Director, AI Transformation

Univar Solutions; Downers Grove (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Vision & Dental

401k matching

Paid time off

Job summary

Univar Solutions seeks a Director of AI Transformation to lead value realization and governance across AI initiatives. You will supervise certification of financial impact, ensure enterprise readiness, and drive cross-functional collaboration with IT, data, and security teams.

Reporting to senior leadership, this role shapes high-value use cases into scalable programs and partners with legal, procurement, and finance to ensure credible cost bases and ROI.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA or quantitative field) preferred.
• 10+ years in finance transformation, value realization, transformation, or AI/digital program management.
• Ability to certify financial value and underwrite savings with Finance.
• Strong governance, risk controls, and responsible-AI practices.
• Experience turning opportunities into enterprise-grade charters.
• Cross-functional coordination without direct reporting authority.

Responsibilities

• Own the value scorecard for realized savings and EBITDA and cash impact across the AI portfolio.
• Run the benefits process and provide go/no-go value certification at each stage gate.
• Set KPI and value-attribution methodology with FP&A and ensure every claimed dollar is underwritten.
• Produce actual-versus-target value reporting for monthly reviews.
• Partner with AI intake and delivery to convert high-value use cases into projects.
• Translate current-state processes into clearly scoped opportunities with measurable value.
• Own the value and cost analysis for buy/build/blend decisions and support executive decisions.
• Ensure governance and security reviews are completed before scaling initiatives.
• Liaise with AI Center of Excellence and engineering teams for platform reuse and readiness.

Skills

Value attribution

Governance

Finance partnering

Stakeholder communication

Enterprise AI

Project governance

Change management

Vendor management

Executive reporting

Data governance

Education

Bachelor’s degree

MBA preferred

Job description

Start your career journey with Univar Solutions! Here you can make an impact on the world around you and accelerate your career in areas that energize and excite you.

Director, AI Transformation

The Director, AI Transformation leads the value and governance engine that turns enterprise AI initiatives into verified, measurable financial impact. Reporting to the Senior Director, Transformation, this role owns day-to-day accountability and sign-off for value certification and AI governance across the portfolio.

The role sits between the company's value delivery and technology enablement organizations. It ensures that every initiative with verified financial value is shaped into a deliverable project, properly governed, and made enterprise-ready before it scales, so technology investment stays tied to proven business value and promising ideas convert into measured results.

This is a high-impact role that delivers through existing AI, data, engineering, and IT teams. Univar Solutions is backed by Apollo, and this role supports execution of the company's enterprise value creation plan.

What You’ll Do

Value Attribution & Benefits Certification

• Own the value scorecard as the single source of truth for realized savings and EBITDA and cash impact across the AI portfolio.
• Run the finance-verified benefits process and provide go/no-go value certification at each stage gate, the authority that determines whether an initiative may scale.
• Set and maintain KPI and value-attribution methodology in partnership with Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), ensuring every claimed dollar is underwritten by Finance before scaling.
• Produce actual-versus-target value reporting for monthly transformation reviews and executive and investor reporting cycles.

Shaping High-Value Use Cases into Projects and Charters

• Partner with the AI intake and delivery function to convert prioritized, high-value use cases into scoped transformation projects.
• Build enterprise-grade charters covering problem statement, value levers, expected dollar impact, success metrics, and 30/60/90-day milestones.
• Translate current-state processes, observations, and pain points into clearly scoped opportunities that deliver measurable value.
• Sequence and resource the resulting project portfolio so value is delivered on schedule.

Investment Decision Support: Buy, Build, or Blend

• Own the value and cost analysis underpinning buy, build, or blend technology decisions, building the financial case behind each recommendation.
• Serve on the core decision team that validates recommendations before they advance to executive leadership.
• Ground every recommendation in certified value and a credible cost basis.

Governance Readiness & Value Clearance

• Serve as the value sign-off in the enterprise go/no-go deployment decision, confirming ROI, hard-EBITDA impact, and cost-per-outcome measures are validated before any initiative deploys or scales.
• Ensure every initiative in the AI portfolio clears its required governance, security, legal, and privacy reviews before scaling, working within the enterprise governance framework rather than duplicating it.
• Partner with Data Governance, the Center of Excellence, Legal, and Security to drive open risk and readiness items to closure early, so initiatives are not blocked late in the lifecycle.
• Escalate items requiring executive sponsor or CIO decision rights, and maintain clear visibility into which initiatives are cleared, conditioned, or held.

