Senior Director, AI Engineering Transformation

Ninjakitchen; Needham (MA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

401(k) with match

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Paid Time Off

Parental Leave

Job summary

SharkNinja seeks a Sr. Director of AI Engineering Transformation to own AI strategy across the engineering organization, spanning concept through production, reliability, and manufacturing engineering.

You will build data foundations, deploy AI capabilities, and transform workflows so engineers deliver faster with higher quality. Location is on-site at Boston HQ or New York, with a USD 225k–250k salary and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of AI/ML or engineering leadership experience.
• Proven track record leading large-scale transformation initiatives.
• Deep understanding of engineering lifecycles in hardware/consumer electronics.
• Excellent communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the AI transformation roadmap across the full engineering lifecycle.
• Lead modernization of program management with AI-powered tooling for real-time status and dashboards.
• Deploy AI capabilities to improve forecasting, reduce late-stage surprises, and increase product quality.
• Transform reliability/quality capabilities and leverage AI for failure prediction and field data analysis.
• Scale AI Fellows into Engineering teams to drive adoption and measurable outcomes.

Skills

AI/ML leadership

Data infrastructure

Engineering transformation

Program management

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

About Us

SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company, with a diversified portfolio of 5‑star rated lifestyle solutions that positively impact people’s lives in homes around the world. Powered by two trusted, global brands, Shark and Ninja, the company has a proven track record of bringing disruptive innovation to market and developing one consumer product after another that has allowed SharkNinja to enter multiple product categories, driving significant growth and market share gains. Headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts with more than 4,100 associates, the company’s products are sold at key retailers, online and offline, and through distributors around the world.

AI at SharkNinja

We’re building an AI‑native culture. We’re not waiting for the future; we’re creating it. Our people are expected to experiment boldly, adopt new tools, and continuously raise what’s possible to create meaningful impact for our consumers. If you believe the best way to do your job hasn’t been invented yet, you’ll fit right in.

Sr. Director, AI Engineering Transformation

Location: Boston, MA preferred; New York, NY acceptable (On‑site)

Reports to: VP, Chief of Staff to the CEO
Directly dotted line to: Chief Technology Officer / Chief Engineering Officer
Direct Reports: AI Transformation Team (AI Fellows)

The Role

This is a high‑impact leadership role at the intersection of AI, engineering, product quality, and organizational transformation. You will own the strategy and execution of AI integration across SharkNinja’s Engineering organization, spanning the full development lifecycle from concept and architecture through design, validation, and production, and extending into reliability engineering, DFM/DFT, test data, and manufacturing engineering.

Today, much of this work relies on PowerPoint‑based program management, fragmented data, manual analysis, and institutional knowledge trapped in people’s heads. You will change that. You will build the data foundation, deploy AI capabilities, and transform workflows so that SharkNinja’s engineers develop products faster, smarter, and with higher quality at every stage.

This role carries a dual mandate: drive the current portfolio of AI initiatives to measurable completion, and partner directly with Engineering leadership to shape what comes next. You are not here to deliver a fixed list of projects; you are here to build the AI capability that transforms how the Engineering organization works – today and in the future. You report directly to the VP, Chief of Staff to the CEO, with a dotted line to the CTO/Chief Engineering Officer.

What You Will Do

Data Foundation & Infrastructure

• Architect and implement a unified data infrastructure across Engineering, resolving the fragmented, siloed data landscape that is the #1 bottleneck to AI adoption
• Map data assets across the organization (schematics, CAD/PCB design files, test results, FMEAs, DVT/EMC results, lessons learned, field return data, quality metrics) and build the ingestion pipelines that make this data usable by AI systems
• Partner with IT and data engineering to connect Engineering's data infrastructure to the enterprise data architecture (Snowflake, AWS)

