Head of AI Platform Operations & Strategy

WGU; Raleigh (NC); Hybrid; USD 202,000 - 313,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition discount

Wellbeing program

11 paid holidays and generous PTO

Job summary

Western Governors University (WGU) is seeking a leader to define and drive the AI operations strategy at scale. You will shape platform architecture, governance, and tooling while guiding executives on risk and investment priorities.

This role emphasizes cross-functional leadership, talent development, and external representation at industry venues. You will mentor engineers, publish technical guidance, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards while building a culture of reliability and

Qualifications

• Expertise in AI operations, deployment, observability, governance, and MLOps at scale.
• Ability to translate goals into architectural roadmaps and multi-year strategy.
• Deep knowledge of safety, risk, and regulatory considerations for enterprise AI.
• Proven ability to influence executive leadership and build consensus.
• Experience hiring and developing AI/ML teams and talent across levels.

Responsibilities

• Define multi-year AI operations vision aligned to WGU's mission.
• Establish reference architectures and governing principles for AI systems.
• Lead evaluation and adoption of frontier AI tooling and infra.
• Drive high-stakes AI operations programs across platforms and migrations.
• Advise executives on strategy, risk, and investment priorities.
• Define governance for responsible AI, model risk, security, and costs.
• Incubate new operational capabilities and sponsor PoC efforts.
• Serve as external technical spokesperson for AI ops work.
• Design and evolve the team's operating model and mentorship programs.
• Develop engineers through skill-building and knowledge sharing.

Skills

AI operations

strategic vision

frontier AI

model risk

executive influence

platform thinking

engineering culture

communication

talent development

cross-functional leadership

Education

Master's Degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Databricks

AWS

Terraform

Kubernetes

Job description

Western Governors University (WGU) is seeking a leader to define and drive the AI operations strategy at scale. You will shape platform architecture, governance, and tooling while guiding executives on risk and investment priorities.

This role emphasizes cross-functional leadership, talent development, and external representation at industry venues. You will mentor engineers, publish technical guidance, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards while building a culture of reliability and