Senior Vice President, Digital and AI
Salas O'Brien, Little Canada, MN, United States
Senior Vice President, Digital and AI (Path to Chief Digital and AI Officer)
Salas O’Brien is seeking an accomplished Senior Vice President, Digital and AI to lead and scale enterprise-wide digital, automation, and AI capabilities across our engineering and consulting business. This senior leader will shape and execute a multi-year strategy to modernize engineering delivery, strengthen data-driven decision‑making, and unlock next‑generation value for clients and team members. This is a newly created role in a fast-growing environment. The right person will thrive in ambiguity by bringing structure, aligning stakeholders, making smart trade‑offs, and delivering progress even when the path isn’t fully defined. Initially reporting to the CEO, the role is designed with a clear evolution path to Chief Digital and AI Officer based on demonstrated enterprise impact and leadership influence.
Key Responsibilities – What you will lead and influence
Align leaders on the enterprise Digital and AI strategy, roadmap, and outcomes
Run portfolio governance, including intake, prioritization, standards, and scaling recommendations
Drive firmwide standards and guide consolidation to reduce duplication
Shape investment recommendations for platforms, partners, adoption support, and capability building
What You Will Do – Set strategy and build a scalable operating model
Build the multi‑year strategy and near‑term roadmap with clear outcomes in partnership with the leadership team
Establish governance and a decision cadence to scale across business and functional groups without slowing execution
Lead an intake and prioritization process grounded in return on investment and impact
Modernize engineering delivery
Standardize templates, quality workflows, and shared content libraries
Identify, pilot, and scale use cases that produce measurable results and are sustainable in day‑to‑day operations (not one‑off pilots)
Embed tools into delivery with engineering and operations leaders to drive adoption
Lead automation and AI execution
Deliver automation integrated into day‑to‑day workflow using low‑code platforms, automation tools, and scripting
Partner with IT on data foundations and performance dashboards for decision‑making
Deploy practical AI workflows with responsible AI practices and appropriate client transparency as needed
Measure results and strengthen client differentiation
Define success metrics and provide regular progress updates to senior leadership
Translate internal wins into client‑facing accelerators where appropriate
Build and manage strategic vendor and solution provider partnerships for outcomes, risk management, and scalability
How Work Will Get Done
Lead through influence and partnership, setting standards and enabling scale through shared ownership with business leaders
Execute delivery via cross‑functional teams that include business leaders, IT, and digital champions embedded in teams
Establish governance cadence, playbooks, and success measures to prioritize, scale, and sustain solutions
What You Bring
10+ years leading digital transformation in AEC or similarly complex technical environments, with strong fluency in engineering delivery workflows, including BIM and VDC (model‑based design and coordination)
Proven outcomes across automation, data and analytics, and applied AI
Strong understanding of engineering delivery workflows and where digital/AI can materially improve speed, quality, and coordination.
Ability to lead through influence and scale adoption across multiple business lines
Strong executive presence and judgment balancing innovation with governance, privacy and security, and responsible AI practices
Track record of developing internal capability and scaling solutions beyond pilots
Success targets (Year 1)
Improve delivery timelines in selected priority workflows, targeting 10 to 15 percent in focus areas
Increase adoption of standardized BIM and VDC templates and reusable automations
Deliver performance dashboards and improve data quality and access
Implement responsible AI governance and client transparency practices, as needed
Maintain a consistent cadence for prioritization, scaling, adoption support, and measurement
Location Remote — U.S. or Canada based
Travel 25 – 30%
Compensation & Benefits The expected base salary range for this role is $225,000 – $300,000 USD per year. Actual compensation will be determined based on a number of factors including skills, experience, qualifications, and location.
This role is also eligible for an annual performance based bonus and a comprehensive U.S. based benefits package, including:
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match
Paid time off and company holidays
Wellness programs and employee assistance resources
Professional development support
Benefits For more information, visit our full benefits overview here.
