AI Development Manager

CornerStone Technology Talent Services; Denton (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

CornerStone Technology Talent Services seeks an AI Development Manager to build and lead the software development and AI engineering function for a fast-growing manufacturing organization. This hands-on leader will create a development capability, establish processes, and deliver production-ready AI solutions.

The role requires building teams, setting standards, and driving adoption across operations, engineering, procurement, and IT.

Qualifications

• Five or more years of software development experience.
• At least two years in software team leadership or management.
• Experience building a software/AI capability from the ground up.
• Experience defining team structure and engineering processes.
• Proven experience managing developers, not only individual contributors.
• Experience owning team delivery incl. prioritization, sprint planning, release management, deployment, and quality.
• Track record taking internal apps/AI/automation from concept to production.
• Proven success driving user adoption with measurable business outcomes.
• Experience delivering internal tools, web apps, or ERP/integrations.
• Strong experience with databases, SQL, REST APIs, system integrations, and architecture.
• Hands-on experience building and integrating AI agents/automation using LLM APIs and retrieval.
• Experience introducing AI-assisted development into engineering workflows.

Responsibilities

• Build and scale the software development and AI engineering function, including team structure and standards.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop software engineers and leaders.
• Establish delivery models: sprint cadence, source control, code reviews, testing, releases.
• Translate business priorities into a sequenced AI and development roadmap.
• Prioritize requests and maintain focus on high-impact initiatives.
• Partner with Ops, Engineering, Finance, IT to deliver practical solutions.
• Evaluate emerging AI models, frameworks, and tools for business value and security.
• Establish AI-assisted development as standard practice.
• Lead AI agents, automation, and production deployments.
• Own solutions from concept to production launch and continuous improvement.
• Set architectural standards and technology selection guidelines.
• Coordinate rollouts, gather feedback, measure productivity and impact.

Skills

Software development

Team leadership

AI development

Hiring / recruiting

Sprint planning

Delivery management

Architecture & design

Relational databases

SQL

System integrations

Communication

Fast-moving environment

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

LLM APIs

Agent frameworks

Tool calling

Retrieval techniques

Job description

***C2C arrangements and third-party vendor submissions will not be considered for this role.

We are seeking an AI Development Manager to build and lead the software development and AI engineering function for a rapidly growing manufacturing organization.

This is a hands-on, builder-focused leadership role. We are looking for someone who has created a development capability, team, or engineering structure rather than only joining an established environment. The ideal candidate has built teams and processes from the ground up, developed production-ready applications and AI solutions, and achieved measurable user adoption and business results.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and scale the software development and AI engineering function, including team structure, roles, processes, tools, and technical standards.
• Recruit, manage, mentor, and develop software engineers through hiring, one-on-one meetings, performance management, coaching, and career development.
• Establish the team’s delivery model, including sprint cadence, source control, code reviews, testing, staging, release management, and deployment practices.
• Translate business priorities into a clear, sequenced development and AI roadmap.
• Prioritize competing requests and keep the team focused on high-impact initiatives.
• Partner with Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Finance, and IT leaders to identify opportunities and deliver practical solutions.
• Evaluate emerging AI models, frameworks, and development tools based on business value, scalability, security, and implementation requirements.
• Establish AI-assisted development as a standard team practice.
• Lead the development and production deployment of AI agents, automation, internal applications, integrations, and operational software.
• Own solutions from initial concept and architecture through production launch, adoption, measurement, and continuous improvement.
• Establish technical standards for application architecture, system design, code quality, integration patterns, and technology selection.
• Coordinate application rollouts, gather user feedback, monitor adoption, and measure productivity, operational, revenue, or cost improvements.
• Remain technically engaged enough to evaluate architectural decisions, development approaches, and engineering tradeoffs.

Required Qualifications

• Five or more years of professional software development experience.
• At least two years of direct software team leadership or management experience.
• Demonstrated experience building a software development, AI, or engineering capability from the ground up.
• Experience defining team structure, recruiting developers, implementing engineering processes, and establishing technical standards.
• Proven experience managing developers, not solely serving as a senior individual contributor or technical lead.
• Experience owning team delivery, including prioritization, sprint planning, release management, deployment, and quality.
• Track record of taking internal applications, AI solutions, automation, or integrations from concept through production deployment.
• Demonstrated success driving user adoption and producing measurable business outcomes after launch.
• Experience delivering internal tools, web applications, operational software, data integrations, or ERP integrations.
• Strong experience with relational databases, SQL, REST APIs, system integrations, and application architecture.
• Current hands-on experience building and integrating AI agents and automation using LLM APIs, agent frameworks, tool or function calling, and retrieval.
• Experience introducing AI-assisted development tools and practices into engineering workflows.
• Ability to evaluate emerging AI technologies, identify practical solutions, and lead organizational adoption.
• Proven ability to recruit, develop, retain, and hold technical talent accountable for timelines and quality.
• Excellent communication skills with technical teams and nontechnical business leaders.
• Ability to build structure and operate effectively in a fast-moving environment with evolving priorities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building a software or AI engineering function within a manufacturing, industrial, or operationally complex organization.
• Experience delivering software that produced measurable improvements in productivity, operations, revenue, or cost.
• Experience deploying production-ready AI agents that achieved sustained adoption and supported real-world business processes.
• Experience introducing new development practices, platforms, or engineering standards across an organization.

Why Join?

• Build and own the development and AI engineering function from the ground up.
• Define the team structure, delivery processes, technical standards, and roadmap.
• Develop applications and AI solutions that directly influence production and business operations.
• Hold a highly visible leadership role with significant opportunity for growth and influence.
• Apply emerging AI technology to practical business problems with measurable outcomes.
• Create the engineering foundation needed to support a rapidly growing organization.