AI Development Manager

AI Development Manager

Software Engineering Leadership • Applied AI • Internal Tools & Automation

About the Role

The AI Development Manager leads the software development team responsible for building internal tools, automation, and AI agents that accelerate how a modern manufacturing business operates—from the shop floor to senior leadership.

You will own the team, the delivery, and the execution of the roadmap. This role blends hands‑on technical leadership with strategic ownership: setting the technical bar, making architecture decisions, and serving as the primary interface between software development and the rest of the business.

You will keep the team on the leading edge of applied AI—both in how they build and in what they build—integrating AI‑assisted development practices and shipping practical AI agents that remove manual work and drive measurable operational outcomes. This is a build‑it leadership role with scope that grows as the technology organization expands.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership — Manage, mentor, and grow the software development team; own hiring, 1:1s, performance management, and team structure while maintaining a high technical bar.
• Delivery Ownership — Own execution, quality, and cadence; establish sprint structure, release processes, source control discipline, and staging workflows that enable fast shipping without production risk.
• Roadmap Execution — Translate company priorities into a sequenced, high‑impact roadmap; balance competing requests and keep the team focused on the most valuable work.
• Business Partnership — Serve as the primary point of contact between software development and leaders across Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Finance, and IT; understand pain points and set clear expectations.
• Applied AI & Agent Development — Evaluate emerging AI models, tools, and frameworks; adopt what matters; integrate AI‑assisted development into daily practice; build AI agents and automation that drive real operational outcomes.
• Technical Standards — Set technical standards, own architecture decisions, guide code review practices, and make consequential technology choices.
• Adoption & Outcomes — Ensure shipped tools are adopted and deliver measurable results; coordinate rollout, gather feedback, track usage, and iterate based on real‑world input.

Qualifications

Experience

• 5+ years of professional software development experience, including 2+ years directly managing or leading a software team.
• Proven track record shipping internal tools, web applications, data integrations, ERP integrations, or operational software with measurable business impact.
• Experience owning delivery for a team: prioritization, sprint cadence, release management.
• Experience in manufacturing, industrial, or operationally complex environments strongly preferred.

Technical Skills

• Strong hands‑on foundation in modern web development (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, React/Vue, relational databases, SQL, REST APIs, system architecture).
• Deep fluency in applied AI: building and integrating AI agents and automations (LLM APIs, agent frameworks, retrieval, tool/function calling).
• Ability to evaluate fast‑moving AI tools, separate value from hype, and drive adoption across a team.
• Proven ability to recruit, develop, and retain technical talent while holding the team accountable to timelines and quality.
• Excellent communication with both developers and non‑technical leaders; able to own strategic “what and why” alongside delivery “when.”
• Comfortable operating in fast‑moving environments with shifting priorities and evolving structure.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent experience.