AI Director

Who We Are

Alliance Franchise Brands LLC is the franchisor of approximately 600 locations across North America operating the company’s brands: Allegra Marketing Print Mail, Image360, Signs Now, Signs By Tomorrow, KKP, Insty-Prints, American Speedy Printing Centers, and True Install.

Our independently owned and operated Franchise Members provide businesses and organizations with a one‑stop resource for technologically advanced solutions in printing, signage, marketing, and graphics communications.

Our Core Focus & Values

At Alliance Franchise Brands, our Core Focus and Core Values serve as the foundation for how we operate and who we are. They are embedded into our culture and guide how we support Franchise Members, collaborate internally, and deliver impact every day.

Core Focus

OUR PASSION: Empowering Success

OUR NICHE: High‑Impact Programs and Support

Core Values

• Members First
• Ethical & Trustworthy
• Can‑Do, Results Driven
• Respect Others
• Passion for Being Great

The AI Director will lead practical AI adoption across the organization by identifying high-value use cases, piloting AI-enabled workflows, managing approved AI tools, supporting responsible use, and scaling solutions that deliver measurable business value.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The right candidate must be technically credible and willing to work directly with AI tools, business users, vendors, and technical teams. The role requires practical understanding and application of generative AI, RAG, grounding, cognitive search, AI-assisted workflows, and responsible data use.

Essential functions

• Develop and maintain a 6-18 month living AI roadmap aligned with strategic priorities.
• Maintain visibility into AI tool usage, token budgeting, adoption, risks and outcomes throughout the enterprise.
• Work directly with Franchise Members, field teams, and leadership to identify practical and high-impact AI opportunities.
• Focus on pragmatic use cases such as customer intake, estimating support, marketing assistance, knowledge retrieval, process coordination and customer communication.
• Create playbooks, templates, training materials, and adoption plans that scale across proficiency stages.
• Partner with corporate teams to identify and deploy AI solutions that improve internal efficiency, decision-making, and service delivery to franchisees.
• Convert successful pilots into scalable, repeatable solutions with centralized support.
• Support a network of AI champions across brands, departments, and Franchise Member groups.

Competencies

• Strong empathy for small business concerns and the realities of running a local business.
• Comfortable working in a test-and-learn/fail-fast environment with iteration and continuous improvement.
• Experience with vendor evaluation, SaaS tools, cost tracking or technology budgeting.
• Strong communication skills; able to translate technical concepts into clear, practical language.
• Able to manage ambiguity, make recommendations, and move work forward.

Supervisory responsibilities

• Coaches, mentors, and leads others to influence high performance.
• Manage team including semi-annual performance reviews
• Conduct team’s regular EOS meetings

Work environment

• Professional corporate and team-oriented environment
• Hybrid work schedule with at least 2 days each week in office

Physical demands

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times
• Standard business hours although some overtime may be required to meet deadlines or manage unexpected issues

Travel required

• Minimal travel, less than 10%

Required education and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• 7 years of progressive experience in operations, technology, or a related field, and 2 years of experience applying AI tools or solutions in a business setting.
• Significant experience in operations, logistics, or multi-unit/franchise environments.
• Experience in multi-model orchestration (SLM, LLM, Frontier).
• Working knowledge of generative AI, agents, enterprise search, RAG, grounding, prompt design, automation, and responsible AI use.
• Experience with Microsoft Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, Azure AI Search, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, Claude, ChatGPT, or similar AI tools.

Preferred education and experience

• Experience integrating business systems such as CRM, MIS/ERP, and online platforms
• Familiarity with data governance and data privacy principles.

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.