Equal Opportunity Employment Statement Salas O’Brien provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/provincial, or local laws. Salas O’Brien will accommodate the disability‑related needs of applicants as required by law.
Third‑Party Agency Notice Salas O’Brien does not accept unsolicited resumes from external recruiters or agencies. We only work with approved partners engaged directly by our Talent Acquisition team for specific searches. Unsolicited submissions will not be eligible for placement fees.
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Key Responsibilities – What you will lead and influence
Align leaders on the enterprise Digital and AI strategy, roadmap, and outcomes
Run portfolio governance, including intake, prioritization, standards, and scaling recommendations
Drive firmwide standards and guide consolidation to reduce duplication
Shape investment recommendations for platforms, partners, adoption support, and capability building
What You Will Do – Set strategy and build a scalable operating model
Build the multi‑year strategy and near‑term roadmap with clear outcomes in partnership with the leadership team
Establish governance and a decision cadence to scale across business and functional groups without slowing execution
Lead an intake and prioritization process grounded in return on investment and impact
Modernize engineering delivery
Standardize templates, quality workflows, and shared content libraries
Identify, pilot, and scale use cases that produce measurable results and are sustainable in day‑to‑day operations (not one‑off pilots)
Embed tools into delivery with engineering and operations leaders to drive adoption
Lead automation and AI execution
Deliver automation integrated into day‑to‑day workflow using low‑code platforms, automation tools, and scripting
Partner with IT on data foundations and performance dashboards for decision‑making
Deploy practical AI workflows with responsible AI practices and appropriate client transparency as needed
Measure results and strengthen client differentiation
Define success metrics and provide regular progress updates to senior leadership
Translate internal wins into client‑facing accelerators where appropriate
Build and manage strategic vendor and solution provider partnerships for outcomes, risk management, and scalability
How Work Will Get Done
Lead through influence and partnership, setting standards and enabling scale through shared ownership with business leaders
Execute delivery via cross‑functional teams that include business leaders, IT, and digital champions embedded in teams
Establish governance cadence, playbooks, and success measures to prioritize, scale, and sustain solutions
What You Bring
10+ years leading digital transformation in AEC or similarly complex technical environments, with strong fluency in engineering delivery workflows, including BIM and VDC (model‑based design and coordination)
Proven outcomes across automation, data and analytics, and applied AI
Strong understanding of engineering delivery workflows and where digital/AI can materially improve speed, quality, and coordination.
Ability to lead through influence and scale adoption across multiple business lines
Strong executive presence and judgment balancing innovation with governance, privacy and security, and responsible AI practices
Track record of developing internal capability and scaling solutions beyond pilots
Success targets (Year 1)
Improve delivery timelines in selected priority workflows, targeting 10 to 15 percent in focus areas
Increase adoption of standardized BIM and VDC templates and reusable automations
Deliver performance dashboards and improve data quality and access
Implement responsible AI governance and client transparency practices, as needed
Maintain a consistent cadence for prioritization, scaling, adoption support, and measurement
Location Remote — U.S. or Canada based
Travel 25 – 30%
Compensation & Benefits The expected base salary range for this role is $225,000 – $300,000 USD per year. Actual compensation will be determined based on a number of factors including skills, experience, qualifications, and location.
This role is also eligible for an annual performance based bonus and a comprehensive U.S. based benefits package, including:
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match
Paid time off and company holidays
Wellness programs and employee assistance resources
Professional development support
Benefits For more information, visit our full benefits overview here.
Equal Opportunity Employment Statement Salas O’Brien provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/provincial, or local laws. Salas O’Brien will accommodate the disability‑related needs of applicants as required by law.
Third‑Party Agency Notice Salas O’Brien does not accept unsolicited resumes from external recruiters or agencies. We only work with approved partners engaged directly by our Talent Acquisition team for specific searches. Unsolicited submissions will not be eligible for placement fees.
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