IT ARCHITECT - APPLICATIONS (Responsible AI & Innovation)

IT ARCHITECT – APPLICATIONS (RESPONSIBLE AI AND INNOVATION)Houston, TX, is the fourth largest city in the country, with a budget of over 6 billion dollars, a workforce strong of 20,000 employees, and 23 departments with fascinating data and a wide range of questions. Houston promotes healthy and resilient communities through smart civic investments, dynamic partnerships, education, and innovation. It is a place where anyone can prosper and feel at home.The City offers its employees various benefits, including healthcare, wellness, professional development, and an excellent pension plan.The IT Architect – Applications (Responsible AI and Innovation) serves as the City's enterprise leader for artificial intelligence strategy, governance, and adoption. Reporting to the Office of the CIO – Performance, Architecture, and Innovation, this role advances responsible AI capabilities that improve operational efficiency, support data-driven decision-making, and enhance public services across all City departments. The position blends strategic architecture, innovation leadership, and hands-on solution engagement, ensuring that AI initiatives are secure, ethical, scalable, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards.Key ResponsibilitiesGovernanceLead the development and continuous refinement of the City's enterprise-wide AI strategy, aligned with City's priorities and departmental needs.Establish and maintain AI governance frameworks, ensuring transparency, accountability, data privacy, and regulatory compliance.Integrate AI oversight into existing governance bodies and support decision-making related to intake, review, and approval of AI initiatives.Use Case DevelopmentIdentify, evaluate, and prioritize impactful AI use cases; support departments in framing business challenges and translating them into AI opportunities.Conduct exploratory pilots and proofs-of-concept, including participation in procurement activities such as RFP development, vendor evaluations, and SOW reviews.Actively engage in hands-on experimentation with AI tools, models, and platforms to validate feasibility and guide architectural recommendations.Stakeholder EngagementFoster partnerships across City departments, providing clear communication on AI opportunities, risks, and value.Collaborate with all divisions across HITS and Federated IT to ensure convergence on AI initiatives.Support Digital Champions in departments through coaching, knowledge-sharing, and hands-on enablement to accelerate AI literacy and adoption.Capability BuildingServe as a technical advisor and architect on AI-related initiatives, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture, data platforms, and security standards.Review technical designs, data-integration patterns, and project documentation; identify risks and recommend mitigation strategies to delivery teams.Monitor AI industry trends, standards, and regulatory developments to keep the City's practices current and compliant.Other duties as assigned.QualificationsHands-on experience with modern AI and data platforms, including Azure AI, Microsoft Copilot, machine-learning frameworks, and API-based AI services.Strong understanding of data governance, security, privacy, and responsible-AI principles within regulated or public-sector environments.Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into viable AI opportunities, including assessing feasibility, risk, and expected impact.Extensive experience in enterprise IT architecture, particularly in the design or governance of AI, data, or analytics solutions.Proven ability to review or develop technical architectures, solution designs, reference architectures, and technical standards.Ability to lead pilots and proofs-of-concept and guide them toward scalable enterprise deployment.Experience supporting digital champions, communities of practice, or capability-building programs that promote adoption of emerging technologies.Strong communication and stakeholder-engagement skills, with the ability to collaborate across divisions, departments, and federated IT groups.Familiarity with IT governance processes, including RFP/SOW development, vendor evaluations, and project-risk assessment.Compliance & Security RequirementsCJIS Certification (or ability to obtain within 90 days of hire) is mandatory.Must successfully pass a comprehensive background check, including criminal history, and fingerprinting per Houston Police Department and CJIS standards.Candidate must maintain eligibility for access to sensitive law enforcement systems and data.Working ConditionsThere are no major sources of discomfort, i.e., essentially normal office environment with acceptable lighting, temperature, and air conditions. Significant time spent using computer display, keyboard, and mouse.