Director of IS & AI

Orange Barrel Media; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Orange Barrel Media seeks a Senior IT leader to run Information Systems as the company grows, overseeing day-to-day IT operations and shaping a long-range technology roadmap. A core focus is leading AI adoption with guidelines, training, and evaluating tools for responsible use across the company.

You'll own external systems visibility, manage vendor relationships and budgets, and partner with department leaders to align tooling with business needs across multiple offices.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive IT experience, including leadership of a team.
• Proven track record building and executing IT strategy/roadmaps at growth-enabled companies.
• Direct experience evaluating and rolling out AI tools in a business setting.
• Experience managing a portfolio of external systems and vendors including contract negotiations.
• Strong training and communication skills for non-technical stakeholders.
• Solid grounding in IT security fundamentals and business continuity planning.
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or related field, or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage, mentor, and grow the Information Systems team, setting priorities and performance expectations.
• Own IT operations and support across all OBM offices with reliable systems and fast issue resolution.
• Build and maintain a multi-year IT roadmap aligned to OBM growth and evolving needs.
• Define future-state technology architecture and present strategic recommendations to leadership.
• Own the IT budget balancing near-term needs with long-term investments.
• Set company-wide guidelines for responsible, effective AI use and training.

Job description

OBM is hiring a Senior IT leader to run our Information Systems function as the company grows. You'll manage the IT team day to day while also owning the longer-term view: where our technology and systems need to be in two, three, and five years, not just today. A core part of this role is leading AI adoption across OBM - setting usage guidelines, training employees at every level to use AI tools effectively and responsibly, and evaluating which tools are worth adopting. You'll also own visibility into external systems OBM relies on, understanding what we're paying for, where there's overlap or redundancy, and where consolidation or change makes sense.

Key Responsibilities

IT Leadership & Team Management

• Manage, mentor, and grow the Information Systems team, setting priorities and performance expectations - this role's scope extends beyond core IT to other functional specialists who report into Information Systems.
• Own IT operations and support across all OBM offices, ensuring reliable systems and fast issue resolution.

Long-Term IT Strategy

• Build and maintain a multi-year IT roadmap that anticipates OBM's growth - new markets, new offices, and evolving business needs.
• Define the future-state technology architecture and present strategic recommendations to leadership.
• Own the IT budget, balancing near-term needs against long-term investment.

AI Adoption & Training

• Set company-wide guidelines and best practices for responsible, effective AI use.
• Design and deliver training so employees across departments - not just IT - can use AI tools confidently and appropriately.
• Evaluate emerging AI tools and platforms, and lead rollout of the ones worth adopting.
• Track and report on AI adoption and impact across the company.

Systems & Vendor Portfolio Management

• Maintain a current inventory of external systems and software vendors used across OBM.
• Identify overlap, redundancy, or underused tools, and recommend consolidation or changes.
• Own vendor relationships, contract renewals, and renegotiations.
• Partner with department leaders to understand their tooling needs and evaluate new system requests.
• Source and evaluate new tools and software as needs arise across the company, and lead training so teams can adopt them effectively - not limited to AI tools.

Security & Continuity

• Oversee OBM's IT security posture, including data protection practices and access controls.
• Own business continuity and disaster recovery planning for critical systems.

What You'll Bring

• 10+ years of progressive IT experience, including experience leading and managing a team.
• A track record of building and executing on an IT strategy or roadmap at a growing or multi-location company.
• Direct experience evaluating and rolling out AI tools in a business setting - you don't need to be an AI researcher, but you understand what's genuinely useful versus hype, and how to get an organization to actually use new tools.
• Experience managing a portfolio of external systems and vendors, including contract negotiation and renewal.
• Strong training and communication skills - you can make technical and AI concepts clear and actionable for non-technical employees.
• Solid grounding in IT security fundamentals and business continuity planning.
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Nice to Have

• Experience in advertising, media, or another multi-location services industry.
• Experience developing a formal AI governance or acceptable-use policy.
• Background in organizational change management, given the training and adoption component of this role.
• Experience presenting technology strategy and recommendations directly to senior leadership.

Company Overview

Orange Barrel Media (OBM) creates and operates iconic urban media displays that advertisers ask for by name in top U.S. markets. Since our founding in 2004, OBM has pioneered a community-oriented model of outdoor media development and is nationally recognized by cities and real estate owners alike seeking to implement premier media programs that add to the character of urban places. In the advertising community, OBM is widely recognized as the owner of the highest impact and most memorable advertising locations in the cities where it operates.

The OBM team is also a leader in smart city infrastructure, launching the Interactive Kiosk Experience (IKE) platform in concert with cities across the U.S. through the company IKE Smart City. IKE is a best-in-class public engagement platform that helps cities communicate with the public, enliven the pedestrian experience, and tell the story of their city. The core pillars of the IKE platform are public benefit and social equity, values that we seek to maximize in every IKE market to achieve city objectives and exceed community expectations.

We are a place where people are inspired to achieve success, genuinely like each other, and have endless opportunities to grow.

Learn more at www.obm.com and www.ikesmartcity.com.