Director, Artificial Intelligence Engineering

Are you ready to explore a world of possibilities, both at work and during your time off? Join our American Airlines family, and you’ll travel the world, grow your expertise and become the best version of you. As you embark on a new journey, you’ll tackle challenges with flexibility and grace, learning new skills and advancing your career while having the time of your life. Feel free to enrich both your personal and work life and hop on board!

As a member of the Chief Technology (CTO) organization within Information Technology, the Director of Artificial Intelligence Engineering will be instrumental in driving the strategic vision and technical direction for both American’s Generative AI organization. You will pioneer projects that harness the power of artificial intelligence to solve complex problems and create significant business value. Our innovative and collaborative environment encourages creativity, continuous learning, and professional growth. Youll have the opportunity to work with a diverse team of experts, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to build scalable and impactful AI solutions. Your contributions will play a crucial role in shaping the future of our AI capabilities and driving the success of our organization.

As noted above, this list is intended to reflect the current job but there may be additional essential functions (and certainly non-essential job functions) that are not referenced. Management will modify the job or require other tasks be performed whenever it is deemed appropriate to do so, observing, of course, any legal obligations including any collective bargaining obligations.

Responsibilities of this role include the following:

• Develop and execute a strategic vision for integrating Generative AI (Gen AI) into enterprise-level products or services.
• Lead a team of data engineers, ML engineers, data scientists, and software engineers to design, develop, and maintain scalable AI platforms and infrastructure, and implement Gen AI models into production.
• Lead the evaluation and selection of Gen AI technologies, frameworks, and tools to ensure optimal performance and scalability.
• Develop and enforce Responsible AI practices for Gen AI development, deployment, and ongoing support.
• Present Gen AI strategies, architectures, and results to executive leadership and other stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy and security standards in all Gen AI initiatives.
• Stay updated on the latest trends, tools, and techniques in Gen AI.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to AI engineering teams, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to evolve capabilities and facilitate practical automation solutions that can be consumed in a self-service manner.
• Promote the American Airlines five leadership attributes:
  • Caring – We care about all team members
  • Collaboration – We succeed as a team
  • Development – We build future leaders
  • Results – We drive to be the best
  • Future – We continually challenge the status quo

Minimum Qualifications- Education & Prior Job Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or related field
• 5-8 years of leadership experience, including experience leading other technical leaders and team members
• 5-8 years of experience in leading Agile and DevOps practices to manage technology delivery
• 5-8 years of experience leading AI/ML teams, managing large-scale AI solutions, with a focus on natural language processing (NLP) techniques
• Strong understanding of cloud computing principles, including infrastructure for AI, microservices architecture, and micro models.
• Strong knowledge of AI architecture, cloud computing, and scalable AI infrastructure (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, including executives and board members.
• Demonstrated experience working with cross-functional teams (e.g., engineering, product management, legal, ethics, data science) to deliver AI solutions.

Preferred Qualifications- Education & Prior Job Experience

• Advanced degree (Masters, Ph.D.) in Data Science, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or related field
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, or Java.
• 2 years of experience working with Generative AI foundation models (e.g., GPT, Llama, Gemini)
• Demonstrated experience managing large, complex projects, including budgeting, timelines, and resource allocation
• Experience with AI-specific platform technologies (e.g., NVIDIA GPU Cloud, Lambda Labs, or other AI-optimized infrastructure).
• Experience developing and integrating APIs to support AI model access and deployment across applications.
• Proficiency with microservices architecture for scalable and modular AI services
• Familiarity with continuous monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack) to ensure AI platform reliability.
• Proven ability to build and facilitate relationships at all levels of the organization, as well as manage relationships with 3rd party providers and partners.

Skills, Licenses & Certifications

• Ability to drive for results with an aptitude for engaging employees collaboratively across multiple workgroups
• Ability to think strategically and use sound judgment in making decisions
• Ability to concurrently handle multiple responsibilities while working with others
• Excellent analytical, problem solving, and organizational skills
• Strong understanding of software development principles and practices.
• Strong experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud).
• Knowledge of version control systems (e.g., Git).
• Strong experience with AI/ML frameworks and libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Keras
• Commitment to staying updated with the latest technology trends
• Attention to detail and a commitment to producing high-quality work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Knowledge of infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) for automating and scaling environments.

Feel free to take advantage of all that American Airlines has to offer:

• Travel Perks: Ready to explore the world? You, your family and your friends can reach 365 destinations on more than 6,800 daily flights across our global network.
• Health Benefits: On day one, you’ll have access to your health, dental, prescription and vision benefits to help you stay well. And that’s just the start, we also offer virtual doctor visits, flexible spending accounts and more.
• Wellness Programs: We want you to be the best version of yourself – that’s why our wellness programs provide you with all the right tools, resources and support you need.
• 401(k) Program: Available upon hire and, depending on the workgroup, employer contributions to your 401(k) program are available after one year.
• Additional Benefits: Other great benefits include our Employee Assistance Program, pet insurance and discounts on hotels, cars, cruises and more

From the team members we hire to the customers we serve, inclusion and diversity are the foundation of the dynamic workforce at American Airlines. Our 20+ Employee Business Resource Groups are focused on connecting our team members to our customers, suppliers, communities and shareholders, helping team members reach their full potential and creating an inclusive work environment to meet and exceed the needs of our diverse world.

Are you ready to feel a tremendous sense of pride and satisfaction as you do your part to keep the largest airline in the world running smoothly as we care for people on life’s journey? Feel free to be yourself at American.