The appliedAI Initiative elevates Europe’s industry to become shapers in the age of AI, creating a future that we desire to live in. Through our ecosystem of strong partners, comprehensive programs, services and solutions we advance companies holistically on their AI journey. With our uniquely diverse, interdisciplinary, and driven team, we build on deep technical expertise while specializing on applicability of the solutions. We share a mindset of collaboration and openness with our ecosystem of leading companies and tech players. Our common goal is to strengthen the European landscape, jointly creating unique knowledge for applying trustworthy AI. We believe that AI Agents will be the dominant topic for AI in the near future and that appliedAI with its partner ecosystem will impact how this technology is being used in industry and beyond in Europe.

As the Director (m/f/x) AI Transformation & Implementation, you will oversee our full Delivery organization - comprising cross-functional teams, seamlessly delivering strategy consulting, enablement, and engineering services to guide our customers leveraging AI for their business. Reporting to our Managing Director, Andreas Liebl, this is a pivotal executive role that blends strategic leadership, operational excellence, and innovation enablement. 
You will lead a team of experienced leaders, ensure world-class service delivery, drive client success, and future-proof our operations by spearheading the adoption of AI agent-based workflows. You will also own the continuous evolution of our delivery models and portfolio, enabling us to scale impact efficiently and sustainably. 

Your Responsibilities: 

Executive Leadership & Team Management 

• Inspire and scale a cross-functional Delivery organization, leading four teams with diverse expertise under a shared purpose and vision
• Lead with empathy and authenticity, building trust across all levels of the organization in a culture of openness and mutual respect
• Attract, develop, and retain exceptional talent, ensuring the right mix of skills to meet evolving client and business needs and fostering an environment where ideas thrive and people are supported and energized to do their best work
• Coach and empower team leads, promoting ownership, accountability, and collaboration
• Balance vision with execution, setting clear direction while staying available, present, and responsive to team dynamics and delivery realities

Client Delivery & Success 

• Ensure the consistent delivery of high-impact AI transformation programs, blending strategic consulting with hands-on implementation
• Maintain oversight of all active projects and engagements, ensuring client satisfaction and measurable success
• Develop and maintain executive-level client relationships, acting as a strategic partner for holistic AI transformation scenarios

Portfolio & Business Development 

• Evolve our service portfolio towards scalable solutions
• Identify opportunities to expand strategic accounts based on delivery insights

Operational Excellence & AI Integration 

• Optimize and standardize delivery processes, tooling, and knowledge management across teams
• Spearhead the development of Agentic AI based services to significantly enhance delivery efficiency
• Define and track delivery KPIs, ensuring continuous improvement and transparency

• 10+ years of experience in professional services, consulting, or technical delivery leadership roles
• Strong engineering background, ideally in software, data, or AI systems—able to engage credibly with technical teams and clients on C-Level
• Proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary service teams 
• Hands-on experience delivering complex AI transformation projects, from strategy to technical implementation
• Demonstrated success in driving measurable customer value and aligning solutions to real business outcomes
• Skilled in building scalable, process-driven technical delivery operations with a focus on quality and efficiency
• Experience integrating AI agents, automation, or intelligent tooling into delivery and operational workflows
• Leader-of-leaders: able to coach and scale senior engineering and delivery managers
• Commercial mindset with the ability to shape modular, scalable service offerings rooted in technical excellence
• On-site availability at IPAI in Heilbronn for 3-5 days per week

A highly qualified and motivated team of ~80 people on a journey to change the rapidly evolving European AI Landscape. These are your advantages:

• Experience the best of both worlds with our hybrid work model: Work from our vibrant office in Heilbronn (IPAI - Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence) and enjoy the flexibility to work remotely a few days each week
• Opportunity to shape a variety of projects and the development of new, original content based on the latest developments in AI and its adoption in businesses
• An atmosphere that encourages to think and experiment in new ways with software, hardware, and processes
• Hottest topics of the next decade and freedom and trust to initiate own activities
• A highly visible initiative that helps you build a large and high-level network of start-ups, partners, and tech companies
• Sports membership with Wellpass to access thousands of sports facilities all over Germany (and beyond)
• JobRad leasing option
• You can take a sabbatical of up to 3 months after 3 years of employment - because sometimes 30 vacation days are not enough to explore the beauty of this world.

Lucas Fernandes - Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist
appliedAI Initiative GmbH, August-Everding-Str. 25, 81671 München