AI & IT Solutions Analyst

Title: AI & IT Solutions Analyst

Reports to: Director of Information Technology

Department: Information Technology

Classification: Salary (Exempt)

Division: Corporate Date

JOB SUMMARY:

The AI & IT Solutions Analyst plays a critical, foundational role in designing, deploying, and supporting the company's enterprise AI ecosystem. This includes establishing secure environments for AI, developing retrieval-based tools, integrating corporate data sources, implementing governance and monitoring, and supporting AI adoption across all departments.

The position directly supports the enterprise AI roadmap, beginning in 2026, and ensures that W.R. MEADOWS can safely utilize AI to improve productivity, operations, quality, research, decision-making, and customer value — while protecting intellectual property, formulations, and confidential data.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

AI Architecture & Infrastructure (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3)

• Assist in designing and implementing secure AI environments across multiple tiers, including productivity AI, internal confidential AI applications, and highly isolated R&D AI systems.

• Configure secure access controls, data boundaries, isolated environments, and protected compute spaces for sensitive workloads.

• Establish and maintain AI infrastructure components required for retrieval, automation, and departmental use cases.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) & Data Engineering

• Build and maintain retrieval pipelines that enable AI tools to securely access company policies, SOPs, QC data, operational documents, and R&D information as permitted.

• Integrate structured and unstructured data from internal systems such as ERP, WMS, SharePoint/document libraries, R&D repositories, QC systems, CRM, and file-based storage.

• Prepare, clean, transform, and index data needed for AI-assisted workflows.

• Maintain vector search, embeddings, or similar retrieval strategies depending on chosen platform.

AI Application & Workflow Development

• Develop internal AI-powered tools that enhance decision-making, automate tasks, support data lookup, and streamline quality, engineering, HR, operations, R&D, and customer service workflows.

• Prototype and test new AI use cases, helping departments understand and apply AI safely and effectively.

• Contribute to tool deployment, feedback cycles, and ongoing iteration.

Governance, Security & Compliance

• Support enterprise AI governance, including data classification, access control, risk evaluation, and documentation.

• Implement monitoring, performance tracking, safety controls, and audit logs appropriate to the chosen AI technologies.

• Ensure confidential and proprietary information (formulations, research data, manufacturing processes) is protected within the designated AI environments.

• Assist with training on safe, compliant AI usage across the organization.

Cross-Department Support & Adoption

• Work with internal departments (QC, Engineering, R&D, HR, Logistics, Customer Service, etc.) to identify high-value use cases and help implement AI capabilities.

• Provide guidance, demonstrations, and user training as AI tools are deployed.

• Troubleshoot AI-related issues including data integration, retrieval accuracy, and workflow automation.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Science, Engineering, or equivalent experience.

• Experience working with modern AI technologies, large language models, and AI application frameworks.

• Experience with RAG concepts, vector search, embeddings, or related retrieval methods.

• Hands-on experience with APIs, automation platforms, and scripting (Python preferred but not required).

• Familiarity with cloud or on-premises environments for secure data storage and compute.

• Understanding of enterprise data protection, access control, and governance principles.

• Strong analytical ability and excellent communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in manufacturing or scientific/technical environments.

• Familiarity with enterprise systems relevant to W.R. MEADOWS (ERP, WMS, QC tools, formulation systems).

• Experience implementing secure or restricted-access systems.

• Prior involvement in AI governance, data pipelines, or model evaluation.

Key Competencies

• Ability to translate business needs into technical AI solutions.

• High level of discretion and commitment to protecting intellectual property.

• Strong collaboration skills across departments.

• Ability to work independently, managing complex AI and data workloads.

• Willingness to stay current with rapidly evolving AI technologies.

WORK CONDITIONS

• Full-time

• Occasional after-hours support may be required.

• Travel may be required.

• May involve moderate physical tasks (e.g., equipment setup or evaluation).

• Participation in meetings, testing sessions, and hands-on implementations.