Senior Director, Enterprise AI Strategy & Operating Model

Lumen is the trusted network for the AI‑powered world, connecting people, data, and applications through our expansive fiber network and connected ecosystem. We enable secure, high‑performance connectivity across cloud, edge, and AI workloads for enterprises, governments, and communities.

At Lumen, you’ll work on infrastructure customers rely on today and build for what’s next, where performance, security, and resilience matter.

This is a high accountability environment where bold ideas drive real innovation for our customers, partners, and industry. The work is challenging, expectations are clear, and trust is built into how we operate. If you’re ready to take ownership, deliver meaningful impact, and help shape the future of AI‑ready connectivity, join us today.

The Role

At Lumen, we are building the digital backbone for the AI economy. As we accelerate our AI ambitions, we are looking for an experienced enterprise leader who can turn fragmented efforts into a disciplined system for prioritizing, building, governing, and scaling AI. In this role, you will define how AI work gets done across Lumen by establishing the operating model, governance, standards, and execution discipline that move initiatives from idea to pilot to production and scale. This is not a centralized AI delivery role. It is a high-impact leadership opportunity for a strategist and operator who can help teams across the company build AI consistently, responsibly, and with measurable business value.

The Main Responsibilities

Define and evolve the enterprise AI operating model

• Define how AI opportunities are identified, prioritized, governed, built, scaled, and measured across the enterprise

• Establish clear roles, decision rights, lifecycle stages, and accountability across functions

Build and run the AI portfolio system

• Create a transparent enterprise view of AI initiatives, including value, ownership, stage, risks, and dependencies

• Lead portfolio review mechanisms that support prioritization, investment decisions, and trade-offs

Drive prioritization and decision discipline

• Partner with AI, engineering, finance, HR, and business leaders to focus resources on the highest-value work

• Apply rigorous decision frameworks across feasibility, readiness, reuse, risk, and sequencing

Establish governance-by-design

• Establish risk-based governance that enables speed within clear guardrails

• Embed responsible AI practices into the delivery lifecycle rather than relying on post-hoc review

Define AI standards and quality bar

• Set enterprise standards for LLMs, agents, evaluation, monitoring, reliability, and human oversight in partnership with engineering

• Define a shared enterprise quality bar for AI performance, safety, and business impact

Enable reuse and enterprise scale

• Drive a build-once, reuse-many approach through shared patterns, agents, workflows, APIs, and reference architectures

• Reduce duplication and strengthen enterprise-wide AI capability

• Design hybrid human-agent operating models (with HR)

• Partner with HR to define how teams evolve from people-only models to people-plus-agent operating models

• Clarify ownership, accountability, and decision-making in hybrid work environments

Provide internal and external AI thought leadership

• Shape executive decision frameworks and the enterprise AI narrative

• Translate AI strategy into clear, credible messaging for internal and external audiences

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in AI, digital, or technology leadership

• 5+ years leading complex, cross-functional AI initiatives across business, engineering, and data organizations

• Deep expertise in modern AI, including LLMs, agents, evaluation, orchestration, monitoring, and production trade-offs

• Proven ability to design scalable execution systems, including operating models, governance frameworks, technical standards, portfolio management, value tracking, and executive decision forums

• Strong business and technical judgment across AI, engineering, product, and data

• Ability to balance speed, quality, risk, reuse, and enterprise impact

• Create clarity and momentum in ambiguous situationsInfluence senior leaders and stakeholders without direct authority

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex AI concepts into clear, executive-ready narratives

• Credibility as an internal and external AI thought leader

Compensation

This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience and other relevant factors.

Location Based Pay Ranges

$174,876 - $233,168 in these states: AL AR AZ FL GA IA ID IN KS KY LA ME MO MS MT ND NE NM OH OK PA SC SD TN UT VT WI WV WY

$183,621 - $244,827 in these states: CO HI MI MN NC NH NV OR RI

$192,364 - $256,486 in these states: AK CA CT DC DE IL MA MD NJ NY TX VA WA

Lumen offers a comprehensive package featuring a broad range of Health, Life, Voluntary Lifestyle benefits and other perks that enhance your physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. We're able to answer any additional questions you may have about our bonus structure (short-term incentives, long-term incentives and/or sales compensation) as you move through the selection process.

Learn more about Lumen's:

• Benefits (

• Bonus Structure

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Requisition #: 342380

Life at Lumen

Life at Lumen is human and connected, even in a fast moving, AI‑focused organization. We set clear expectations and trust people to meet them. With real support and shared accountability, teams collaborate better, move faster, and deliver meaningful outcomes.

Our Lumen 8 behaviors guide how we interact, make decisions, and work together, shaping a culture built to perform and win.

To learn more about Life at Lumen and how we live the Lumen 8, please visit:

Background Screening

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements. For more information on these checks, please refer to the Post Offer section of our FAQ page ( . Job-related concerns identified during the background screening may disqualify you from the new position or your current role. Background results will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This position is part of a bargaining unit and represented by a union. Depending upon the applicable collective bargaining agreement under which you may be hired, you may be: (a) required to join the union and pay union dues as a condition of employment; or, (b) required to pay union dues, but not join the union as a condition of employment; or (c) free to choose whether or not to join the union, but if you do join the union you would be obligated to pay union dues.

Equal Employment Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, citizenship, national origin, religion, veteran status, disability, genetic characteristic or information, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, pregnancy, or other legally protected status (collectively, “protected statuses”). We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination in any employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotion, benefits, discipline, termination, job assignments or training.

Privacy Notice

Lumen is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information collected during the recruitment and hiring process. Our Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect applicant information, as well as how individuals may request access to or deletion of their personal data.

To review Lumen’s Privacy Notice, please visit:

Disclaimer

The job responsibilities described above indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not intended to include a comprehensive inventory of all duties and responsibilities for this job. Job duties and responsibilities are subject to change based on evolving business needs and conditions.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Please be advised that Lumen does not require any form of payment from job applicants during the recruitment process. All legitimate job openings will be posted on our official website or communicated through official company email addresses. If you encounter any job offers that request payment in exchange for employment at Lumen, they are not for employment with us, but may relate to another company with a similar name.

Note: For union-represented postings, wage rates and ranges are governed by applicable collective bargaining agreement provisions.