AI Strategy Leader, University-wide Impact

University of California San Diego; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 169,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California San Diego seeks a Senior Director of AI Strategy to serve as a senior strategic advisor on artificial intelligence across the UC system and UC San Diego. You will shape AI strategy, investments, and the multi-year roadmap, working directly with the Chancellor and senior leaders to translate opportunities into measurable outcomes.

The role directs university-wide AI transformation initiatives, pilots, and enablement, partnering with unit leaders to set priorities and

Qualifications

• Demonstrates superior strategic-thinking and consulting skills in guiding the organization toward workable strategies and solutions.
• Superior consulting, relationship building, and strategic thinking skills.
• Knowledge of the organizational environment of higher education and large research universities to understand client priorities, issues, motivations and constraints.
• Have superior written, verbal and presentation skills for influencing and facilitating sustained change.
• Expert knowledge of the organizational development and effectiveness field, theories, models to assess, design and implement customized organizational interventions.
• Demonstrates superior analytical, problem-solving, project planning and implementation skills.
• Ability to facilitate and influence people at all levels. Ability to persuade through both logic and appeal to positive motivations.
• Demonstrates ability to learn quickly, reason, synthesize and generalize based on information obtained; sound judgment; ability to draw unbiased conclusions.
• Ability to focus on priorities, strategies, and vision.
• Knowledge of the consulting process to effectively lead highly significant engagements from inception to conclusion.

Responsibilities

• Directs programs with organization-wide impact, at times extending beyond the University, that include formulating strategies and administering policies, processes, and resources.
• Independently applies wide-ranging experience and proficiency in organizational development, effectiveness, business process analysis, and strategic planning to projects that typically carry organization-wide impact.
• Understands business needs and how both technical and non-technical systems can support them.
• Drawing on that wide-ranging experience, applies organizational development concepts and organizational objectives to resolve the most complex issues, particularly those with organization-wide impact or significant political sensitivity, where analysis of circumstances and information requires in-depth evaluation of the relevant factors. Specifically, the Senior Director of AI Strategy serves as a senior strategic advisor on artificial intelligence across the University of California system and at UC San Diego, working directly with the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors, and other senior leaders to shape AI strategy and investment.
• The role advises the UC AI Steering Committee, a UC President's initiative, helping shape its multi-year roadmap, working group structure, and systemwide convening program, including a series of AI Showcases across the UC system.
• Advises Vice Chancellors and their senior leadership teams on AI strategy and build/buy/defer decisions for their areas, and designs and leads the executive strategy sessions where those decisions are made, serving as a strategic advisor to senior campus leadership.
• Directs a university-wide AI transformation practice: selecting and overseeing pilot initiatives, working with unit leaders to define priorities and scope, and guiding the development of custom AI tools and enablement.
• Represents UC San Diego with national organizations, industry, other UC systems, and federal funding programs, converting these relationships into pilots and shared solutions that benefit UC San Diego and peer institutions.
• Establishes consistent methods for measuring AI value and total cost of ownership, including contract line items, staff time, and organizational resources. This gives leadership a clear, comparable basis for decisions about renewal, expansion, and future investment, and helps translate AI opportunities into measurable, scalable, and strategically aligned outcomes.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Consulting

Relationship building

Executive communication

Organizational development

Problem solving

Change management

Learning quickly

Prioritization

System thinking

Job description

University of California San Diego seeks a Senior Director of AI Strategy to serve as a senior strategic advisor on artificial intelligence across the UC system and UC San Diego. You will shape AI strategy, investments, and the multi-year roadmap, working directly with the Chancellor and senior leaders to translate opportunities into measurable outcomes.

The role directs university-wide AI transformation initiatives, pilots, and enablement, partnering with unit leaders to set priorities and