IT Director of Data & AI

Amplify Cell Technologies is seeking an IT Director of Data & AI in Byhalia, MS. This role involves leading data and AI initiatives, defining strategies for data management, and collaborating with senior leadership to enhance business value. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in data governance, machine learning, and experience in driving transformation initiatives. Responsibilities include building a high-performing team, establishing data governance, and implementing AI solutions.
Brief Description

About Amplify Cell Technologies:

Amplify Cell Technologies is a manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries for the commercial vehicle industry. Our commitment to innovation and sustainability drives our mission to provide reliable and efficient energy solutions. As part of our dedication to operational excellence, we prioritize the health, safety and environmental well-being of our employees and the communities we serve.

What You Will Spark At Amplify

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced IT Director of Data & AI to join our team. The IT Director of Data & AI will play a pivotal role on the technology leadership team, reporting directly to the CIO. This strategic and high-impact position is responsible for defining and executing an ambitious vision for data, analytics, and artificial intelligence across the organization. The leader will oversee the function and spearhead the implementation of data, and AI solutions that are tightly aligned with corporate objectives and deliver measurable business value. With a strong foundation in data management and governance, data science, and machine learning, the ideal candidate brings a history of successfully leading data & AI transformation initiatives. This position will be accountable for establishing a world-class data & AI backbone that fuels innovation across advanced manufacturing, product engineering, and operations. Success in this role requires deep technical expertise, sharp business insight, and the ability to influence and collaborate with senior stakeholders in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities
• Define and execute a comprehensive strategy that enables scalable, secure, and resilient data & AI platforms to support the company's transformation into a data-driven and AI-empowered manufacturing leader.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the CIO, and executive leadership team, driving convergence of business strategy and technology innovation.
• Champion the enterprise roadmap for data fabric architecture, and AI enablement with clear milestones, business cases, and KPIs.
• Build, lead, and inspire a high-performing team of data engineers, data scientists, and AI/ML specialists.
• Establish operating models, agile governance, and funding mechanisms that accelerate delivery and foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and accountability.
• Develop and operationalize enterprise data and AI strategies, including data mesh, master data management (MDM), metadata, and AI ethics frameworks.
• Implement rigorous data governance and compliance programs to ensure data quality, integrity, privacy, and adherence to industry regulations.
• Partner with Risk, Legal, and Compliance to address regulatory and audit requirements related to data and AI.
• Drive enterprise AI and machine learning initiatives from R&D to deployment, enabling, predictive maintenance, digital twins, intelligent automation, and advanced analytics across the manufacturing value chain.
• Establish AI Centers of Excellence (CoEs) and promote internal capabilities in algorithm development, model training, monitoring, and optimization.
• Facilitate cross-industry partnerships and academic collaborations to stay ahead of innovation curves.
• Implement advanced analytics techniques to derive actionable insights from data.
• Utilize data-driven decision-making to optimize business processes and improve performance.
• Serve as the executive sponsor for enterprise data and AI programs, ensuring business ownership, adoption, and accountability.
• Partners with the executive team, and business unit leaders to embed data and AI into core business processes and decision-making.
• Lead enterprise-wide management efforts to foster data literacy and empower employees with self-service tools and trusted insights.
• Define and track enterprise KPIs and OKRs to measure business impact, technical health, and AI/ML ROI.
• Establish risk and resilience frameworks for enterprise architecture and data platforms, ensuring operational continuity and cybersecurity.
• Deliver regular executive-level reporting and insights to the CIO and Executive team on key data and digital transformation outcomes.
• Stay abreast of emerging trends and technologies in data science and AI.
• Drive innovation by exploring new methodologies and tools to enhance data capabilities.

Requirements

Qualifications
• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in data engineering, and advanced analytics in complex, global enterprises ideally in a manufacturing, life sciences, or high-tech environment.
• 5-7+ years in a leadership role with experience bringing a data infrastructure to the next level including the overhaul of data, pipelines, AI/machine learning, architecture and modeling.
• Strategic advisor to CIO, and other key executives for all aspects of AI, data and analytics.
• Demonstrated expertise in data governance and management principles, with a deep understanding of data management, quality, integrity, and security best practices.
• Hands-on experience in AI/ML solution development, including MLOps, model governance, and real-time inferencing platforms.
• Experienced in large scale data lakes, data analytics, data governance, and data lifecycle management.
• Experience building real-time data solutions and processes.
• Experience building and integrating web analytics solutions.
• Advanced proficiency in data and AI toolsets, including Python, SQL, Spark, TensorFlow, big data frameworks and cloud-native services.
• Strong leadership, communication, and organizational change skills; experience leading large, distributed teams and managing large portfolios.

At Amplify, we believe our ability to innovate creative solutions for our diverse customers and transform the way we use energy starts and ends with our people. We are invested in cultivating a culture of inclusion and belonging where all our people feel a sense of community and support that allows them to be more innovative, collaborative, and creative.

At Amplify, our people power our mission of producing high quality, leading battery technologies. We believe creating an environment that is respectful and inclusive allows all our people an opportunity to thrive, innovate, and contribute to developing creative and reliable competitive energy solutions.

We believe in a work environment that mirrors the diverse community that we are a part of and that we serve. To accomplish our mission of producing high quality, leading battery technologies, we are working to create a culture of inclusion and belonging that drives innovation, collaboration, and creativity for all our people.

This position is domiciled in Byhalia, MS.

On-site