AI Implementation & Solutions Associate Director

JOB REQUISITION AI Implementation & Solutions Associate Director LOCATION CHICAGO ADDITIONAL LOCATION(S) HOUSTON JOB DESCRIPTION You Belong Here The Protiviti Career provides opportunity to learn, inspire, and advance within a collaborative and inclusive culture.  We hire curious individuals for whom learning is a passion. We lean into our mission: We Care. We Collaborate. We Deliver. At every level, we champion leaders who live our values of integrity, inclusion, innovation, and commitment to success . Imagining our work as a journey, we believe integrity guides our way, inclusion moves us forward together, innovation creates new destinations, and our commitment to success empowers us to deliver on our vision to be the most trusted global consulting firm. Where We Need You Protiviti is looking for a Technology Consulting Associate Director to join our growing Enterprise Data Analytics and AI team. What You Can Expect The Factory Associate Director will lead the client and engagement lifecycle for AI Factory opportunities, from initial qualification and solution shaping through contracting, delivery, and follow-on planning. This person will work closely with clients, account teams, AI architects, engineers, and other specialists to define achievable project scopes, prepare proposals and statements of work, manage delivery, and maintain strong client relationships. The role requires a combination of consulting, sales, project management, and technical leadership. Although programming will not be the primary day-to-day responsibility, the Factory Associate Director must be well versed in AI solution development and capable of contributing directly to architecture, prototyping, programming, troubleshooting, and solution refinement when needed. What Will Help You Be Successful • You are passionate about building trusted relationships with client executives, business stakeholders, and technology leaders. • You enjoy helping clients solve complex business challenges through innovative AI-enabled solutions and delivering exceptional client experiences. • You excel at developing new business opportunities, supporting sales pursuits, and expanding client relationships through networking, collaboration, and strategic client engagement. • You communicate complex technical concepts effectively and can translate AI capabilities into meaningful business value for diverse audiences. • You are viewed as a trusted advisor who can lead cross-functional teams, drive successful client outcomes, and foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning. Do Your Talents Include the Following? Client Development and Sales Support • Successfully pursuing business development opportunities and identifying and implementing strategies to obtain new work or clientele. • Partnering with account teams to qualify AI opportunities and determine their fit for the Factory delivery model. • Leading discovery conversations to understand client objectives , users, workflows, data, systems, constraints, and expected value. • Helping clients define a focused initial use case that can be demonstrated and evaluated through a prototype or pilot. • P reparing proposals, statements of work, estimates, presentations, and other pursuit materials. • Defining project scope, deliverables, milestones, responsibilities, assumptions, exclusions, and acceptance criteria. • Presenting the Factory’s capabilities and delivery approach to client executives and technical stakeholders. • Identifying opportunities to transition successful Factory engagements into pilots, production implementations, or broader transformation initiatives. Client and Engagement Management • Serving as a primary client contact throughout the engagement. • Establishing project governance, communication expectations, delivery cadence, and decision-making processes. • Managing scope, schedule, budget, resources, risks, dependencies, issues, and stakeholder expectations. • Facilitating project kickoffs, working sessions, status meetings, demonstrations, feedback reviews, and executive updates. • Coordinating cross-functional teams that may include AI engineers, solution architects, designers, data specialists, industry SMEs, risk professionals, and change specialists. • Translating client feedback into clear, prioritized direction for the delivery team. • Identifying and addressing scope changes before they affect project commitments. • Managing engagement financials and supporting forecasting, invoicing, and other project administration. • Ensuring that projects conclude with documented outcomes, recommendations, and an agreed path forward. AI Solution Delivery and Technical Leadership • Understanding how AI-enabled applications are designed, developed, tested, deployed, and integrated into client environments. • Guiding the development of prototypes and pilots that address real-world business problems and demonstrate measurable value. • Evaluating technical feasibility, delivery complexity, data readiness, integration needs, and implementation risks. • Working with cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud to support AI solution delivery. • Applying knowledge of generative AI, machine learning, agentic systems, retrieval-augmented generation, APIs, data integration, and modern application architectures. • Using programming languages and frameworks relevant to AI application development, including Python, JavaScript or TypeScript, and Node.js. • Understanding backend services, APIs, application logic, data pipelines, and frontend application development. • Reviewing solution architectures, implementation approaches, and technical deliverables. • Contributing hands-on to architecture, programming, prototyping, troubleshooting, or solution refinement when needed. • Supporting the transition of prototypes into integrated pilots or