AI Systems Manager

Wilson Sonsini•Washington, DC

2d•$147,050 - $220,800•Onsite

About The Position

Wilson Sonsini is seeking an AI Systems Manager (ASM) to help lead the firm’s enterprise artificial intelligence platform function. The ASM will be directly responsible for the administration, adoption, and governance of the firm’s AI systems at an enterprise scale. This role oversees the full range of firm-wide AI tools, including chat-based, agentic, and developer-facing products, and is accountable for ensuring these platforms remain secure, well-governed, cost-effective, and broadly adopted throughout the enterprise. The ASM should have deep experience managing enterprise software platforms at scale and leading technical, analytical, and support professionals through the full lifecycle of platform administration. The ASM will lead the AI Systems team, comprised of analytics, intake, and user support functions, to ensure the firm’s AI investment translates into measurable adoption, productivity, and business value. This leadership role is self-directed, people-oriented, and comfortable supporting the AI and technology needs of the organization, clients, attorneys, practice groups, and administrative teams. The ASM will collaborate closely with various IT and business teams to enforce AI-related policies, procedures, and controls, ensuring alignment with the firm’s governance, security, and risk-management obligations.

Requirements

7+ years of experience managing enterprise technology platforms, SaaS applications, or AI/ML systems, including 2+ years directly managing a team.
Proven experience leading platform adoption, governance, and support functions for a large, enterprise-scale organization.
BS and/or graduate degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration or equivalent discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
Experience managing technology budgets, vendor relationships, and usage analytics/reporting.
Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills.
Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with people from both technical and non-technical backgrounds.
Proven ability to lead a team through all facets of platform management, from strategy and planning to operational execution and measurable business outcomes.
Extensive experience administering enterprise SaaS or cloud-based platforms at scale, including user provisioning, licensing, configuration, and lifecycle management.
Working knowledge of leading generative AI platforms and large language model tools, and their practical application in a professional-services environment.
Strong analytical skills, with experience building usage dashboards, spend reports, and adoption metrics to communicate platform performance to technical and non-technical stakeholders alike.
Experience developing and managing technology budgets, vendor contracts, and service-level agreements.
Experience building or supporting intake and triage processes for technology requests, projects, or use cases.
Ability to work effectively with cross-functional IT and other administrative department teams, including Innovation, IT, Marketing, KM, HR, and Finance to enforce policy and drive compliance.
Ability to deal responsibly with sensitive and confidential information in a discreet and secure manner.
Ability to collaborate with team members and interact with others throughout the Firm.
Familiarity with data privacy, information security, and responsible-AI governance principles, including model risk, data residency, and access controls.

Nice To Haves

Law firm or professional-services experience a plus.

Responsibilities

Administer and maintain the firm’s enterprise AI platforms, ensuring reliable, secure, and scalable access at enterprise scale, firm-wide.
Manage user provisioning, licensing, roles, and permissions across all AI platform surfaces, including chat-based, agentic, and developer-facing tools.
Own the platform roadmap for enterprise AI tools, coordinating upgrades, feature rollouts, integrations, and configuration changes with minimal disruption to end users.
Serve as an IT point of contact and account owner for AI platform vendors, managing vendor relationships, contract renewals, support escalations, and service-level commitments.
Triage technical and support issues related to AI platform access, performance, and functionality, working with vendor support teams and internal IT groups to troubleshoot, resolve, and document issue resolution.
Enable and support the Program Management and Project Management teams with onboarding, training, and adoption programs tailored to the firm’s distinct AI user populations.
Create and maintain documentation, playbooks, and best-practice guidance to further the firm’s AI systems and platforms.
Partner with practice groups, administrative departments, and firm leadership to identify high-value AI use cases and drive adoption of the firm’s AI platforms across the enterprise.
Establish feedback channels and user-support processes to continuously improve the AI user experience and address emerging needs.
Own and manage the AI platform budget, tracking licensing costs and usage-based spend, and report on budget performance, variances, and forecasts to IT and firm leadership.
Develop and maintain usage analytics and reporting dashboards that provide visibility into adoption, utilization, cost-per-user, and return on investment across all AI platforms and user groups.
Analyze usage trends to identify underutilized licenses, optimization opportunities, and areas for expanded investment, and make data-driven recommendations on platform scaling.
Partner with the budget teams and firm leadership to develop cost-allocation models and support annual budgeting and forecasting for the firm’s AI technology investments.
Work closely with IT Security and Risk teams to enforce AI usage policies, data-handling guidelines, and access controls that protect firm and client confidential information.
Partner with Program Management teams to plan, communicate, and manage the rollout of new AI features, platform changes, and policy updates across the firm.
Coordinate with Program Management and Project Management teams to align AI initiatives with the firm’s broader technology roadmap and portfolio of projects.
Collaborate with the Applications, Data Operations, Data Science, and Innovation teams to integrate AI platforms with the firm’s broader data and application ecosystem.
Maintain and enforce compliance with firm policies, procedures, and applicable regulatory or client-driven requirements governing the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
Support internal and external audits, security reviews, and risk assessments related to the firm’s AI platforms and their use.
Manage, mentor, and support the AI Systems team, including analytics, intake, and user support functions.
Lead the AI Systems team in project planning, execution, and analysis.
Collaborate with managers and colleagues throughout the IT Department and the firm to set goals and priorities for the AI Systems team.
Establish and manage the annual AI platform budget, and report actual spend for tracking the budget throughout the year.
Develop and refine the intake process for new AI use cases, requests, and pilots.
Liaise with external vendors and consultants who support the firm’s AI platforms and related services.
Manage AI-related invoices, bill payments, and other internal and external communications.