Director – AI/ML

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in India.

📋 Description

• Take ownership and lead the design and implementation of production-quality agentic AI/ML solutions and platforms for global enterprise clients.

• Convert intricate business requirements into decisive, prescriptive architectures and implementation strategies that utilize contemporary agentic stacks, LLMs, and cloud-native AI/ML platforms.

• Spearhead Zero-to-One delivery for the India Agentic Delivery Center, guiding projects from initial discovery to the deployment of production-ready agents and closed-loop intelligence workflows.

• Ensure timely delivery of engagements within defined scope and with quantifiable business value for clients, including under fixed-price and outcome-based commercial agreements.

• Articulate the business value, ROI, and risks associated with agentic solutions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executives and C-suite audiences.

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners, including global leadership, US-based engineers, data engineering, analytics, partner, and marketing teams to ensure successful client engagements.

• Work alongside the Global Leadership team to prioritize agentic solutions and accelerators based on market demand, key technology stacks (e.g., Snowflake, AWS), and phData's strategic roadmap.

• Provide technical and strategic guidance during client workshops, discovery sessions, architecture reviews, and delivery governance forums.

• Act as the primary escalation point for India-based delivery, promptly addressing technical issues, client misalignments, and performance concerns with urgency and accountability.

• Maintain high standards in deliverables by adhering to engineering best practices, including robust SDLC processes, code reviews, documentation, testing, and production-readiness criteria.

• Design and establish the foundational India Agentic Delivery Center, creating delivery models, operational mechanisms, and integrations with the wider consulting organization.

• Recruit, onboard, and nurture a top-tier team of architects and engineers, setting high technical expectations and ensuring consistent performance management and evaluation.

• Drive the creation of reusable accelerators, modular agentic codebases, and solution templates applicable across various clients and industries.

• Contribute to internal initiatives such as IP development, capability management, partner engagement, and thought leadership related to AI/ML and agentic architectures.

• Represent phData with professionalism in all interactions, clearly communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders and serving as the face of the India agentic team with clients.

• Function as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders and C-suite executives, shaping AI/ML and agentic roadmaps, influencing strategic choices, and guiding long-term transformation efforts.

• Mentor and coach architects and engineers, promoting a culture of extreme ownership, high performance, continuous learning, and constructive feedback.

• Help define and refine global practice standards, technical expectations, and delivery frameworks for agentic AI/ML solutions, ensuring alignment across regions.

• Propel the strategic growth of the Agentic Delivery Center by identifying new opportunities, informing go-to-market strategies, and collaborating with alliances and marketing on field-facing assets.

⛳️ Requirements

• 14–18 years of experience in the IT sector, preferably in IT services or consulting firms.

• 8+ years of hands-on architectural experience with a proven history of designing and implementing production-grade AI/ML platforms and solutions.

• 5+ years of leadership experience in a Zero-to-One environment, building and scaling high-performing engineering teams from scratch.

• 3+ years of consulting leadership experience, including managing projects, maintaining client relationships, and aligning technical solutions with business value.

• Demonstrated ability to deliver complex technical projects under fixed-price or outcome-based commercial agreements, focusing on project margins and delivery efficiency.

• In-depth technical knowledge of Large Language Models (LLMs), agentic architectures, and retrieval frameworks, including the development of modular solutions and reusable accelerators across clients.

• Practical experience with LLM orchestration frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex) and the broader agentic stack beyond standard GenAI chat applications.

• Extensive expertise in cloud-native AI/ML platforms (e.g., AWS SageMaker, Bedrock, GCP Vertex AI, Azure ML, AI Studio, Databricks) and building robust, automated data and ML pipelines.

• Proven capability in deploying and maintaining machine learning models in production settings, emphasizing scalability, reliability, monitoring, and lifecycle management.

• Demonstrated proficiency in using agentic AI and assisted development tools and methodologies to accelerate delivery while ensuring quality and alignment of outputs.

• Comprehensive ownership of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), including design, development, testing, deployment, observability, and incident response for AI/ML solutions.

• Experience delivering projects for external or internal clients in a professional services or consulting capacity.

• Ability to decompose complex AI/ML and agentic challenges into structured, actionable workstreams and drive them to successful resolutions.

• Proven experience navigating complex, multi-stakeholder client environments, including US-based enterprises, and influencing senior and C-level stakeholders.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to convey technical concepts, trade-offs, and business value clearly.

• Established track record of building, leading, and collaborating with distributed, cross-functional engineering teams across regions.

• Demonstrated ability to take extreme ownership of delivery outcomes, manage multiple priorities, and handle high-pressure escalations with composure and rigor.

• Commitment to fostering a high-performance, feedback-driven culture focused on accountability, continuous improvement, and delivery excellence.

• 4-year Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience).

🏝️ Benefits

• Remote-First Workplace

• Medical Insurance for Self & Family

• Medical Insurance for Parents

• Term Life & Personal Accident

• Wellness Allowance

• Broadband Reimbursement

• Continuous learning and growth opportunities to enhance your skills and expertise

• Other benefits include paid certifications, professional development allowance, and bonuses for creating company-approved content