Director, People AI Engineering & Innovation

The Director, People AI Engineering & Innovation is Assurant’s hands-on AI technical and product leader for the People Organization. This leader establishes the People Organization’s technical AI strategy, architecture, platform roadmap, engineering standards and delivery framework while partnering with SLT sponsors, People Organization teams and the Execution COE to shape and evaluate demand. The Director determines the right solution path and turns prioritized opportunities into secure, production-grade AI products with measurable value. The Director brings deep experience from outside traditional HR and works directly in discovery, prototyping, design review, troubleshooting and delivery when needed. Safety, security, privacy, roles and access, infrastructure readiness, responsible AI and human controls are built into every stage with enterprise technology and control partners. The role establishes clear operating interfaces and decision rights across AI Innovation, Workday and People Technology, People Data and Analytics, ERIN/Unify Experience, the Execution COE, People functional teams and enterprise partners.

What will be my duties and responsibilities in this job?

People AI Technical Strategy, Architecture & Delivery Framework

• Establish and evolve the People Organization’s technical AI strategy and roadmap, translating priorities and emerging capabilities into a clear architecture, platform direction and sequenced capability roadmap.
• Define reusable technical patterns, engineering standards, decision frameworks and delivery practices that move solutions securely from concept through production, stabilization and formal transfer.
• Partner with SLT sponsors, People teams and the Execution COE to help teams understand what is technically possible, shape opportunities and determine when AI is the right solution versus Workday, automation, process simplification or another platform.
• Maintain a clear point of view on architecture, platform choices, security, roles and access, responsible AI, production readiness and long-term supportability.

Hands-On AI Architecture, Engineering & Delivery

• Serve as the technical and architecture authority for People AI solutions across approved platforms.
• Participate directly in prototyping, architecture, workflow and integration design, technical reviews, evaluations and troubleshooting.
• Lead approved solutions from discovery through design, build, validation, launch and a defined stabilization period.
• Establish reusable patterns, grounded-solution approaches, evaluation methods, documentation and engineering standards.

Safety, Security, Access & Responsible AI

• Build safety, security, privacy, identity, roles, permissions, least-privilege access and People-data protection into every stage of the lifecycle.
• Partner at every stage with IT, Infrastructure, Information Security, Privacy, Legal and enterprise AI-governance teams.
• Ensure appropriate human oversight, escalation, monitoring, auditability and controls for sensitive decisions and higher-risk use cases.
• Retain approval authority over architecture, security, access, integrations, model changes and production readiness and pause changes that do not meet required standards.

Value Realization, Governance & Product Lifecycle

• Define success measures for adoption, quality, capacity released, experience improvement, control effectiveness and sustained ROI.
• After stabilization, complete a formal transfer to a named business or product owner who owns adoption, business priorities, backlog and value realization.
• Retain technical governance over architecture, security, access, integrations, model or platform changes, evaluations, monitoring and production readiness.
• Partner with the Execution COE and product owners on quarterly results readouts and recommendations to scale, improve, hold or retire solutions.

Operating Model, Decision Rights & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Establish and maintain clear operating interfaces across AI Innovation, Workday and People Technology, Data and Analytics, ERIN/Unify Experience, the Execution COE, functional teams and enterprise partners.
• Define and uphold decision rights, design authorities, service expectations, escalation paths, technical ownership and lifecycle accountabilities.
• Partner with SLT sponsors and functional teams on business problems; partner with the Execution COE on education, show-and-tells, discovery, intake, prioritization and portfolio governance.
• Partner with the Workday leader when solutions touch Workday data, processes, roles, integrations or transactions, preserving Workday as the authoritative system of record.
• Contribute technical perspective, demonstrations and reusable examples that help leaders recognize opportunities, without sole accountability for generating organizational demand.

