Principal AI Delivery Lead

EBSCO Information Services, Inc.; Honolulu (HI); Remote; USD 197,000 - 282,000; Full time

Job summary

EBSCO Information Services, Inc. is standing up an AI delivery capability within its Data & AI organization.

We seek a Delivery Lead to guide a forward-deployed engineering pod, set technical direction for agentic AI systems, and partner across Product, Security, Customer Service, and Operations to accelerate AI value. You will own delivery outcomes, establish an intake–build–handoff model, and create reusable patterns and guardrails to scale AI across the enterprise.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software, product, or AI delivery, including leadership of AI-powered production software
• Experience shipping production AI/ML systems end-to-end
• Hands-on fluency with LLM orchestration, RAG, and human-in-the-loop design

Responsibilities

• Lead the Forward-Deployed Engineering pod and own outcomes, roadmap, and team performance
• Manage the intake → build → hand-off delivery model with value/feasibility/data-risk scoring
• Set technical direction for production agentic systems (orchestration, long-running workflows, guardrails)
• Stand up delivery foundations: evaluation harness, guardrails, observability, reusable patterns
• Own cost-to-serve: model selection, prompt caching, token economics
• Partner with business sponsors to translate use cases into shipped systems
• Collaborate with vendors while protecting IP ownership
• Instrument and report impact on Speed/Quality/Cost/Learning metrics
• Scale the capability by seeding an embedded champion network

Skills

AI delivery

Team leadership

Cloud native (AWS)

LLM orchestration

RAG / vector search

Responsible AI

Tools

AWS

LLM tooling

MCP

Job description

EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) delivers a fully optimized research experience, seamlessly integrated with a powerful discovery platform to support the information needs and maximize the research experience of our end-users. Headquartered in Ipswich, MA, EBSCO employs more than 2,700 people worldwide, with most embracing hybrid or remote work models. As an AI-enabled service leader, we thrive on innovation, forward-thinking strategies, and the dedication of our exceptional team. At EBSCO, we’re driven to inspire, empower and support research. Our mission is to transform lives by providing reliable and relevant information — when, where and how people need it. We’re seeking dynamic, creative individuals whose diverse perspectives will help us achieve this global, inclusive mission. Join us to help make an impact.

Your Opportunity

EBSCO is standing up a forward-deployed AI delivery capability inside its Data & AI organization - a small pod structure that turns real business problems into production AI systems and hands them back to the teams that own them. We are hiring a Delivery Lead to lead it.

This is a player-coach role for someone who can set technical direction for agentic AI systems, run a disciplined intake → build → hand-off delivery model, and build repeatable internal capabilities. You will lead a team of AI Engineers and partner with sponsors across Product, Security, Customer Service, and Operations to ship AI that measurably moves speed, quality, and cost. Just as important, you will leave behind reusable patterns, evaluations, and guardrails that let the rest of EBSCO move faster. You will join at the ground floor of a funded, executive-sponsored team with a live backlog waiting on day one!

What You'll Do

• Lead the Forward-Deployed Engineering pod: Own the outcomes, the delivery roadmap, and the growth and performance of the team

• Run the operating model: Score inbound demand on value / feasibility / data-risk, time-box engagements, and enforce a clean hand-off so the receiving team can own, operate, and extend what you build

• Set technical direction for production agentic systems: Orchestration and long-running workflows, RAG / enterprise search, human-in-the-loop, governed tool and data access (e.g., MCP), and bring-your-own-model patterns

• Stand up the delivery foundations: An evaluation harness, responsible-AI guardrails, LLM observability, and a reusable pattern catalog that compounds across engagements

• Own cost-to-serve: Model selection, small-language-model migration, prompt caching, and token economics

• Partner with named business sponsors to convert their use cases into shipped, adopted systems

• Work alongside strategic delivery vendors as accelerants while protecting EBSCO IP ownership

• Instrument and report impact on a Speed / Quality / Cost / Learning scorecard and communicate back to SLT

• Scale the capability: Mature the pod and seed the embedded champion (“spoke”) network so applied‑AI delivery scales without the central team becoming the bottleneck

Your Team

You will lead the Forward-Deployed Engineering (FDE) team, the delivery engine of EBSCO’s AI operating model, within the Data & AI Organization (DAIO), reporting to the VP, Head of AI. You will work the enterprise’s highest-value applied-AI and automation use cases, backed by a standing backlog, direct executive sponsorship, and a clear mandate to define how AI delivery gets done at EBSCO. This is a build-it role, with the autonomy that comes with it.

About You

• 10+ years in software, product, or AI delivery, including 3+ years leading teams that shipped AI-powered production software

• Demonstrated ownership of production AI/ML or generative-AI systems end-to-end from solution design through production rollout and adoption not just prototypes or strategy decks

• Hands‑on fluency with modern agentic AI such as LLM orchestration, RAG / vector search, human‑in‑the‑loop design, prompt engineering, and agent evaluation

• Proven track record partnering with delivery and implementation teams to take enterprise use cases into production and hand them off cleanly

• Strong grounding in responsible AI, evaluation frameworks, and guardrails. Ability to define “done” for a production agent

• Cloud‑native (AWS preferred); comfortable setting architecture direction and earning the trust of engineers

• Player‑coach mindset: Lead, manage, and represent the team to executives; Hands‑on enough to be credible with a small, elite team

• Excellent cross‑functional communication. Technical and business fluency translating between executive sponsors, business stakeholders, and engineers

What Sets You Apart

• Experience commercializing or productizing AI at scale: Hyperscaler marketplace launches, ARR ownership, or platform productization

• Cost‑optimization depth: Small language models, fine‑tuning, prompt caching, token‑economics modeling

• Background in information services, publishing, or other content‑rich enterprises

• Experience standing up a new team or capability from ground‑up

• Relevant certifications (cloud ML/AI engineering, SAFe, PMP)

Pay Range

USD $197,300.00 - USD $281,860.00 /Yr.

The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors including your skills, qualifications, education, training, and experience, as well as the position’s work location.

Our Work Policy: We value the balance of remote focus and in‑person connection. For all our roles not designated as onsite, candidates living within a 30‑mile radius of one of our hub office locations (Ipswich, MA; Birmingham, AL; Contoocook, NH) are required to be on‑site one day designated by their team for collaboration and syncs. If you reside outside of this 30‑mile range, the position is considered fully remote.

EBSCO provides a generous benefits program including:

-Medical, Dental, Vision, Life and Disability Insurance and Flexible spending accounts

-Retirement Savings Plan

-Paid Parental Leave

-Holidays and Paid Time Off (PTO)

-Mentoring program

And much more! Check it out here: https://www.ebsco.com/about/benefits

We are an equal opportunity employer and comply with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. We strictly prohibit and do not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, or any other covered persons because of race, color, sex, pregnancy status, age, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, promotion, discipline, compensation, benefits, and termination of employment.

We comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and all applicable state or local law.

Location US-Remote

ID 2026-2097

Category Information Technology

Position Type Full-Time Regular

Remote Yes