Director of Data and AI

Wheeler Machinery Co•Salt Lake City, UT

About The Position

The Director, AI & Data leads the Campbell Companies Center of Excellence (CoE) for data, AI, automation, and software engineering. This role is accountable for the enterprise data platform, data engineering, data governance, AI and agentic AI governance, automation, software development, and data and AI enablement across Campbell Companies and Wheeler Machinery. The Director builds and leads the operating model, organization, and platform that turns trusted data into governed AI and measurable business outcomes. The Director operates as a peer to the Director of Information Technology, collaborating closely on shared infrastructure, security, and end-user delivery while maintaining clear ownership of the data, AI, and automation domain. This is a foundational leadership role, critical to Campbell Companies’ digital transformation strategy.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or a related technical field required.
Minimum of 10 years of progressive technology leadership with depth in data engineering, AI/ML, or software development, including at least 5 years leading multi-disciplinary teams and managing budgets.
Demonstrated experience building and operating data platforms (Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, Snowflake, or similar) at scale using a medallion or equivalent layered architecture.
Proven track record deploying and governing AI solutions in a production enterprise environment, including LLM/RAG solutions; hands-on experience with agentic AI is strongly preferred.
Experience establishing data governance and AI governance programs, not only operating within them.
Deep familiarity with Microsoft Fabric (Lakehouse, Warehouse, Data Factory, Real-Time Intelligence, Direct Lake), OneLake, Power BI, and Azure AI Services / Microsoft Foundry.
Strong working knowledge of data engineering practices: SQL, Python, Spark, orchestration, testing, observability, and DataOps.
Understanding of software development lifecycles, CI/CD, DevSecOps, infrastructure as code, and agile delivery.
Knowledge of cloud security and identity (e.g., Microsoft Entra ID), role-based access, and cost management in Azure.
Knowledge of data governance, cataloging, lineage, and master data management (e.g., Microsoft Purview).
Knowledge of AI governance frameworks (e.g., NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) and applicable data privacy and AI regulations.
Ability to translate risk and compliance requirements into practical, enforceable standards.
Understanding agent architectures, orchestration and tool-use patterns, Model Context Protocol, retrieval and vector search, and evaluation and tracing approaches for LLM systems.
Familiarity with agent harness concepts: guardrails, permissions, human-in-the-loop controls, and monitoring of autonomous workflows.
Familiarity with workflow automation and RPA platforms (e.g., Power Automate) and with integrating automation with AI agents.
Experience designing and scaling a center of excellence or shared-services organization, including operating models, intake processes, and service levels.
Experience building enablement and adoption programs and leading organizational change.
Ability to attract, develop, and retain scarce data and AI talent and build a succession-ready team.
Strategic thinker with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to executives and to link investments to business outcomes.
Strong collaboration and influencing skills; experience operating in a peer-leadership model.
Sound judgment in balancing speed and innovation against risk, security, and cost.
Vendor management and negotiation skills.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred.
Experience in equipment dealership, heavy equipment, manufacturing, distribution, or other asset-intensive industries preferred.
Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate, Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate, Azure AI Engineer Associate, or Azure Data Engineer Associate.
Governance or leadership credentials such as CDMP, IAPP AIGP, ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Implementer, or PMP are a plus.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the AI & Data strategy, multi-year roadmap, and operating model for Campbell Companies, aligned to business priorities and value targets.
Design and evolve the CoE organizational framework across data engineering, data platform, AI and agentic solutions, automation, software engineering, and data enablement, with clear ownership, intake, prioritization, and service-level expectations.
Establish and enforce enterprise standards, architecture review, and decision rights so that business-unit and vendor-led work follows CoE guardrails no ungoverned shadow AI, shadow data, or shadow automation.
Define KPIs and value-realization reporting (adoption, cost, quality, risk, and business outcomes) and present the AI & Data roadmap, governance posture, and results to the VP of Digital quarterly.
Own the enterprise data platform built on Microsoft Fabric: medallion Lakehouse architecture (Bronze/Silver/Gold), OneLake governance, Fabric Data Factory, Real-Time Intelligence, and Power BI semantic models.
