Director, AI Engineering & Delivery

Vizient, Inc; Edina (MN); On-site; USD 118,000 - 206,000; Full time

Job summary

Vizient, Inc. is seeking a senior leader to orchestrate enterprise AI engineering initiatives. You will drive scalable AI deployment, establish best practices for AI software delivery, and partner with governance and architecture teams to deliver measurable business value.

You will guide cross-functional teams across business, technology, and operations, ensuring reliable, secure, and compliant AI solutions that align with Vizient's transformation strategy and healthcare experience.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in software engineering, AI application engineering, or enterprise tech functions.
• 3+ years leading engineering teams or large-scale technology initiatives.
• Experience with LLMs, APIs, orchestration frameworks, and modern AI patterns.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise AI engineering initiatives, including AI-powered applications, LLM-enabled workflows, and agentic orchestration solutions.
• Drive day-to-day engineering delivery activities across AI teams, including sprint execution and backlog management.
• Implement and operationalize AI SDLC, deployment standards, runtime observability, release management, and engineering quality practices.
• Provide technical oversight across solution design, development, validation, deployment, monitoring, and production support.
• Support AIOps and LLMOps, including monitoring, drift detection, incident management, and prompt lifecycle management.
• Develop reusable AI engineering patterns, shared services, and accelerators to improve delivery efficiency and scalability.
• Lead, mentor, and develop engineering managers, architects, engineers, and contractor teams.

Skills

AI engineering leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Enterprise platform delivery

LLMOps / AIOps

Cloud platforms

Stakeholder management

Education

Relevant degree preferred

Job description

When you're the best, we're the best. We instill an environment where employees feel engaged, satisfied and able to contribute their unique skills and talents while living and working as their authentic selves. We provide extensive opportunities for personal and professional development, building both employee competence and organizational capability to fuel exceptional performance through an inclusive environment both now and in the future.

Summary In this role, you will lead the execution, operationalization, scaling, and continuous improvement of enterprise AI engineering and delivery initiatives across Vizient. You will implement scalable AI engineering practices, AI delivery operating models, AIOps and LLMOps capabilities, and cross-functional engineering standards that enable the organization to rapidly and responsibly deliver AI-powered business outcomes, operational efficiencies, and scalable enterprise value. You will partner closely with business, technology, governance, automation, architecture, and quality engineering teams to build production-grade AI applications, agentic workflows, reusable platform capabilities, and operational processes that support Vizient's enterprise AI transformation strategy.

Responsibilities

• Lead the execution and delivery of enterprise AI engineering initiatives, including AI-powered applications, LLM-enabled workflows, agentic orchestration solutions, AI-enabled automation capabilities, and platform integrations
• Drive day-to-day engineering delivery activities across AI teams, including sprint execution, backlog management, delivery tracking, issue resolution, dependency management, and operational execution
• Implement and operationalize enterprise AI engineering practices, including AI software development lifecycle (SDLC) processes, deployment standards, runtime observability, release management, and engineering quality practices
• Provide technical oversight across solution design, development, validation, deployment, monitoring, optimization, and production support activities
• Support AIOps and LLMOps operational practices, including runtime monitoring, drift detection, observability, incident management, prompt lifecycle management, evaluation execution, operational telemetry, and production reliability
• Develop reusable AI engineering patterns, implementation playbooks, shared services, templates, internal libraries, and engineering accelerators to improve delivery consistency, scalability, and operational efficiency
• Drive adoption of enterprise engineering standards, scalable delivery practices, and shared implementation patterns across AI delivery teams
• Partner with AI Governance, Quality Engineering, Automation, Architecture, and AI Delivery Lifecycle teams to operationalize governance requirements, validation processes, responsible AI controls, runtime safeguards, and secure delivery practices
• Coordinate AI delivery activities across teams, including operational planning, resource management, contractor and vendor alignment, knowledge transfer, and delivery continuity
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to support technical feasibility assessments, delivery readiness activities, implementation planning, and engineering sustainability efforts
• Support vendor evaluations, platform implementation initiatives, build-versus-buy assessments, and engineering modernization efforts
• Lead, mentor, and develop engineering managers, architects, engineers, and contractor teams while fostering a high-performing, collaborative, and continuously learning culture
• Communicate delivery progress, operational risks, technical updates, engineering tradeoffs, and implementation recommendations to technical and business leaders
• Research and evaluate emerging AI engineering, automation, observability, orchestration, and platform technologies to support innovation and continuous improvement

Qualifications

• Relevant degree preferred
• 7 or more years of experience in software engineering, AI application engineering, engineering delivery, platform engineering, or enterprise technology functions required
• 3 or more years of experience leading engineering teams, delivery organizations, or large-scale technology initiatives required
• Experience leading distributed teams, contractor/vendor coordination, and large-scale engineering delivery initiatives within complex and evolving operational environments required
• Hands-on experience designing, delivering, and operationalizing production AI solutions leveraging large language models (LLMs), APIs, agentic workflows, orchestration frameworks, and modern AI engineering patterns required
• Experience implementing and scaling engineering operating models, AI delivery frameworks, agile delivery ecosystems, or enterprise engineering practices required
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, presentation, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills required
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in fast-paced, evolving, and deadline-driven environments required
• Experience with cloud platforms, APIs, data integration, DevOps practices, automation frameworks, and modern software engineering tools preferred
• Experience operating in healthcare or other regulated environments preferred
• Strong understanding of responsible AI concepts, including governance, human oversight, model monitoring, operational risk management, AI security considerations, and secure operationalization of AI solutions within enterprise environments preferred
• Healthcare industry experience, including familiarity with HIPAA, SOC 2, or other regulated data environments preferred
• Experience with AI-enabled automation, intelligent orchestration, evaluation pipelines, operational AI delivery practices, and agentic frameworks preferred
• Demonstrated ability to balance execution excellence, operational scalability, governance, and engineering delivery effectiveness preferred
• You must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

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Estimated Hiring Range: At Vizient, we consider skills, experience, and organizational needs in our compensation approach. Geographic factors may adjust the range estimate and hires typically fall below the top range. Compensation decisions are tailored to individual circumstances. The current salary range for this role is $117,600.00 to $206,000.00. This position is also incentive eligible. Vizient has a comprehensive benefits plan!

Equal Opportunity Employer: Females/Minorities/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities The Company is committed to equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants without regard to race, religion, color, gender identity, ethnicity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status or any other category protected by applicable law.

Working at Vizient means shaping the future of healthcare, every day. Alongside our clients, we're building a healthier, more human healthcare system. We connect people, data, and solutions to enable healthcare organizations to improve financial sustainability, enhance system performance, and deliver better care.

Headquartered in Irving, Texas, with 11 offices across the United States, Vizient has more than 5,000 employees who bring deep expertise and a shared commitment to transforming healthcare. Together, we're solving some of the industry's most complex challenges while creating opportunities to learn, grow, and drive lasting change for healthcare organizations and the communities they serve.

Through our enterprise of companies, we deliver meaningful impact across the continuum of care: Apexus - The exclusive contractor for 340B Drug Pricing Program, managed by the Health Resources and Services Administration. aptitude - The industry's first online direct contracting market, supporting self-contracting activity between hospitals and suppliers. Kaufman Hall - Leading healthcare advisory services to support our clients in achieving financial, clinical, and operational excellence. Provista - Proven supply chain partner specializing in extended, diagnostic, and preventive care facilities, including surgery centers, home health, and senior living.