Director, AI Strategy & Transformation (Onsite)

Job Description

Longroad is hiring its first Director of AI Strategy & Transformation to define how AI will reshape the way Longroad operates - from project finance and asset management to legal, regional development, and operations - and to lead the change required to get there. This is a newly created role within the IT organization, chartered directly by the senior leadership team.

The role begins as a strategic, assessment-oriented one. In the first phase, the Director will work across every function to understand Longroad's current state, define a multi-year enterprise AI strategy, and lay the foundation - tooling, governance, operating model, and change management - for sustainable transformation. The Director is expected to roll up their sleeves where it matters most, but will spend the majority of their time on strategy, advisory, and transformation leadership. As the program scales, this role is expected to grow, with the potential to add an AI Analyst direct report to extend hands-on delivery capacity.

The successful candidate is part strategist, part change agent, and part technologist. Equally credible challenging the senior leadership team on how AI changes the business and working alongside a team to advance a specific capability, they will define the multi-year vision, partner with functional leaders, and serve as Longroad's lead AI evangelist. This role will be onsite and based in San Francisco, CA or Boston, MA.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise Strategy & Assessment. Lead an enterprise-wide assessment of Longroad's current AI usage, capability gaps, governance processes, and high-value transformation opportunities. Develop and steward Longroad's multi-year AI strategy, including platform standards, build-vs-buy decisions, operating-model implications, and a prioritized investment roadmap aligned to company strategy across commercial, operating, and back-office priorities.
• AI-Driven Business Transformation. Partner with the senior leadership team to identify where AI fundamentally changes how Longroad works - what gets done, by whom, how, and at what cost - and translate that into concrete workflow redesigns and capability shifts. Push the organization beyond incremental tool use to durable changes in operating model and talent density.
• Change Management & Cultural Adoption. Serve as Longroad's senior change agent for AI transformation in partnership with Human Resources. Define and execute a change management plan that brings employees along, builds AI fluency, and addresses the cultural, organizational, and workflow change required to realize value, anticipating and removing barriers along the way.
• Evangelism & Executive Advisory. Serve as Longroad's lead AI evangelist and trusted advisor to the senior leadership team and department leaders. Translate a rapidly evolving AI market into pragmatic, Longroad-specific recommendations that drive business value. Challenge leaders constructively where AI changes the right answer.
• Tooling, Standards & Governance. Own the enterprise AI tool stack in coordination with the broader IT organization and develop working fluency across Longroad's broader technology portfolio - data infrastructure, operational systems, and SCADA - to ensure AI strategy is built on and aligned with the company's full technology landscape. Standardize on a primary platform (Claude is the current direction), rationalize redundant tooling, and establish guardrails for data handling, vendor due diligence, model selection, and acceptable use - aligned with Longroad's information security, data, and infrastructure standards. Evaluate and govern agentic AI deployments, including multi-step workflows, tool-use patterns, and human-in-the-loop design - with particular attention to operational and SCADA-adjacent contexts where reliability and auditability requirements are high.
• Cross-Functional Use Case Delivery. Partner with leaders across project finance, investments, asset management, operations, legal, corporate development, regional development, planning, HR, and finance to identify and deliver high-impact use cases. Provide hands-on coaching and demonstration support where it accelerates value, while building the surrounding teams' capacity to deliver on their own.
• Capability Building. Establish the foundation for Longroad's AI enablement program - including role-based learning paths, an internal community of practice, and an AI ambassadors' network - so transformation is owned across the business rather than dependent on a single individual.
• Measurement & Reporting. Define how Longroad measures AI transformation and value - emphasizing business outcomes (cycle-time, decision quality, capacity unlocked) over surface usage metrics. Report to the VP of IT and senior leadership on a regular cadence and adjust the strategy as the technology and the business evolve.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience, with significant time leading enterprise strategy, business transformation, or large-scale change programs.
• Demonstrated track record as a transformation leader - proven ability to drive durable change in how a business operates, build executive alignment, and sustain behavior change across functions.
• Broader technology leadership experience or exposure across enterprise data infrastructure, operational technology, or IT governance, with interest in growing into a broader technology leadership mandate over time.
• Hands-on fluency with leading frontier LLM platforms (Claude strongly preferred), including practical experience with prompt design, agents and skills, and integration patterns.
• Strong strategic thinking and executive presence - equally credible challenging the CEO and senior leaders and working alongside a team to advance a specific use case.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with a teaching and coaching instinct.
• Comfort operating as a department of one in the early phase, with the judgment to know when to build, buy, or partner.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading technology-based transformation engagements, or in an internal transformation role at a comparable enterprise
• Prosci Change Management Certification or PMP Certification
• AWS Machine Learning Certification
• Experience in the renewable energy industry (development, project finance, asset management, or operations).
• Familiarity with the document and data ecosystems common to our industry: PPAs, tax equity term sheets, interconnection queues, GIS/KMZ data, permit filings, and ISO/RTO datasets.
• Exposure to AI governance topics: data privacy, model evaluation, third-party risk, and responsible-use frameworks.
• Experience designing and leading enablement programs such as ambassador networks, communities of practice, or internal certifications.

Salary/Compensation

The salary range is between $185k-225k. In addition to base salary, this role includes a bonus. The position offers health, vision/dental insurance, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) plan, accrued paid time off, life insurance and disability coverage.

We encourage candidates to consider total compensation when applying and if you feel you meet the requirements and are excited to learn more, we'd love to share.

Note that the pay range listed for this position is a good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible base compensation at the time of posting. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience and location.

Other

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States. The Company does not sponsor applicants for work visas.

Benefits of Working at Longroad Energy

We are dedicated to providing our employees with the support and resources they need to stay healthy, secure their future, and be successful in their careers. Benefits at Longroad include the opportunity for merit-based salary increases, incentive plan participation, eligibility for our 401 (k) plan and matching, and comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance. Our robust time-off policy includes accrual of 18 vacation days in your first year, paid holidays, and paid volunteer time. We offer paid parental leave to help support employees as they transition into parenthood. Learn more about our employee benefits.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, equity, and inclusion matter - at Longroad, in our industry, in our communities, and in society at large. We embrace our responsibility to build and promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive working experience and drive change where we live and operate. We work to actively promote and celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion. We foster a supportive space that empowers everyone at Longroad to learn about, discuss and ask questions related to embracing and honoring identity. We collaborate with our community, colleagues, and industry in the ongoing pursuit of evolving and growing an inclusive and diverse environment. Learn more about our DEI commitment.

Longroad Energy Values

At Longroad, we SHINE. We aim to be the most trusted renewable energy company on the long road to a green future. We are an experienced team of problem solvers and promise-keepers who develop sustainable solutions that meet today's challenges and make a lasting impact on people and our planet. Learn more about our SHINE values.

Longroad Energy is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer ("EOE"). Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, citizenship, or any other legally protected status. Longroad Energy prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and will reasonably accommodate applicants with a disability, upon request, and will also ensure reasonable accommodations are made for disabled employees. Longroad Energy is firmly committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities in all employment practices and personnel actions, including advertising, recruitment, testing, screening, hiring, selection for training, upgrading, transfer, demotion, layoff, discipline, termination, rates of pay, and other forms of compensation.