scalable operational solutions. • Applying Responsible AI, security, data privacy, access control, and governance considerations throughout delivery. Factory Leadership and Operations • Maintaining visibility into the Factory opportunity pipeline, active engagements, upcoming demand, and team capacity. • Coordinating staffing and project assignments with Factory leadership and technical leads. • Helping prioritize engagements based on client need , strategic value, readiness, and available resources. • Establishing consistent delivery practices, templates, quality standards, and project checkpoints. • Coaching engineers and other team members on client communication, delivery expectations, and consulting practices. • Capturing reusable assets, delivery patterns, lessons learned, and estimates that improve future engagements. • Monitoring client satisfaction, delivery performance, and the progression of Factory work into follow-on opportunities. Your Educational and Professional Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science , Engineering, Information Systems, Data Science, Business, or a related discipline; equivalent professional experience will also be considered. • 9+ years of experience designing, delivering, or managing technology, data, automation, software, or AI solutions. • Demonstrated experience managing client engagements and multidisciplinary delivery teams. • Experience supporting sales pursuits and developing proposals, estimates, and statements of work. • Experience managing project scope, schedules, budgets, resources, risks, and engagement financials. • Hands-on experience with generative AI experimentation, prototyping, or AI-enabled application development. • Track record of owning client relationships and managing multi-workstream engagements from kickoff through delivery. • Working proficiency in Python and/or JavaScript or TypeScript, with the ability to understand, review, and contribute to application code. • Experience with at least one major cloud platform, such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud. • Strong executive communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills. • Experience in consulting or another client-service environment is strongly preferred. • Experience managing rapid prototypes, proofs of concept, pilots, or agile software delivery is preferred. • Relevant cloud, AI, agile, or project management certifications are preferred. Our Hybrid Workplace Protiviti practices a hybrid model, which is a combination of working in person with a purpose and working remotely. This model creates meaningful experiences for our people and our clients while offering a flexible environment. The ratio of remote to in-person requirements vary by client, project, team, and other business factors. Our people work both in-person in local Protiviti offices and on client sites, which can include local or out-of-state travel based on our projects and client requests and commitments. Starting salary is based on a full-time equivalent schedule. Placement in the range is dependent upon experience, skills and geographic work location. Below is the salary range for this job. $162,000.00 - $276,000.00 Our annual bonus plan provides eligible employees additional cash and/or discretionary stock compensation opportunities. Below is the bonus target opportunity for this job. 16% The total cash range is estimated from the sum of the base salary range plus the bonus target opportunity. Below is the estimated total cash range for this job. $187,920.00 - $320,160.00 Employees are eligible for medical, dental, and vision coverages, FSA and HSA healthcare accounts, life and accident insurance, adoption and fertility assistance, paid parental leave up to 10 weeks, and short/long term disability. We offer eligible employees a company 401(k) savings and investment plan with an employer match of 50% on the first 6% of your contributions. We provide Choice Time Off (CTO) for vacation, personal needs, and sick time. The amount of (CTO) varies based on years of service. New hires receive up to 20 days of CTO per calendar year. Protiviti also recognizes up to 11 paid holidays each calendar year. Learn more about the variety of rewards we offer at Protiviti at https://www.protiviti.com/sites/default/files/2026-01/2026_u.s._benefit_highlights.pdf . Any benefits outlined are part of our reward offerings for full-time employees in the U.S. Your Open Enrollment materials, insurance contracts, plan documents and Summary Plan Descriptions together comprise the official plan document which legally governs the administration of your benefit plans. Protiviti reserves the right to terminate or amend your benefit plans in any way and at any time. Protiviti is an Equal Opportunity Employer. M/F/Disability/Veteran As part of Protiviti’s employment process, any offer of employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check. Protiviti is committed to being an equal employment employer offering opportunities to all job seekers, including individuals with disabilities. If you believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or to apply for a position, please contact us by sending an email to HRSolutions@roberthalf.com or call 1.855.744.6947 for assistance. In your email please include the following: • The specific accommodation requested to complete the employment application. • The location(s) (city, state) to which you would like to apply. For positions located in San Francisco, CA: Protiviti will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For positions located in Los Angeles County, CA: Protiviti will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Protiviti is not registered to hire or employ personnel in the following states – West Virginia, Alaska. Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements or offer attestation services. JOB LOCATION IL PRO CHICAGO