AI & Automation Lead

Job Description

Job Description

AI & Automation Lead – Harrison, OH

Are you passionate about using artificial intelligence and automation to solve real-world business challenges? At Cincinnati Incorporated, you’ll have the opportunity to shape how AI is applied across the organization, streamline complex processes, and develop practical solutions that improve efficiency, productivity, and decision-making. If you enjoy combining technical expertise with creative problem-solving and cross-functional collaboration, this role puts you at the forefront of innovation.

Cincinnati Incorporated is seeking a hands-on, strategic AI & Automation Lead to own our AI and automation roadmap, identify high-value opportunities, build and deploy solutions, and expand AI capabilities across the business. Reporting to the VP of IT, this player-coach role combines solution development with technical leadership, change management, and AI governance. You’ll work closely with teams across the organization to transform manual processes, integrate AI with existing business systems, and ensure solutions are secure, reliable, and deliver measurable results.

We proudly support veterans and military families and strongly encourage U.S. military veterans to apply. The technical aptitude, problem-solving skills, adaptability, and commitment to teamwork developed through military service can translate exceptionally well into this role and are highly valued at our organization.

About Cincinnati Incorporated:

Cincinnati Incorporated (CI) has been manufacturing industrial machinery since the late 1890s and remains a respected name in the fabrication industry. Our success is built on a culture of integrity, craftsmanship, innovation, and hard work. We take pride in our people and offer a competitive, comprehensive benefits package designed to support you both professionally and personally.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• AI Strategy & Roadmap: Own the company’s AI and automation roadmap. Take in ideas from across the business, rank them by value and feasibility, and report progress and realized benefits to IT and business leadership.
• Process Analysis: Map out complex business processes and identify inefficiencies, data silos, and manual bottlenecks that are ripe for automation.
• Solution Strategy: Identify which tools (AI or otherwise) are best suited for speeding processes.  Estimate the value of the proposed solution based on cost, speed, and reliability.
• Rapid Prototyping & Deployment: Build and iterate solutions using AI and other development tools to create seamless, automated loops.
• Lifecycle Management: Provide production support for in-scope solutions, and work with IT operations to set up a support model that scales as the portfolio grows.
• Solution Quality & Data Protection: Ensure that all implementations follow strict data privacy standards and that hallucinations or errors are mitigated through robust testing and human checkpoints.
• Adoption & Change Management: Lead the change management needed to embed AI into daily work. Partner with the business's functional experts to increase knowledge and utilization of automation tools.
• AI Governance: Head the AI Governance Team as it maintains the AI acceptable-use policy, facilitates the risk review process for new use cases, prioritizes projects and partners with the IT infrastructure team to ensure data protection and IP safeguards.

Essential Skills, Knowledge, and Behaviors:

• AI Fluency:  Deep understanding of RAG architecture, agent frameworks and tool integration (e.g., MCP), model selection, and evaluation and testing of AI outputs.
• Analytical Mindset: Proven ability to translate messy, manual business processes into clean, structured data flows.
• Systems Integration: Experience connecting AI to legacy business systems.  A working knowledge of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), manufacturing-oriented business systems, such as Epicor, and collaboration tools, such as Google Workspace.
• Development: Proficiency in Python and other languages, familiarity with delivering solutions using generative AI and other automation tools, and ability to build usable internal tools.
• Soft Skills: Team-oriented and skilled in working within a collaborative environment.  Customer service oriented. Self-motivated and self-directed. Able to explain AI clearly to executives and shop-floor staff alike.
• Leadership: Proven record of leading projects that span multiple departments and of influencing stakeholders without direct authority.
• Experience: 3-5+ years in software development, automation or data roles, including 2+ years delivering generative AI solutions. 
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in an information technology-related field or equivalent experience.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Physical Demands:

This position is very active and requires frequent standing, bending, kneeling, stooping, crouching, crawling, and climbing of ladders. Must be able to use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; must be able to lift a minimum of 50 lbs. frequently. Specific vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment:

The noise level in the work environment can be loud occasionally. This is a high-travel position with significant overnight travel required.

EEO Vets/Disabled:

This role does not offer sponsorship employment benefits. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship.

Benefits Include:

✓ Paid training
✓ Paid vacations
✓ Paid holidays and personal days
✓ Medical insurance (including HSA)
✓ Dental insurance
✓ Vision insurance
✓ Accident insurance
✓ Life insurance (AD&D)
✓ Disability insurance
✓ Generous 401(k) employer match
✓ Flexible spending account
✓ Tuition reimbursement
✓ Employee assistance program
✓ Parental leave