Director of Applied AI

Role Description

National Debt Relief (NDR) is seeking a technically fluent and strategically driven Director of Applied AI to lead the development, deployment, and enablement of Generative AI solutions across the business. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Data and AI and serving as a member of the Data & AI leadership team, this role is responsible for driving transformative impact through the implementation of AI technologies that improve operational efficiency, increase revenue, and elevate the client experience. The Director of Applied AI will lead a high-leverage team responsible for identifying opportunities, evaluating, and integrating AI solutions, and ensuring successful business outcomes. This role emphasizes hands-on technical leadership, sound judgment on when to build versus buy, and tight collaboration with stakeholders across Product, Engineering, Digital, Sales, and Operations. You will serve as both a thought leader and an execution leader—capable of designing, prototyping, and delivering AI applications ranging from intelligent agents and knowledge assistants to document processing and Gen AI insights. This is a unique opportunity for a technically strong, product-oriented AI leader to take on a director role with both strategic and hands-on responsibilities, including building and maturing the Applied AI function within a mission-driven company.

Responsibilities

• Own and drive NDR’s Applied AI strategy across domains including client support, sales enablement, employee productivity, and operational intelligence.
• Lead and grow a high-impact team of Applied AI Engineers.
• Partner with product, engineering, digital technology, and business stakeholders to identify AI opportunities with measurable business outcomes.
• Serve as a thought leader on the appropriate application of AI technologies, including areas where AI should not be applied.
• Lead the design, build, evaluation, and integration of AI solutions—whether built in-house or sourced from third parties—prioritizing scalable, secure, and cost-effective deployments.
• Deliver AI solutions in areas such as:
  • Digital and voice AI agents for client-facing platforms
  • RAG + LLM-based knowledge assistants for employee enablement
  • Document classification and OCR
  • GenAI-driven analytics, summarization, and insights
• Build and maintain roadmaps, delivery plans, and business alignment through world-class communication and executive engagement.
• Drive hands-on prototyping and development of AI capabilities in-house, and augment third-party solutions where needed.
• Ensure robust governance, security, and operational support for deployed solutions.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, tools, and evolving AI capabilities to continuously evolve NDR’s AI roadmap and investment strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in data science, business analytics, computer science, or a related field. An advanced degree is strongly preferred.
• 10 years of experience in data science, applied AI, or ML engineering roles, with at least 2 or more years in a leadership capacity.
• Demonstrated success leading the deployment of production-grade digital AI agents (chat or voice) for customer-facing platforms.
• Experience working with AI vendors, platforms, and APIs to deliver enterprise-ready solutions.
• Experience supporting AI-powered use cases across sales, service, and customer experience.
• Excellent communication skills, with ability to convey complex technical topics to executive and non-technical stakeholders.

Requirements

• Strong Python skills and hands-on experience with prototyping and integrating GenAI tools and APIs.
• Proficiency in SQL for data preparation and model enablement workflows.
• Deep understanding of LLMs, RAG architectures, vector databases, and prompt engineering.
• Strong project management and product collaboration skills; ability to prioritize impact-driven delivery.
• Experience managing and mentoring small cross-functional teams.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work under pressure, and deliver high-quality results in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation.
• Experience in financial services or a related industry.
• Experience with voice AI / conversational AI for telephony platforms.
• Familiarity with Salesforce integrations and data workflows.
• Exposure to Snowflake or similar enterprise data platforms.
• Background in vendor evaluation and enterprise technology procurement.
• Familiarity with modern conversational and voice AI platforms such as Cognigy, LiveKit, and ElevenLabs.
• Experience with LangGraph or other LLM / agentic orchestration frameworks.
• Hands-on experience building and deploying on AWS, with infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD practices (e.g., Terraform).
• Comfort working in a culture driven by the scientific method, analytics, and data, including rapid A/B testing and iteration.

Benefits

• Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Benefits
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Paid Holidays, Volunteer Time Off, Sick Days, and Vacation
• 12 weeks Paid Parental Leave
• Pre-tax Transit Benefits
• No-Cost Life Insurance Benefits
• Voluntary Benefits Options
• ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Discount
• Wellness Incentive Program