What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Applied AI - Financial Services position at Harvard Group International?
DIRECTOR, APPLIED AI
ROLE OVERVIEW
We are seeking a hands-on, technically strong Director of Applied AI to help shape and deploy practical AI capabilities across advisor workflows, client engagement, and internal operations.
This role is for someone who combines deep fluency in modern AI and LLM concepts with the ability to work across engineering, product, and business teams to turn emerging technology into real solutions. The individual will not operate in isolation; success will require both technical credibility and the ability to influence priorities, guide use cases, and help others understand what is possible.
Working closely with technology and business leadership, this person will help identify where AI can create meaningful value, evaluate solution approaches, run proofs of concept, and support the design of scalable, production-ready capabilities.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the evaluation, prototyping, and implementation of AI and LLM-driven capabilities across advisor tools, client platforms, and operational workflows.
- Serve as a technical subject matter expert on core AI and LLM concepts, including tokens, context windows, model parameters, temperature, top-p, fine-tuning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agentic AI.
- Identify and prioritize high-value AI use cases that improve advisor productivity, client experience, and operational efficiency.
- Partner with engineering, architecture, product, and business stakeholders to translate AI opportunities into practical, scalable solutions.
- Guide proof-of-concept development and help assess which initiatives should move into production.
- Evaluate third-party vendors, tools, and platforms supporting AI enablement across the business.
- Provide technical oversight and informed challenge on AI architecture, integration design, and deployment choices.
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related technical field.
- Hands-on experience with modern AI, LLM, or machine learning technologies in business applications.
- Strong fluency in core LLM concepts, including tokens, context windows, parameters, temperature, top-p, fine-tuning, and RAG.
- Experience designing or implementing AI-enabled solutions in production or near-production environments.
- Strong grounding in APIs, system integrations, and modern application architecture.
- Ability to engage credibly with technical teams while also communicating clearly with business stakeholders.
Ideal Candidate Profile
- Applied AI Practitioner – Brings deep technical credibility in AI and LLMs, with a focus on practical application rather than theory.
- Translates Complexity into Value – Comfortable going deep on LLM concepts while helping the business understand where AI can and cannot add meaningful impact.
- Guides in Ambiguity – Able to influence across functions and shape decisions in environments that are still evolving.
- Credible Partner Across Tech and Business – Earns the confidence of engineers while collaborating effectively with product, operations, and business leaders.
COMPENSATION
A meaningful compensation package will be developed for the successful candidate that includes a base salary plus performance-based bonus.
To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter, preferably in MS Word format, to Derek Bush dbush@harvardsearch.com. A fully detailed, formal specification will be sent to “top-level”, qualified candidates.