AI Operations Director

Lumen Technologies•,

3d•$152,066 - $278,789•Remote

About The Position

Lumen is the trusted network for the AI‑powered world, connecting people, data, and applications through our expansive fiber network and connected ecosystem. We enable secure, high‑performance connectivity across cloud, edge, and AI workloads for enterprises, governments, and communities. At Lumen, you’ll work on infrastructure customers rely on today and build for what’s next, where performance, security, and resilience matter. This is a high accountability environment where bold ideas drive real innovation for our customers, partners, and industry. The work is challenging, expectations are clear, and trust is built into how we operate. If you’re ready to take ownership, deliver meaningful impact, and help shape the future of AI‑ready connectivity, join us today. The Role We are seeking an AI Operations Director, to serve as a strategic operator for the AI Office, helping translate Lumen’s AI ambition into clear priorities, operating mechanisms, executive alignment, and measurable enterprise impact. Reporting to the Chief AI Officer, this role will run the AI Office operating system – connecting strategy, portfolio discipline, governance forums, executive communications, stakeholder alignment, and follow-through across the enterprise AI ecosystem. This person will help ensure the organization is focused on the right priorities, decisions are made with clarity and speed, and leaders have the visibility needed to accelerate value realization. Working closely with AI strategy, technology, and business stakeholders, this person will bring structure to complexity, improve transparency across the portfolio, and accelerate value realization across the portfolio. They will also ensure the execution model is clear and effective so the organization can move with speed, focus, and alignment. This is a high-impact role connecting strategy to results through structure, governance, and operating cadence. We need a strategic thinker and versatile operator who can move fluidly between executive narrative, decision framing, portfolio orchestration and insight, operating cadence, stakeholder alignment, and execution discipline.

Requirements

8+ years of experience in strategy & operations, chief of staff, business ops, transformation, product/program management, or large-scale transformation execution
Strong strategic thinking and business judgment, with the ability to connect enterprise AI priorities to operating mechanisms, executive decisions, and measurable outcomes.
Ability to move fluidly between strategic framing and hands-on execution — from shaping executive narratives to driving follow-through on complex cross-functional work.
Strong program management discipline, with experience creating structure, cadence, visibility, and accountability across complex initiatives.
Proven experience managing complex, cross-functional initiatives with multiple stakeholders
Strong ability to translate strategy into executable plans and drive delivery at scale
Experience working in or alongside data, AI, or technology organizations
Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and influence skills
Demonstrated ability to operate in ambiguous, fast-paced environments and drive outcomes

Responsibilities

Partner closely with the Chief AI Officer to translate strategy into clear priorities, operating mechanisms, action plans, and executive narratives
Serve as a strategic thought partner on where to invest, scale, pause, or stop across the AI portfolio
Identify emerging gaps, risks, and opportunities across the AI ecosystem, and proactively drive the work needed to maintain clarity, momentum, and impact
Support the AI Office as an enterprise leadership function, ensuring strategy, portfolio, governance, communications and execution stay connected
Maintain a clear enterprise view of AI initiatives, including ownership, maturity, dependencies, sequencing considerations, execution risk, and value potential
Ensure consistency in how initiatives are defined, tracked, and reported to enable clear, comparable visibility across the portfolio
Identify and surface early indicators of fragmentation, duplication, or misalignment across initiatives
Support prioritization decisions by synthesizing business, product, technical, and organizational signals into clear executive recommendations
Design and manage the AI Office operating cadence, including portfolio reviews, executive updates, status reporting, and decision forums
Stand up and manage portfolio governance, success metrics, and executive reporting to track performance, inform stage-gate decisions, and measure business impact and AI value realization
Enable faster, higher-quality decisions by framing tradeoffs, clarifying implications, and driving alignment across stakeholders
Act as a central connector across AI, Product, Engineering, HR, Legal, and business teams to ensure alignment and accountability
Clarify ownership, sequencing, and interdependencies to improve execution
Remove structural barriers that slow progress by identifying cross-portfolio dependencies, decision bottlenecks, and areas of role confusion
Build strong stakeholder relationships to drive accountability, adoption, and follow-through
Help define and track success metrics tied to business outcomes, adoption, portfolio health, and AI value realization
Deliver clear, executive-ready insights on progress, risks, themes, and impact
Continuously improve and strengthen the AI Office operating model, including governance, planning, communication, and portfolio visibility
Introduce scalable ways of working that improve focus, decision quality, and execution effectiveness