AI Strategy & Solutions Leader

Illumina; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 205,000 - 308,000; Full time

Job summary

Illumina is seeking a Director of AI Strategy, Architecture and Solutions in San Diego to own the enterprise AI portfolio across strategy, architecture, solution engineering and UX. You will lead a multi-geography team, define patterns, drive build-vs-native decisions, and ensure value realization with senior leaders.

Your role shapes adoption, governance, and partner management, partnering with Finance and CIO for budgets, and aligning AI initiatives with enterprise priorities.

Qualifications

• Twelve or more years of experience across technology, digital, or transformation functions, including five or more years leading teams.
• Architecture, solutions, or business engagement function ownership.
• Fluency in enterprise AI architecture including agentic systems, model providers, APIs, data and integration patterns, cloud platforms, security, and observability.
• Experience making build versus platform-native decisions across enterprise systems such as Salesforce, SAP, or Databricks.
• Experience owning or closely partnering with a product design or UX function.
• Executive communication skills with evidence of influencing at VP and C-level.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, or a related technology discipline.
• Preferred: genomics, life sciences, medical devices, or regulated industry experience; familiarity with AWS, Bedrock, Salesforce, SAP, Databricks, Snowflake; MBA or equivalent; global distributed teams; extensive related experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead a multi-geography team spanning business engagement, architecture, solution engineering, and design.
• Represent the AI function to senior business stakeholders with clarity and candour.
• Contribute to annual planning, headcount strategy, and budget for the AI function.
• Define technical and solution requirements that drive partner selection and quarterly business reviews with strategic partners.

Skills

AI strategy

Architecture leadership

Solution design

Executive communication

Vendor management

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

Salesforce

SAP

Databricks

AWS

Bedrock

Job description

Illumina is seeking a Director of AI Strategy, Architecture and Solutions in San Diego to own the enterprise AI portfolio across strategy, architecture, solution engineering and UX. You will lead a multi-geography team, define patterns, drive build-vs-native decisions, and ensure value realization with senior leaders.

Your role shapes adoption, governance, and partner management, partnering with Finance and CIO for budgets, and aligning AI initiatives with enterprise priorities.