Director of Artificial Intelligence (Integration & Optimization)

Bealls•Bradenton, FL

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

Bealls, Inc. is seeking a hands-on , technically deep Director of AI Integration & Optimization to help design, operationalize, and scale the company’s enterprise AI strategy. This role is a hands-on/managerial role that will need to pair real-world AI/ML engineering expertise with the managerial presence to influence stakeholders and drive adoption across a multi-billion-dollar retail organization. As Bealls’ AI pioneer, this leader will implement the company’s AI operating model, deliver high-impact use cases in the first year, and enhance the governance, evaluation, and adoption frameworks needed to convert experimentation into measurable business outcomes. The role will help build and lead a dedicated AI team as organizational maturity scales. Partnering across Enterprise retail environment, the Director will embed AI capabilities into the fabric of the business, accelerating decision-making, efficiency, and growth. Role Overview We are seeking a technically strong AI leader to: · Execute the enterprise AI strategy. · Evolve AI governance, evaluation, adoption, and activation frameworks. · Deliver measurable, high-ROI AI use cases. · Guide senior leaders and cross-functional teams in leveraging AI responsibly and effectively.

Requirements

5+ years in AI/ML, Data Science, or advanced analytics roles.
Experience with both Microsoft and Snowflake AI toolsets. Specifically, Snowflake Cortex and RelationalAI experience are a must.
Proven ability to build and scale AI systems with hands-on engineering expertise.
Demonstrated ability to debug, evaluate, and optimize LLMs and ML models.
Experience deploying AI use cases in operational environments (not just POCs).
Strong understanding of AI governance, explainability, risk frameworks, and model monitoring.
Comfortable operating in a small team environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience with agentic AI systems and emerging AI technologies.
Hands-on experience with MLOps, vector databases, retrieval systems, and evaluation pipelines.
Background integrating AI into legacy environments while transitioning to modern architecture.
Bachelor’s or advance degree in AI, computer science, data science, engineering, or related fields.
Experience building AI literacy and enablement programs.

Responsibilities

Create and configure the AI environment framework
Deliver 3–5 scalable AI use cases (e.g., forecasting, service optimization, pricing, inventory).
Create evaluation frameworks for LLM and ML performance, including safety and bias controls.
Establish dashboards and KPI tracking for AI adoption, productivity, and value realization.
Educate within the communities of practice and provide hands-on functional training programs.
Drive enterprise-wide change enablement and adoption.
Lead cross-functional alignment with Security, Legal, Procurement, Data, and Technology.
Build and scale an AI team as organizational readiness expands.