Engineering Transformation

• Define and execute the AI transformation roadmap across the full engineering lifecycle, while continuously identifying new AI opportunities with Engineering leadership as capabilities evolve
• Lead the reimagination of program management infrastructure, replacing manual, PowerPoint‑based workflows with AI‑powered tooling that enables real‑time program status visibility, automated accountability, and permission‑based dashboards
• Deploy AI‑powered planning intelligence by ingesting historical engineering data to improve forecasting accuracy and reduce late‑stage surprises
• Transform reliability and quality capabilities, failure prediction, DVT/EMC outcome analysis, field‑return pattern detection at scale and partner with Engineering leadership to define what the next generation of AI‑powered engineering quality looks like
• Reimagine design and test workflows by making lessons learned, test results, and FMEAs accessible through AI, so past engineering knowledge automatically informs future product development
• Strengthen Engineering's contribution to product requirements by building AI systems that surface relevant historical data (prior test failures, field issues, quality patterns) during the design and requirements process

Team Building & Change Management

• Build, lead, and scale a team of AI Fellows embedded directly into Engineering teams to drive hands‑on AI adoption
• Drive change management across large, global engineering teams with varying levels of AI fluency, with particular focus on director‑level and below adoption
• Translate complex AI capabilities into practical, adoptable solutions that engineers, program managers, and cross‑functional teams actually use
• Establish success metrics, track adoption, and report measurable outcomes to executive leadership
• Champion a culture of experimentation: fast iteration, learning from failure, and scaling what works

Who You Are

Required

• 10+ years of professional experience in AI/ML, engineering leadership, program management, data architecture, quality engineering, or technology transformation roles
• Strong technical fluency in AI/ML and data infrastructure: you can evaluate tools, assess platforms, understand data pipelines, and hold your own in technical discussions with engineers, data scientists, and product teams
• Proven track record leading large‑scale transformation or change management initiatives, ideally in engineering, R&D, or consumer products environments
• Deep understanding of engineering development lifecycles in a hardware or consumer electronics context, including stage‑gate processes, DVT/EVT/PVT builds, and cross‑functional launch execution
• Proven ability to both build (hands‑on implementation) and think strategically – not just one or the other
• Strong business acumen: you connect technical capabilities to business outcomes and communicate that connection to non‑technical stakeholders
• Exceptional leadership skills: you attract talent, build high‑performing teams, and influence without authority across a matrixed organization
• Decisive and action‑oriented: you make decisions with imperfect information, move fast, and course‑correct without hesitation
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and a high‑velocity environment where priorities shift and speed matters more than perfection

Strongly Preferred

• Experience at an AI‑native company or within an engineering organization where AI was core to the development process
• Background bridging technical build teams and business stakeholders, with the ability to translate requirements in both directions
• Experience productionalizing AI prototypes (moving from proof‑of‑concept to enterprise‑grade tools with proper back‑end infrastructure)
• Familiarity with engineering quality concepts: FMEAs, DVT, EMC/regulatory compliance, reliability testing, field‑return analytics
• Ability to speak Mandarin

Additional Requirements

• Travel required (domestic and international, including China manufacturing sites)
• On‑site at Boston HQ or New York office full‑time

Salary and Other Compensation

The annual salary range for this position is $225,000 – $250,000 USD. Factors which may affect starting pay within this range may include geography/market, skills, education, experience, and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

The Company offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts (HSA) with company contribution, 401(k) retirement plan with matching, employee stock purchase program, life insurance, AD&D, short‑term disability insurance, long‑term disability insurance, generous paid time off, company holidays, parental leave, identity theft protection, pet insurance, pre‑paid legal insurance, back‑up child and eldercare days, product discounts, referral bonus program, and more.

Candidate Privacy Notice

• For candidates based in all regions, please refer to this Candidate Privacy Notice.
• For candidates based in China, please refer to this Candidate Privacy Notice.
• For candidates based in Vietnam, please refer to this Candidate Privacy Notice.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other class protected by legislation, and local law. SharkNinja will consider reasonable accommodations consistent with legislation, and local law. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact SharkNinja People & Culture at [e-mail].