Set architecture standards for ingestion, transformation, modeling, and serving, including reusable patterns, data contracts, and domain-aligned data products.
Govern OneLake naming conventions, workspace design, partitioning, shortcuts, and access patterns.
Manage Fabric capacity, performance, and cost (FinOps), including capacity planning, workload isolation, and chargeback or showback.
Integrate enterprise source systems (ERP, finance, service, parts, telematics, and equipment data) into a consistent, governed analytical foundation.
Lead data engineering practices: pipeline development, orchestration, testing, version control, and CI/CD for Fabric and Azure data assets.
Operate the data platform as a product, with defined SLAs, monitoring, observability, incident response, and root-cause management.
Embed data quality, lineage, and catalog management into all pipeline operations, with automated validation at each medallion layer.
Drive platform engineering and infrastructure-as-code standards in partnership with the Director of IT.
Own the data governance framework: data ownership and stewardship, business glossary, certified datasets, master and reference data, retention, and classification (e.g., Microsoft Purview).
Implement role-based, row-level, and column-level security and sensitivity labeling in partnership with Information Security.
Ensure compliance with applicable data privacy and AI regulations, customer and OEM/partner data agreements, and internal audit requirements.
Establish and enforce AI governance: use case registry, risk classification, approved tool and model standards, and sunset criteria.
Align the governance framework to recognized standards (e.g., NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) and chair the AI governance or review board.
Define requirements for model evaluation, testing, bias and safety review, human oversight, auditability, and incident response before and after production release.
Ensure AI solutions are deployed with the same rigor as any enterprise system, including security review, data-access controls, and change management.
Govern the evaluation, prototyping, and production deployment of AI solutions using Claude Enterprise (Claude Code), (Microsoft Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry Azure AI Services), and LLM/RAG frameworks.
Manage the AI portfolio from intake through value measurement, applying build-versus-buy-versus-partner discipline and retiring solutions that do not deliver.
Ensure AI use cases are risk-classified and approved before reaching production.
Partner with the Director of IT to support AI tools in production and manage helpdesk escalation.
Define the enterprise reference architecture for agentic AI: agent design patterns, orchestration, tool and API integration (including Model Context Protocol), memory, and retrieval.
Own the agent harness: shared runtime guardrails, evaluation and regression testing, tracing and observability, prompt and configuration management, cost and rate controls, and human-in-the-loop approval gates.
Establish identity, least-privilege access, and audit logging for agents, treating agents as governed non-human identities with a registry and lifecycle management.
Set autonomy tiers that define what agents may do independently versus with approval, and monitor agent behavior in production.
Lead the enterprise automation strategy across workflow automation (e.g., Power Automate), robotic process automation, API integration, and agent-driven processes.
Maintain an automation pipeline with intake, prioritization, ROI tracking, and support standards, and coordinate with business process owners to redesign processes before automating them.
Lead data and AI enablement: self-service analytics, certified datasets, reusable templates, and a champions network across business units.
Deliver training, data and AI literacy programs, responsible-use guidance, and a community of practice so employees can use approved tools safely and effectively.
Measure adoption and business impact, and lead change management for new data, AI, and automation capabilities.
Lead the Engineering & AI Solutions team: custom software development, legacy modernization, DevOps, and AI solution delivery.
Champion agile delivery practices, API design standards, secure development (DevSecOps), and CI/CD pipeline governance.
Set standards for the responsible use of AI-assisted development tools and code review.
Partner with the Director of IT on shared Azure tenant governance and DevOps standards.
Develop and manage the AI & Data operating and capital budgets, including cloud consumption, licensing, and capacity forecasting.
Manage strategic vendors, consulting partners, and platform relationships, including contract terms, security and data-use requirements, and performance.
Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing team of data engineers, platform engineers, software engineers, automation developers, and AI specialists, with defined career paths and succession coverage.
Poster a culture of rigor, experimentation within guardrails, documentation, and continual learning.
Performs all other duties as assigned.