Cross-Team Coordination and Enterprise Readiness

• Serve as the day-to-day liaison to the AI Center of Excellence and AI engineering teams to avoid duplication and drive reuse of platforms, models, and automation frameworks.
• Own the enterprise-readiness criteria that gate broad rollout once a pilot clears its value gate, including hardening, integration, enterprise data, and post-launch stabilization.
• Manage clean handoffs across the lifecycle, from framing to pilot to scale-up and stabilization to steady-state business ownership.
• Ensure solutions transition to full business unit ownership within the target window, embedded in standard operating procedures and performance metrics.

Vendor and Partner Management

• Own operational vendor relationship management across the AI portfolio, including scoping, statements of work, pilot terms, and commercial follow-through.
• Maintain a single, current view of vendor scope, cost, and status across the program.
• Partner with Legal, Procurement, and Security on contract review, data terms, and threat scanning for third-party AI tooling.
• Surface cost-versus-value exposure on vendor engagements early, such as pilot cost escalations, so they reach value and budget owners before commitment.

What You’ll Need

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA or a quantitative field) preferred.
• 10+ years in finance transformation, value realization, transformation, or AI and digital program management, including direct ownership of benefits tracking or business-case certification.
• Demonstrated ability to certify financial value, including building and defending value cases and underwriting savings with Finance.
• Strong command of governance, accountability frameworks, risk and controls, and responsible-AI or data-governance practices.
• Track record turning prioritized opportunities into scoped projects and enterprise-grade charters.
• Experience coordinating across IT, data, and centers of excellence without direct reporting authority, leading through influence.
• Vendor and contract management experience, including statements of work, pilots, and master agreements, in a technology or consulting context.
• Executive-grade communication and data storytelling, with comfort presenting value and risk to C-level executives and investors.
• Experience in a private-equity-backed transformation or value creation environment.
• Working fluency with enterprise AI and data platforms and the economics of scaling AI from pilot to production.
• Chemical distribution, industrial distribution, or comparable B2B sector exposure.
• CPA, MBA, or equivalent analytical credential.

Where You’ll Work

This is a hybrid role based out of our headquarters in Downers Grove, IL.

• The salary range is $180,000 - $210,000. This role is also eligible for incentive pay.
• The specific salary offered to a candidate may be motivated by a variety of factors including the candidate’s meaningful experience, education, training, certifications, qualifications, and work location.
• Available employee benefits include health, vision, and dental. We also provide 401k matching for retirement and flexible time off.

What You Can Expect

• Strong work/life flexibility
• To be surrounded by an inclusive team who is collaborative and committed to the achievement of the company
• To be rewarded for your contributions with a targeted annual company bonus and annual salary reviews
• Competitive pay and benefits

Univar Solutions is a leading, global distributor of chemicals and ingredients essential to the safety, health, and wellbeing of our daily lives from life-saving medicines and vitamins to hand sanitizers and industrial materials used for cleaning, construction, and more. Our global team of more 9,500 employees support our vision to redefine distribution and be the most valued chemical and ingredient distributor on the planet!

We offer a Total Rewards package that includes market aligned pay and incentives as well as a diverse benefits offering to support our employees’ physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing.

Univar Solutions supports sustainable solutions for the world around us so that we can do our part to help keep our communities healthy, fed, clean, and safe!

We are committed to a diverse workforce and a culture of inclusion. Together, we are building a culture that acknowledges the unique experiences, perspectives and expertise of individuals and provides the development and growth opportunities to empower us to redefine our industry.

Univar Solutions is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on their race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other protected classification. We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the hiring process, please contact us at [e-mail].

Univar Solutions does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or staffing firms (collectively Recruiting Firms). Recruiting Firms must enter into a Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Univar Solutions prior to submitting any information relating to a potential candidate. All searches must be initiated by Univar Solutions' Talent Acquisition team and candidates must be submitted via Applicant Tracking System (ATS) by approved vendors who have been expressly requested to make a submission for a specific job opening. No placement fees will be paid to any firm unless the aforementioned conditions have been met. Contacting our hiring managers directly is prohibited.