Director, AI Strategy, Adoption, and Workforce Transformation

Ulta Beauty, Inc.; Bolingbrook (IL); Hybrid; USD 147,000 - 199,000; Full time

Job summary

Ulta Beauty seeks a Director, AI Strategy, Adoption, and Workforce Transformation to translate AI investments into measurable business value. You will lead the enterprise AI strategy, adoption, and the UB AI Accelerator, collaborating with Product, Technology, Finance, People Success, and HR to align AI initiatives with key business priorities.

Located at Ulta Beauty's Bolingbrook corporate offices with a hybrid schedule, this role demands a strategic leader who can drive transformation, build a

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree; MBA preferred for strategic leadership and finance
• 10+ years in enterprise strategy, AI or digital transformation
• Experience leading cross-functional, large-scale initiatives
• Ability to translate strategy into measurable business value
• Proven talent development and team leadership
• Strong communication and executive presence

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve Ulta’s enterprise AI strategy and adoption, driving measurable value
• Lead AI prioritization with Product/Technology to inform the roadmap
• Direct the UB AI Accelerator for broad AI fluency across the org
• Oversee AI adoption, value realization, and P&L impact with business leaders
• Drive AI-enabled workforce transformation and process redesign
• Provide executive visibility with clear insights and risk mitigation
• Build and mentor a high-performing, human-centered AI team
• Collaborate with senior leaders to align AI initiatives with business goals

Skills

AI Strategy

Executive leadership

Stakeholder management

Change management

Financial acumen

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA preferred

Job description

OVERVIEW

Live the experience. From professional empowerment to continual learning opportunities. From ongoing investment in our strategic initiatives to a career of self-determination. At Ulta Beauty, our team is critical to our scalability—and is recognized that way. We’ve been defined as a “mature start‑up.” A place where interdepartmental exposure, open doors, and genuine collaboration is ubiquitous. Where challenges come fast and furious, requiring agility, mental dexterity, and creativity. Where our passion for better solutions drives us and is core to who we are.

We’re engineering for the future of retail, and it’s no-holds-barred. But for those motivated by continual change and ambiguity, by superior leadership, by whip smart colleagues who will press you daily for your very best, you’ll find that virtually nothing’s impossible at Ulta Beauty.

THE IMPACT YOU CAN HAVE

The Director, AI Strategy, Adoption, and Workforce Transformation is responsible for translating Ulta Beauty’s enterprise AI investments into sustained adoption and measurable business value. This role will own the development and execution of Ulta’s enterprise AI strategy and adoption approach, lead enterprise prioritization, and establish the mechanisms to measure and realize value from AI investments.

The Director will lead the UB AI Accelerator, Ulta Beauty’s enterprise vehicle for broad AI fluency and adoption, creating the capabilities, experiences, communities, and leadership engagement needed to help associates confidently incorporate AI into how work gets done. This role will also lead Ulta’s approach to AI-enabled workforce transformation, identifying how AI changes work, business processes, roles, skills, and capacity and partnering across the organization to enable those changes.

Working closely with Product, Technology, Finance, People Success, Learning, Organizational Change Management, Communications, and business leaders, the Director will connect AI capabilities with Ulta’s highest-value opportunities. While Product owns the AI roadmap, this role will provide AI strategy, prioritization, and value‑realization leadership needed to ensure AI investments deliver meaningful business outcomes.

YOU'LL ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS BY

• Own and evolve Ulta’s enterprise AI strategy, translating enterprise priorities, emerging AI capabilities, and business opportunities into a clear strategy that drives adoption and measurable business value.
• Lead enterprise AI prioritization, establishing a consistent approach to identify, evaluate, sequence, and recommend AI opportunities based on strategic alignment, business value, feasibility, and organizational readiness; partner with Product and Technology to inform the AI roadmap.
• Lead the UB AI Accelerator and the strategy for scaling AI fluency and adoption across Ulta, including function‑specific upskilling, micro‑learning, AI champions, hands‑on build experiences, and executive engagement.
• Own enterprise AI adoption and value realization, establishing measures and operating mechanisms to track adoption, address barriers, and drive sustained use; partner with Finance and business leaders to identify, size, validate, and report financial and operational value, including P&L impact.
• Lead AI‑enabled workforce transformation, partnering with business and HR leaders to assess how AI changes work, processes, roles, skills, and capacity and develop strategies to successfully enable those changes.
• Champion AI‑enabled process and ways‑of‑working redesign, helping the organization move beyond technology deployment toward measurable improvements in productivity, effectiveness, and business performance.
• Provide executive visibility into Ulta’s AI transformation, delivering clear insights and recommendations on adoption, business value, organizational readiness, key risks, and opportunities requiring leadership action.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, building cross‑functional alignment and accountability for AI outcomes while monitoring external AI developments and emerging practices to inform Ulta’s strategy.
• Develop and lead a high‑performing team while fostering a human‑centered approach to AI transformation that builds trust, considers the associate experience, and enables successful adoption of new ways of working.
• Position is located at corporate offices in Bolingbrook, IL (Hybrid work schedule – approx. 6 days in office per month)

ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience; Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in enterprise strategy, management consulting, digital or AI transformation, organizational transformation, or related disciplines, including progressive experience leading complex, cross‑functional initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience translating enterprise strategy and emerging technology capabilities into measurable business outcomes.
• Experience leading large‑scale organizational change, adoption, workforce transformation, or enterprise AI transformation initiatives within a complex organization.
• Strong business and financial acumen, with the ability to connect strategic initiatives to measurable enterprise and P&L outcomes and establish mechanisms to measure and track realized value.
• Strong understanding of AI technologies, products, and emerging capabilities, with the ability to translate technical concepts into business implications and opportunities.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in ambiguity, establish structure around emerging opportunities, and balance strategic thinking with execution.
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and executive presentation skills, with the ability to build trust, understand stakeholder needs, influence senior leaders, and drive alignment and outcomes without direct authority.
• Strong people leadership skills with demonstrated ability to develop talent and build an engaged, high‑performing team.
• Experience developing or implementing enterprise operating models for emerging technologies or transformational capabilities preferred.
• Experience partnering with Product and Technology organizations to translate business strategy into technology‑enabled capabilities preferred.
• Experience in management consulting and/or enterprise strategy, as well as experience within retail, consumer, or another large‑scale, customer‑focused organization, preferred.
• Position is located at corporate offices in Bolingbrook, IL (Hybrid work schedule – approx. 6 days in office per month)
• #LI-HYBRID

The pay range for this position is $147,300.00 - $199,200.00 / Year with the opportunity for eligible associates to earn additional compensation pursuant to the Company’s bonus plan. Exact pay will be based on factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, level, shift, geographic location, and business and organizational needs. Full‑time positions are eligible for paid time off, health, dental, vision, life and disability benefits. Part‑time positions are eligible for dental, vision, life, and disability benefits. For additional information concerning our benefits, visit our Benefits and Career Development page: https://learn.bswift.com/ulta

ABOUT

At Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA), the possibilities are beautiful. Ulta Beauty is the largest North American beauty retailer and the premier beauty destination for cosmetics, fragrance, skin care products, hair care products and salon services. We bring possibilities to life through the power of beauty each and every day in our stores and online with more than 25,000 products from approximately 500 well‑established and emerging beauty brands across all categories and price points, including Ulta Beauty’s own private label. Ulta Beauty also offers a full‑service salon in every store featuring—hair, skin, brow, and make‑up services.

We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest records, conviction records, or other criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of any applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the New York City Fair Chance Act.