SKYWISE - HO Enterprise AI & Business Applications

Role Overview

The HO Enterprise AI & Business Applications is a pivotal leadership role within the Operational Excellence organization, accountable for bolstering the company’s core operational foundation. This position oversees the definition, standardization, and successful implementation of methodologies and software tools across the organization.

In this capacity, you will be a crucial contributor to a transformation initiative leveraging artificial intelligence within operational workflows. You will report directly to the CEO, responsible for developing and executing a company-wide strategy that harnesses AI to boost operational efficiency.

Leading a global team, you will collaborate transversely across departments to harmonize technical tools with business performance objectives. Your primary focus will be driving operational efficiency by translating the company's AI strategy into tangible tool deployments, ensuring system reliability, optimizing workflows, and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement.

This role demands a balanced leader adept at managing both technical tool deployment and process methodologies essential for structured organizational growth, while making astute economic decisions that weigh AI investments against measurable productivity gains.

Main Responsibilities

• Drive AI Internal Implementation: Translate executive AI strategy into a concrete roadmap of specific tools, timelines, and resource requirements across business units, ensuring alignment with Airbus strategy.
• Identify operational bottlenecks through process mapping to prioritize high-impact areas for AI integration, while designing an AI-first blueprint to automate, augment, and streamline daily processes.
• Lead the evaluation, procurement, and deployment of internal AI tools, vendor solutions, and custom integrations, ensuring alignment with existing architecture.
• Define clear KPIs and success metrics for AI initiatives, establishing a rigorous framework to evaluate the cost-to-benefit ratio of AI tools and infrastructure, ensuring financial soundness of all AI deployments.
• Design and execute comprehensive change management plans to overcome organizational inertia and foster a culture of AI curiosity and literacy.
• Create a feedback loop with end-users to continuously monitor tool performance, gather feature requests, and iterate on implementations to maximize operational efficiency.
• Monitor and enforce AI governance policies, standard operating procedures, and acceptable-use guidelines to ensure responsible and secure AI usage.

Tooling Strategy & Deployment

• Define & Execute Tooling Strategy: Establish the global strategy for governance, adoption, and support of new tools and technologies, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives and internal operating models.
• Cross-Functional Understanding: Deeply comprehend business requirements across global user groups to guarantee high availability, reliability, and relevance of necessary tools.
• End-to-End Toolchain Management: Govern the entire lifecycle of internal tools from requirements gathering to decommissioning, with a strong emphasis on security and high availability.
• Data-Driven Improvement: Analyze operational data and support trends to identify bottlenecks, improve system uptime, and continuously enhance the employee experience.

Team Leadership & Capacity Management

• Lead a Global Team: Directly manage, mentor, and inspire a geographically distributed team of 10-12 professionals, fostering high performance and growth across time zones.
• Cross-Functional Authority & Influence: Guide and manage multi-functional teams across all business areas, providing strategic leadership for AI technology and automated workflow implementation.
• Strategic Resource Scaling: Utilize subcontractors and external partners to augment team capacity, creating an agile operational model.
• Optimized Support Infrastructure: Oversee outsourcing of Level 1 and Level 2 support, managing partner relationships for optimal ticket deflection, utilization, and service efficiency.
• Manage Software Development Train: Oversee the dedicated software development team responsible for the end-to-end development, maintenance, and support of all Aerodata Production Tools.

Financial & Vendor Governance

• Global Budget Ownership: Manage the global budget for internal tools, ensuring fiscal responsibility and strategic resource allocation across the enterprise software portfolio.
• Value Realization & Reporting: Measure and report on the Realization of Value (RoV) for all active systems, ensuring they meet business case objectives and efficiency gains.
• Procurement & Vendor Partnership: Collaborate with Procurement to negotiate and ensure third-party vendor selections and subcontracted activities meet strategic, financial, and performance targets.

Required Experience & Capabilities

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in technology or operations.
• Five or more years of working experience in an IT environment.
• Extensive experience (3+ years) developing methods to support/deploy company processes.
• Experience implementing and supporting AI models, tools, and methodologies for operational efficiency.
• Experience leading large projects.

Knowledge, Skills, Demonstrated Capabilities & Competencies

• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align tooling investments with long-term financial and operational strategies.
• Understanding of data governance, data quality concepts, and user adoption strategies.
• Proactive and self-driven.
• A leader in change management.
• A continuous improvement mindset.
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and concepts; able to apply these concepts to drive business value.
• Extensive knowledge of IT systems operations.
• Knowledge of transverse business processes and associated tools (e.g., sales and marketing, finance).
• Ability to prioritize, delegate effectively, and establish focus.

Travel Requirements

Able to travel both domestically and internationally.

What We Offer

Located in the heart of University of Waterloo’s David Johnston Research + Technology Park, Skywise is close to shops, restaurants, gyms, daycare, and many other amenities, and only 10 minutes away from Hwy 85. As part of our family, you will enjoy:

• Being part of the Airbus Network
• Flexible hours
• Hybrid working environment (3 days in office)
• Free parking
• Vacation Days (15 - 25)
• Professional Development Day
• Christmas shut down
• Summer core hours
• Strong work-life balance
• Casual dress code
• Competitive group benefits plan
• Strong focus on mental health support benefits
• Sick and Personal days
• RRSP matching program
• Life Insurance
• Access to Employee Share Scheme
• Maternity & Paternity benefits
• Referral program
• Rewards and Recognition program
• Training and Development Support
• Monthly Lunch and Learns
• Fitness & Wellness reimbursement
• An active social committee
• Organized Volunteer Events
• Game room, including a flight simulator!
• Active Inclusion & Diversity Committee
• And much more