Talent & Team Leadership

• Build a high-performing, hands-on AI product and engineering team by setting a clear talent standard and meaningful accountability for outcomes.
• Develop talent through direct coaching, technical reviews, differentiated development, stretch assignments and clear expectations.
• Build bench strength and succession capability and prepare team members for broader product, technical and leadership responsibility.
• Evolve roles and hire capabilities where gaps exist, with emphasis on architecture, engineering, security, evaluation, responsible AI and production delivery.
• Use external partners selectively while maintaining internal architecture authority, technical knowledge, accountability and ownership.

What are the requirements needed for this position? 

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, information systems, data science or a related technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 10+ years of progressive technology, software, data or AI experience, including leadership of production and enterprise-grade solutions and teams.
• 3+ years of deep hands-on experience designing and delivering AI products, agents, grounded solutions, workflows, integrations and enterprise applications in production.
• Demonstrated technical depth in solution architecture, APIs, data flows, identity, roles and access, security, monitoring, evaluations and production readiness.
• Experience developing technical AI strategies, architecture roadmaps, reusable patterns and engineering frameworks.
• Experience with Microsoft Copilot, UnifyApps, Leena AI, Claude or comparable enterprise AI platforms.
• Experience embedding security, privacy, responsible AI, human oversight and auditability throughout a product lifecycle.
• Strong product judgment and experience translating ambiguous business problems into practical solutions and measurable outcomes.
• Ability to personally prototype, inspect designs, review technical work, troubleshoot complex issues and lead alongside engineers.
• Experience establishing decision rights and operating interfaces across business, product, platform, data, portfolio and control teams.
• Demonstrated talent leadership, including differentiated development, bench building, succession planning, hiring and effective use of external partners.

What other skills/experience would be helpful to have?

• Advanced degree in computer science, engineering, AI, data science or a related field.
• Experience building AI products outside traditional HR or People Technology environments.
• Experience with enterprise copilots, agentic workflows, retrieval-augmented generation, orchestration platforms and model evaluation.
• Experience operating in highly regulated or data-sensitive environments.
• Familiarity with People processes or People technology is helpful but not required.

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Pay Range:

Any posted pay range considers a wide range of compensation factors, including candidate background, experience and work location, while also allowing for salary growth within the position.

If there is no posting end date listed then this is a pipeline requisition, and we will continue to collect applications on an ongoing basis.

Helping People Thrive in a Connected World
Connect with us. Bring us your best work and your brightest ideas. And we’ll bring you a place where you can thrive. Learn more at jobs.assurant.com.

For U.S. benefit information, visit myassurantbenefits.com. For benefit information outside the U.S., please speak with your recruiter.

What’s the culture like at Assurant?
Our unique culture is a big reason why talented people choose Assurant. Named a Best/Great Place to Work in 14 countries and awarded the Fortune America’s Most Innovative Companies recognition, we bring together top talent around the world. Although we have a wide variety of skills and experiences, we share common characteristics that are uniquely Assurant. A passion for service. An ability to innovate in practical ways. And a willingness to take chances. We call our culture The Assurant Way.

Company Overview
Assurant is a leading global business services company that supports, protects, and connects major consumer purchases. A Fortune 500 company with a presence in 21 countries, Assurant supports the advancement of the connected world by partnering with the world’s leading brands to develop innovative solutions and deliver an enhanced customer experience through mobile device solutions, extended service contracts, vehicle protection services, renters insurance, lender-placed insurance products, and other specialty products.

AI and Biometric Usage

Assurant supports the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but we want to know the real you. Visit our AI Usage Guidelines page to understand what we expect from applicants regarding their use of AI during the application process. Since we would like to know the real you, we require that all of our virtual interviews be conducted on video.

Employment is contingent upon completion of a required identity verification process, which may include biometric technology, where permitted by applicable law and subject to applicable notice and consent requirements. See our Privacy Notice to learn about Assurant’s privacy practices, including our use of AI-enabled technology, automated decision making, and biometric information.

Equal Opportunity Statement
Assurant is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and does not use or consider race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law in employment decisions.

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