Director of AI Strategy & Adoption

Hazen and Sawyer • Lakewood, CO

11d • Hybrid

About The Position

Hazen is hiring a Director of AI Strategy & Adoption to make AI a routine part of how the firm designs, delivers and runs water projects. This senior leadership role works with management to set the direction for AI across the firm, build and lead a team and governance structure, and turn pilots into everyday practice across technical practices, project delivery and corporate functions.

The Director will develop Hazen’s multi-year AI vision and roadmap, prioritize use cases, advise executives and the Board on relevant developments, and lead firm-wide adoption and change management. The role also directs selection and rollout of enterprise AI platforms and integrations, oversees custom AI solutions from prototype through supported production, and recommends policies and safeguards for responsible AI use. The Director will build a small, high-caliber team and represent Hazen externally with clients, regulators and professional bodies.

Hazen and Sawyer is a privately held, employee-owned engineering firm focused exclusively on the water industry. Its work is technical, regulated and high-stakes, requiring AI that is accurate, defensible and useful to licensed engineers. The position is in-office with a hybrid schedule and periodic travel to other offices and client sites.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, data science or a related field.
• At least 10 years of experience in technology, data or digital leadership, including leading enterprise AI or machine-learning programs from strategy through deployment.
• Demonstrated success driving adoption at scale and changing how a large professional workforce works, not only building tools.
• Working knowledge of generative AI, large language models, agents, retrieval and evaluation methods, and enterprise AI platforms.
• Experience with AI governance, data security and responsible-use frameworks in a regulated or professional-services setting, including data-access controls and client-data restrictions.
• Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to explain trade-offs to the Board and senior engineers.
• Experience hiring, leading and developing technical teams.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree.
• Background in engineering, architecture or other professional services.
• Deep familiarity with engineering practice and professional liability.
• Experience with Microsoft 365 and Azure, and with BIM, GIS or hydraulic and process modeling tools.
• Familiarity with the economics of an employee-owned or partnership-style firm.
• Experience integrating AI with data platforms, document-heavy workflows and project controls systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop Hazen’s multi-year AI vision and roadmap in alignment with firm strategy, client value and employee-ownership goals, coordinating across groups and soliciting input from technical and business user groups and the Board.
• Prioritize AI use cases by value, risk and effort, and recommend whether to build, buy or partner.
• Track developments in AI, including legal, procurement, ethical and public-acceptance considerations, and brief executives and the Board.
• Lead firm-wide adoption of AI tools through practice-level champions, training and clear usage guidance; collaborate with Communications on adoption campaigns.
• Work with practice leaders, corporate service directors and project managers to embed AI in proposals, design, QA/QC, reporting and project controls.
• Gather feedback and examples from practitioners and use them to improve AI initiatives.
• Direct selection, configuration and rollout of enterprise AI platforms and integrations with Hazen’s data and systems, partnering with Legal and IT to enforce permitted access.
• Partner with IT, cybersecurity and enterprise software teams on architecture, identity, data access and cost management.
• Oversee custom AI solutions and agents for engineering and business workflows from prototype through supported production service.
• Recommend refinements to AI policy and develop an approved-use framework and an intake process for new tools and use cases.
• Identify and escalate AI-related confidentiality, client data, intellectual property, professional liability and contractual risks in partnership with Legal, Risk and the Director of Information Technology.
• Set standards for human review of AI output so licensed engineers remain accountable for sealed work.
• Build and lead a small, high-caliber AI team and extend its capabilities through vendors, academia and industry peers.
• Represent Hazen externally on AI with clients, regulators and professional bodies.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision and prescription plans.
• Pre-tax flexible spending plans for medical, dependent care and transportation.
• Short- and long-term disability insurance and employer-paid life insurance.
• Paid holidays, floating holidays and paid time off.
• Employer-contributed 401(k) plan and additional financial planning support.
• Professional growth opportunities, including tuition reimbursement, in-house training, and incentives for professional registration and professional organization memberships.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director