Director of Artificial Intelligence (Remote)

Institute for Humane Studies • Arlington, VA

49d • Remote

About The Position

The Director of Artificial Intelligence (AI) leads the Institute for Humane Studies’ (IHS) artificial intelligence strategy and oversees the development, deployment, and optimization of AI/ML solutions across the organization. Reporting to the Managing Director of Information Technology, this role manages technical teams powering ScholarsEdge – IHS’s AI-driven research and networking platform – and drives innovation in legislative tracking, concept search, scholar matching, and funding recommendation systems. The Director ensures scalable, reliable ML infrastructure while aligning AI initiatives with organizational goals and ethical standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field; Master’s or PhD preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering with demonstrated success building and deploying production ML systems.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, mentoring, and developing direct and indirect reports.
• Strong collaborative leadership style with ability to guide cross-functional teams.
• Proficiency in Python and major ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn).
• Experience with Azure ML, AWS SageMaker, GCP Vertex AI, and multi-cloud architecture.
• Knowledge of NLP/LLM technologies, vector databases, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems.
• Experience with MLOps practices, feature stores, CI/CD processes, and ML deployment tools.
• Familiarity with modern databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MongoDB) and data ecosystems.
• Strong communication skills, especially in translating technical concepts for non-technical audiences.
• Strong problem-solving skills with attention to ethical and responsible AI considerations.
• Understanding of and appreciation for classical liberal values and the IHS mission.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s or PhD preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development, testing, evaluation, and deployment of AI/ML models supporting ScholarsEdge and other organizational tools.
• Conduct robustness and adversarial testing to ensure models maintain continuous improvement, reliability, and competitive technical advantages.
• Supervise and mentor direct and indirect reports, address skill gaps through employee development, and create growth plans as AI, ML, and team capabilities scale.
• Architect and optimize AI and data systems across Azure, GCP, and AWS multi-cloud environments.
• Oversee MLOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, system performance monitoring, and optimization of compute resources, model training costs, and data infrastructure to ensure cost-effective AI operations.
• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies (e.g., LLMs, vector databases, RAG architectures) to enhance IHS platforms and services.
• Promote knowledge-sharing across IT and cross-functional teams; maintain and enforce best practices for ML lifecycle management, model governance, and code quality.
• Guide the AI/ML roadmap and communicate strategy to internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Collaborate with Programs, Academic Outreach, Intellectual Talent Development, Development, and Marketing to refine matching algorithms, enhance research tools, support data-driven user engagement, and development of donor-driven AI research and analysis projects.
• Partner with Marketing to develop digital solutions that enhance user-journey data collection and integrate insights into CRM and analytics systems.
• Occasional travel to conferences, meetings, and organizational events.

Benefits

• IHS provides exceptional benefits to all employees, including health and dental insurance coverage (which includes paying 100% of the health and dental insurance premium for individuals), health savings accounts, long-term disability and life insurance, a 403(b) retirement savings program, a parking permit and 12 free tuition credit hours annually atGeorge Mason University.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees