AI Strategy and Implementation Manager

AI Strategy and Implementation Manager

Classification: Exempt

Location: Birmingham, AL

Reports To: Vice President of Technology

The AI Strategy Manager is a senior leader responsible for guiding Birmingham Fastener's transformation into an AI-enabled organization and helping change the way we do business. This role sets the AI vision and roadmap, identifies where AI can change how we manufacture, stock, quote, and deliver fasteners across our manufacturing and distribution network, and leads the people, data, and technology needed to deliver measurable results. The Manager partners with all departments to turn projects into tools people use every day and sets up the training and guidelines that keep adoption going.

Essential Functions/Duties

• Serve as a change agent across the organization, championing AI adoption, challenging traditional processes, and partnering with leaders and employees to identify opportunities for innovation, improve efficiency, and drive meaningful operational improvements.
• Evaluate data, systems, and processes across all locations to identify and prioritize practical AI solutions based on business impact, feasibility, and risk.
• Develop business cases, measure return on investment, and track improvements in key operational metrics, including margin, on-time delivery, inventory turns, equipment uptime, and customer retention.
• Ensure technology investments address genuine business needs without introducing unnecessary complexity.
• Partner with department leaders to redesign and improve core workflows using AI, including demand forecasting, inventory optimization, vendor-managed inventory, customer reporting, production planning, predictive maintenance, quality inspection, lab testing, quoting, pricing, order processing, and customer and sales support.
• Oversee AI solutions from pilot through full implementation, ensuring seamless integration with existing ERP, warehouse, manufacturing, and customer-facing systems while improving data quality, accessibility, and governance across business units and locations.
• Drive AI adoption by training employees at all levels and locations, communicating early successes, and helping teams understand how AI can improve their daily work.
• Establish and enforce policies governing data privacy, security, model oversight, and responsible AI use, ensuring alignment with company quality standards and regulatory requirements, including those applicable to aerospace and defense customers.
• Maintain a strong presence at manufacturing and distribution facilities to understand operations firsthand, build relationships, and identify practical opportunities for improvement. Define success metrics, communicate progress and risks to senior leadership, and translate technical concepts into actionable business insights.

Competencies

• Demonstrated experience designing, testing, and deploying technical solutions that reduce overhead while managing implementation timelines and budgets.
• Proven ability to establish clear direction, lead organizational change, and gain buy-in from executives, engineers, and plant-floor employees through effective communication and cross-functional collaboration.
• Skilled at aligning AI initiatives with measurable financial and operational outcomes in a manufacturing and distribution environment.
• Strong working knowledge of machine learning, generative AI, data engineering, and systems integration, with the technical understanding to guide decisions and challenge assumptions.
• Proven track record of attracting, developing, and retaining strong technical talent while building high-performing, collaborative teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the judgment to evaluate complex challenges, assess risks, make informed decisions with incomplete information, and ensure the ethical and responsible use of data and AI.
• Demonstrated accountability for outcomes, including establishing performance measures, monitoring progress, and adjusting strategies to achieve desired results.

Required Experience

• 5+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, analytics, or a related field including at least 2 years in a leadership role.
• Working/functional knowledge of modern AI, including machine learning, generative AI, and large language models, and the data infrastructure they require.
• Demonstrated success leading AI initiatives from strategy through implementation, with measurable improvements in business performance.
• Experience leading organizational change and driving adoption among non-technical teams, across multiple sites.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in manufacturing, distribution, and/or supply chain with ERP systems.

• Experience with forecasting and optimization in an industrial setting.
• Experience evaluating vendors, managing implementations, and measuring business results.

Required Education

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, engineering, or a related field

*An equivalent combination of education and professional experience will also be considered.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time, in-office position. Hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand. Also, periodic travel will be required to other branches, trade conferences and continuing education.

Physical/Cognitive Demands

This is largely a sedentary role; however, walking long distances (over uneven surfaces) to/within our production facility is required. Position also requires the ability to lift, bend and stand as necessary. Cognitive abilities required include deductive reasoning, information ordering, oral comprehension, problem sensitivity, written comprehension, and both written and verbal expression.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.