Senior AI Program Director

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP•Seattle, WA

44d•$280,000 - $350,000•Remote

About The Position

This is an exciting opportunity to work for one of the top law firms in the U.S.! Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is looking for a Senior AI Program Director to join our team in our Seattle office. This position offers the flexibility to be fully remote while working within reasonable commuting distance from any of our offices. This position leads the firm-wide Artificial Intelligence (AI) Program with a primary focus on value creation—identifying, building, and scaling AI-enabled products and workflows that measurably improve client outcomes and firm performance. Responsibilities include product management and portfolio leadership, firm-wide adoption champion and change management, client-facing support for RFPs and outside counsel guidelines (OCGs), and results-driven enablement across practice groups and business functions. The AI Program Director will also work closely and influence the AI governance model and partner with Information Security and Information Governance to ensure safe, compliant, and secure AI usage aligned with recognized standards. At Davis Wright Tremaine, you will find challenging assignments, opportunities for professional growth and community involvement, and a culture of inclusion. DWT fosters inclusiveness and authenticity. Regardless of position, everyone here has a voice and the support is unparalleled.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a relevant field (information systems, computer science, business, or JD) preferred.
10+ years of progressively responsible experience in technology or innovation, including 5+ years leading cross-functional programs or products; law firm or professional services experience preferred.
Proven product management leadership shipping AI or advanced automation solutions with clear business outcomes; fluency in discovery, MVPs, roadmapping, backlog management, user research, and product analytics.
Demonstrated success in firm-wide adoption and change management (communications, training programs, champions networks) with measurable improvements in usage and impact.
Strong understanding of LLM-enabled solutions and enterprise AI delivery (e.g., retrieval augmented generation, evaluation methods, telemetry, model lifecycle).
Experience establishing responsible AI governance aligned with industry frameworks (e.g., NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001) and familiarity with the EU AI Act’s risk-based approach.
Solid grasp of information security and privacy principles applied to AI (secure design, deployment and operation; data protection; vendor risk management) and experience partnering with InfoSec, Risk, and GC.
Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills; ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical audiences and drive consensus across practice groups and business functions.
Excellent organizational, prioritization, and decision-making skills; comfortable leading multiple initiatives across offices with a high standard of ethics and confidentiality.

Responsibilities

Value creation, product management, and portfolio leadership
Define the firm’s AI product strategy and offerings (internal and client-facing), including product charters, value hypotheses, MVPs, roadmaps, packaging, and success metrics.
Operate an intake and prioritization process to evaluate ideas across the firm; conduct discovery and user research; size opportunities; assess feasibility, ROI, and risk; and advance high-potential use cases to pilots and scale.
Lead cross-functional product teams (Innovation, IT, KM, PD, BD/Marketing, Pricing) to deliver AI-enabled solutions for high-impact workflows (e.g., research, drafting, review, intake, matter management).
Establish product KPIs and measurement plans; instrument usage analytics and feedback loops; run A/B tests and iterative improvements to drive adoption and sustained value.
Adoption, enablement, and change management
Partner with Professional Development to design tiered curricula (fundamentals, prompt techniques, practice-specific patterns, responsible use) and certify competency levels.
Build communities of practice and a champions network; publish playbooks and use-case libraries; provide office hours and coaching to accelerate skill development and behavioral change.
Implement structured change management (communications, readiness assessments, stakeholder engagement) to reduce friction and increase adoption across attorneys and staff.
Client engagement, RFPs, and OCG alignment
Lead AI-related responses for RFPs, DDQs, and client assurance requests; articulate our products, governance, security posture, and measurable outcomes.
Coordinate with Pricing and BD on differentiators, case studies, and value narratives; ensure OCGs that address AI are operationalized in policy and controls.
Marketing, brand, and recognition
Collaborate with Marketing to pursue industry awards and rankings that showcase responsible innovation and client impact; support thought leadership, speaking, and media opportunities.
Data, measurement, and business impact
Define and report KPIs such as adoption and active use rates, time-to-value, cycle-time reduction, error-rate improvement, cost savings, revenue contribution from AI-enabled offerings, client satisfaction, and training completion.
Publish dashboards and progress reports for leadership and stakeholders; benchmark against industry surveys and best practices.
Operations and delivery
Align AI architecture, integrations, and environments with IT standards; coordinate platform operations (e.g., model lifecycle, versioning, evaluation, and decommissioning).
Manage resourcing, vendor relationships, and program budget; evaluate build-vs-buy and total cost of ownership.
Responsible AI governance (positioned after product/adoption)
Partner with IG on the firm’s AI policy, standards, and operating model aligned to recognized frameworks (e.g., NIST AI RMF; ISO/IEC 42001).
Advise on governance processes for responsible AI (use-case intake and triage, risk assessments, model evaluation, human-in-the-loop controls, monitoring, auditability, incident response).
Track evolving regulatory obligations (e.g., EU AI Act) and client expectations; coordinate with IG, GC, and InfoSec to operationalize compliance.
Security, privacy, and risk management (positioned after governance)
Partner with Information Security to embed “secure by design” principles across AI systems and workflows, consistent with CISA and UK NCSC guidance.
Ensure data protection and confidentiality controls (access management, minimization, redaction/tokenization where appropriate, logging/telemetry, retention, data residency); lead vendor due diligence and third-party risk management for AI providers.