Senior Manager- AI Engineer

We’re building a world of health around every individual — shaping a more connected, convenient and compassionate health experience. At CVS Health®, you’ll be surrounded by passionate colleagues who care deeply, innovate with purpose, hold ourselves accountable and prioritize safety and quality in everything we do. Join us and be part of something bigger – helping to simplify health care one person, one family and one community at a time.Job TitleHead of AI Engineering and Strategy Job SummaryAetna Medicare Product Tools and Technology is seeking a Head of AI Engineering and Strategy to define and lead the vision for enterprise AI capabilities within the engineering organization. This role is responsible for establishing the platforms, infrastructure, and operating model required to design, build, and scale AI driven applications across the enterprise.This position combines senior engineering leadership with strategic oversight, driving the adoption of modern AI and ML capabilities, including large language models (LLMs), conversational voice AI, AI augmented business intelligence, and chatbot solutions, into mission critical systems and workflows.You will operate as a key member of the technology leadership team, partnering with engineering, product, analytics, and business executives to shape AI strategy, influence enterprise investment decisions, and drive organization wide adoption of AI capabilities that enable intelligent automation and long-term business transformation. Key ResponsibilitiesAI / ML EngineeringDefine the technical vision and architecture for AI and ML solutions, including LLM based applications, conversational voice AI, chatbot platforms, and AI augmented BI systemsOversee development of training data pipelines and datasets for fine tuning, evaluation, and inference at enterprise scaleEstablish enterprise standards for model performance monitoring, drift detection, retraining, and lifecycle governanceDrive implementation of vector embeddings, semantic search, and AI orchestration frameworks Application DevelopmentProvide engineering leadership for backend services (APIs, microservices) enabling scalable AI capabilities across the enterpriseOversee development of scalable data pipelines supporting ingestion, transformation, and real time inference workloadsDrive integration of AI capabilities into enterprise platforms, including customer facing voice and chat systems and internal analytics environmentsEnsure solutions meet enterprise standards for scalability, reliability, performance, and security MLOps and Platform EngineeringDefine and govern model lifecycle management practices including versioning, deployment, rollback, and complianceLead the development of enterprise AI platforms and infrastructure for model hosting, orchestration, and scalingEstablish CI and CD standards and deployment frameworks for AI systems across engineering teamsBuild and oversee observability layers to monitor system performance, model behavior, and operational healthSet direction for AI safety and responsible AI practices, including guardrails for bias mitigation, hallucination reduction, and policy adherence Collaboration and StrategySet and drive enterprise AI strategy aligned to technology vision, platform evolution, and long-term organizational prioritiesLead alignment across a highly matrixed organization, influencing engineering, product, analytics, and business leadershipServe as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, communicating AI strategy, technical trade-offs, risks, and business impactOwn AI investment strategy, including prioritization, funding alignment, and resource allocation across initiativesDrive enterprise-wide AI adoption by establishing scalable enablement models across engineering and business teamsDefine and execute capability uplift strategies, including upskilling engineers, promoting best practices, and enabling self-service AI developmentChampion innovation by introducing emerging AI technologies, tools, and solution patterns to accelerate experimentation and deliveryEstablish and govern AI vendor and partner strategy, including evaluation, selection, negotiation, and performance oversightOversee SOW development and partner with product and finance leadership to manage budgets, forecasts, and investment planningAct as the primary interface between engineering and executive leadership, ensuring transparency, accountability, and delivery outcomesInfluence enterprise architecture, engineering standards, and AI governance frameworks  Required QualificationsExtensive experience leading engineering or AI and ML organizations within large scale enterprise environmentsDemonstrated ability to operate at a senior leadership level, influencing executive stakeholders and enterprise strategyProven experience owning or driving technology investment strategy, budgeting, and resource allocationExperience leading transformation initiatives and driving adoption of emerging technologies across organizationsExperience building and scaling engineering platforms, systems, or organizational capabilitiesExperience within healthcare, health insurance, or regulated healthcare environments, with strong understanding of compliance, data privacy, and domain specific challengesDeep expertise in software engineering fundamentals (SDLC, architecture, distributed systems design)Proficiency in one or more programming languages (Python, C#, Java, etc.)Experience building data pipelines and working with structured and unstructured dataHands on experience with AI and ML frameworks, platforms, or applied AI systemsStrong understanding of APIs, microservices, and cloud-based architecturesExperience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP)Familiarity with databases (SQL / NoSQL)Experience leading vendor strategy, including evaluation, selection, and delivery governance  Preferred QualificationsExperience defining or leading enterprise AI strategy or platforms at scaleHands on experience wit