your parents to finally download that app, AND showed them how to use it?

Compassion for customers: You listen more than you speak. When you do speak, people feel the need to listen. You meet the customer where they are at.

Humor for life: When was the last time you told a concerned CEO, ‘If Elon Musk can attempt to take humanity to Mars, why can’t we take your business to run on the cloud?’

Purpose (why): Driving intelligent outcomes.

Searce's core purpose is driving intelligent, impactful, futuristic business outcomes. This purpose is driven passionately by HAPPIER people who aim to become better, everyday.

Mission (how): solving for better.

To improve the real business outcomes by iterating to the finest degree of excellence and passionately ‘solving for better’ at each iteration.

Vision (what): to be the most trusted co-innovation partner.

To be the most trusted technology partner driving intelligent, impactful, futuristic business outcomes for our clients.

Values

HAPPIER Culture Code