Director, Applied AI & Strategy

A+E Global Media offers a work environment where employees collaborate in office 3 times per week. New hires must be commutable to one of our current office locations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Stamford, CT. Please refer to the job description for any specific division requirements. Division StoryA+E's Technology team is deep-rooted in the heart of our business. We have great people and great technologies, and together we take on the toughest challenges. As innovators, we choose to iterate, pivot, and adapt quickly. We've reinvented the way A+E leverages technology to produce and sell world-class content. We've modernized our core solutions and embraced a cloud first approach. Perched on the virtues of our "Technology Code", we make technology better, create solutions together, and most of all, we have fun with it. Our team members are motivated individuals who help each other do remarkable things every day. Together we deliver best-in-class solutions that transform the way A+E works. If this sounds like something you want to be a part of, we want to hear from you!Job DescriptionTHE ROLE:Director, Applied AI & Strategy We are seeking a Director, Applied AI & Strategy who views "doing more with less" as a creative challenge, not a budget constraint. In this role, you will be the architect of our internal productivity revolution. Partnering across business functions as well as within Technology & Operations, you will analyze medium-to-highly complex workflows, identify opportunities to apply agentic AI, design those agentic interventions, and help implement those, thus freeing up our people for higher-value work.This is a "boots-on-the-ground" leadership role for someone that has demonstrated the ability to build production-grade AI solutions using LLMs and agents. Ideally, you are also someone that has experience with the modern concept of harness engineering, using popular coding agents for orchestrated software development.Additionally, you should be external-focused and have your finger on the pulse of AI advancements that are relevant to our business.MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU'LL DO:Hands-on AI Orchestration * Rapid Prototyping: Rapidly prototype and demonstrate agentic solutions that can make existing workflows more efficient. Based on business feedback, you will refine those prototypes to align with what needs to be built for production. You will help provide cost estimates required to build the business case and make a decision.. * Agent Development: Help build and deploy production grade AI agents using various AI tools, incorporating guardrails, evaluations, and observabilityto ensure accuracy, reliability, and safety. * Agent Integration: Integrate AI agents with enterprise resources through MCP. Integrate enterprise applications, including legacy, with agents through APIs. * Partner with Legal & Business Affairs (L&BA) and Cyber Security to ensure AI adoption respects guardrails and governance. * Define and track Productivity & ROI measuring hours reclaimed, cost savings and increase in efficiency. * Maintain composability in toolsets to ensure future agility.Industry Insights * Stay at the forefront of AI developments specifically relevant to the Media Industry and update leadership on findings. * Move beyond updates to provide leadership with actionable "Buy, Build, Ignore" frameworks based on the relevant AI tools that solve friction points for media & entertainment.Administration * Translate high-level leadership vision into a tactical technical roadmap, prioritizing workstream that yield the highest ROI. * Rigorously manage scope and stakeholder expectations to move from Proof-of-Concept to Production-Ready. * Perform technical and functional audits of emerging AI tools that align with media industry workflows. * Create sensible budgets in high-ambiguity environments.BASIC REQUIREMENTS: * Bachelor's degree or demonstrated practical