Director of AI (Birmingham)

Company Profile

Diversified Gas & Oil Corporation (DGOC) is a wholly‑owned subsidiary of Diversified Energy Company PLC, a U.S.‑based company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker symbol DEC. DGOC is an established owner and operator of producing conventional and unconventional natural gas and oil wells and midstream pipelines and compression stations concentrated in the Appalachian Basin in the United States. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, our field operations are located throughout the Appalachian Basin in the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In 2021, Diversified announced our expansion into our Central Regional Focus Area, which includes producing areas within Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.

Position Summary & Responsibilities

The Director of AI serves as the hands‑on technical leader within our AI Enablement team, responsible for building, supporting, and hardening the AI solutions and platforms that power our enterprise portfolio. Reporting to the VP of AI Enablement, this is first and foremost a builder’s role—spending the majority of the time designing and supporting AI solutions, resolving complex technical challenges, and evaluating emerging tools, while also coordinating delivery, managing partners, and enabling users. Working closely with the VP of AI—who leads strategy and executive engagement—this role turns strategy into reliable, working solutions.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and support generative and agentic AI solutions using Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, and the Power Platform.
• Act as the technical problem‑solver—diagnosing and resolving agent failures, workflow breakdowns, integration errors, and performance or accuracy issues.
• Evaluate, pilot, and benchmark emerging AI tools and models, and recommend fit‑for‑purpose approaches.
• Use Python and scripting for data preparation, automation, and rapid proof‑of‑concept development.
• Establish technical standards for prompt engineering, agent configuration, and reusable frameworks.
• Manage the promotion of solutions through Development, UAT, and Production environments, following DevOps and release‑management best practices.
• Translate business needs into technical solution approaches, integration points, and data dependencies, partnering with Data, IT, Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity teams on architecture, data sourcing, and deployment.
• Support the transition of successful prototypes into scalable, governed, production‑ready solutions and drive adoption across the organization.
• Identify, engage, and get maximum value from external experts, vendors, and delivery partners—leveraging specialized expertise rather than building everything in-house.
• Align partner workstreams to the roadmap, ensure adherence to architecture, security, and governance standards, and manage cost‑to‑value outcomes across vendor engagements.
• Help keep active AI initiatives on track alongside our PMO/BPA functions, and surface risks and resourcing needs early to the VP of AI Enablement.
• Provide training and hands‑on support on the AI tools and solutions this role builds, and create practical documentation and standard operating procedures (SOPs) so solutions can be used and maintained reliably.
• Support business champions (e.g., the AI SWAT Team) and help build AI fluency across the organization.

Position Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in software development, automation, IT solutions, analytics, or a related technical field.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field strongly preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Hands‑on experience with the Microsoft ecosystem—Azure, Microsoft 365, and the Power Platform.
• Practical experience building automations and workflows with Power Automate (cloud and/or desktop flows).
• Experience deploying, integrating, or managing solutions in Azure (e.g., functions, storage, identity, or AI services).
• DevOps experience promoting products through Development, UAT, and Production environments, including release management and deployment pipelines.
• Working knowledge of Python for automation, data processing, and prototyping.
• Hands‑on experience with Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, or building AI agents, with familiarity in large language models, prompt engineering, and agent orchestration.
• Strong troubleshooting and debugging skills across applications, workflows, integrations, and data pipelines.
• Experience managing vendors or delivery partners, including balancing cost against value delivered.
• Ability to explain technical concepts clearly through training, documentation, and hands‑on support, and to coordinate multiple projects and partners while keeping delivery on track.
• Strong communication skills and comfort working with both technical teams and business stakeholders.

Requested Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities

Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft Power Platform, Power Automate, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Python, Large Language Models, Prompt Engineering, Agent Orchestration, DevOps / CI‑CD, Dev‑UAT‑Prod Release Management, Snowflake, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Unstructured‑to‑Structured Data (OCR / Document Intelligence), AI Governance, Problem Solving, Troubleshooting, Vendor & Partner Management, Cost‑to‑Value Analysis, Consultative / Advisory Experience, Training & Enablement, Technical Documentation, Multi‑tasking, Coordination, Technical Zeal.

Office Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• Prolonged periods working at a desk in front of a computer.

Additional Requirements

Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at a time.