The final salary or hourly wage, as applicable, paid to each candidate/applicant for this position is ultimately dependent on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate’s/applicant’s qualifications, skills, and level of experience as well as the geographical location of the position.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship not available.

Our client is seeking a AVP Cognitive Engineering Products & Services in Vienna, VA.

Role Description

• The Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Cognitive Engineering is a senior leader within the Enterprise Data and Information Management (EDIM) organization, responsible for shaping and executing Navy Federal Credit Union’s enterprise strategy for data science, advanced analytics, and applied artificial intelligence (AI). This key role leads the AI Center for Enablement, driving innovation, operational excellence, and the development of scalable AI capabilities. AVP plays a pivotal role in fostering a culture of AI-as-a-service, enabling business units to harness AI technologies effectively and realize measurable value from AI investments.

• Define and lead the strategic vision for Cognitive AI, Generative AI, Agentic AI, and Machine Learning capabilities, ensuring alignment with NFCU’s enterprise goals and transformation initiatives
• Provide executive oversight for the AI Center for Enablement, ensuring its services, platforms, and talent strategy drive enterprise-wide AI adoption, innovation, and measurable business value
• Oversee the development and enterprise-scale implementation of AI platforms, including the AI Foundational Platform, in collaboration with Enterprise Architecture, Cloud Engineering, and external technology partners
• Partners with senior leaders across business and IT to identify high-impact AI use cases, shape technology roadmaps, and accelerate the transition of AI solutions from incubation to production
• Champion the establishment of governance frameworks that ensure the ethical, secure, and explainable use of AI technologies, working closely with Model Risk Management, Cybersecurity, and the AI Working Group
• Lead the evaluation and infusion of emerging technologies in Cognitive Sciences, LLMs, NLP, Generative AI and Agentic AI through structured research, prototyping, and enterprise roadmap development
• Build and maintain strategic partnerships with leading AI vendors, cloud providers, and consulting firms to accelerate capability development and deliver tangible outcomes for members and internal stakeholders
• Accelerate use of AI capabilities and toolset across the enterprise delivering productivity and driving process efficiencies for the workforce
• Deliver the AI Literacy program across all organization levels in collaboration with industry partners and the Talent Development team
• Develop and scale high-performing AI Engineering and Operations teams, fostering a culture of continuous learning, technical excellence, and cross-functional collaboration
• Establish enterprise-level success metrics for AI initiatives, ensuring measurable impact, high adoption, and alignment with EDIM and enterprise architecture standards

Skills & Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related technical field- advanced degree preferred
• 15+ years of progressive experience in AI, Data Science and Advanced Analytics including leadership of enterprise-scale Generative and Agentic AI initiatives in complex, multi-functional environments
• Proven track record in designing, deploying, and scaling AI solutions—including LLMs, Agentic AI, and prompt engineering—within cloud-native, production-grade environments
• Deep expertise in AI platforms and technologies, including Azure OpenAI, Cognitive Services, and operationalizing AI infrastructure such as Model Garden and Control Plane
• Demonstrated ability to align AI strategy with enterprise transformation goals, delivering measurable business value through innovation, automation, and productivity acceleration
• Strong background in cloud architecture, system design, and building scalable, secure, and resilient AI platforms in service-oriented environments
• Experience in delivering AI augmented capabilities to generate productivity and process efficiencies (Github, CoPilot, IBM Watsonx, or similar)
• Experience leading high-performing AI Engineering and Operations teams, fostering a culture of continuous learning, agile delivery, and technical excellence
• Extensive experience with AIOps practices including MLOps, building and managing end-to-end AI pipelines, implementing observability frameworks, monitoring model performance in production, managing incidents, and applying automated remediation techniques to ensure reliability, scalability, and compliance of AI systems
• Practical experience applying Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and Agile delivery principles to manage complex AI programs, budgets, and cross-functional execution
• Master’s or Ph.D. in computer science, Data Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, Mathematics or related technical field
• Knowledge of Navy Federal Credit Union instructions, standards, and procedures
• Expert knowledge of Navy Federal products, services, programs, policies and procedures
• Experience leading an AI Center for Enablement
• Expert knowledge of banking/financial industry trends, products, and services
• Experience building and supporting Enterprise grade APIs

Benefits/Other Compensation:

Medical, Dental, Life Insurance, 401K.

Why Hays?

You will be working with a professional recruiter who has intimate knowledge of the industry and market trends. Your Hays recruiter will lead you through a thorough screening process in order to understand your skills, experience, needs, and drivers. You will also get support on resume writing, interview tips, and career planning, so when there’s a position you really want, you’re fully prepared to get it.

Nervous about an upcoming interview? Unsure how to write a new resume?

Visit the Hays Career Advice section to learn top tips to help you stand out from the crowd when job hunting.

Hays is committed to building a thriving culture of diversity that embraces people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better we serve our candidates, clients, and employees. We are an equal employment opportunity employer, and we comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, marital status, genetic information, HIV-positive status, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. One of Hays’ guiding principles is ‘do the right thing’.
We also believe that actions speak louder than words.
In that regard, we train our staff on ensuring inclusivity throughout the entire recruitment process and counsel our clients on these principles. If you have any questions about Hays or any of our processes, please contact us.

In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local law protecting qualified individuals with known disabilities, Hays will attempt to reasonably accommodate those individuals unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the company. Any qualified applicant or consultant with a disability who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of the job should call or text 813.336.5570.

Drug testing may be required; please contact a recruiter for more information.

#LI-DNI