Director MaineIT AI Center of Excellence - Public Service Manager III

Location: Augusta,Maine,United States

OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - MAINE IT

DIRECTOR, MAINEIT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGER III

Opening Date: February 24, 2025

Closing Date:  March 10, 2025

Job Class Code: MH34
Grade: 34 
Salary: $93,167.36 - $132,292.16*/Annually (includes 10% recruitment & retention stipend)
Position Number: 020103243

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) Office of Information Technology (MaineIT) provides information technology support to over 13,000 employees.  MaineIT oversees large-scale enterprise applications that support the critical and diverse business needs of the State and its agencies.

This position reports to the Executive Director of Enterprise Architecture within the Office of Information Technology.  The Director, MaineIT AI Center of Excellence (COE), is responsible for leading the development, design, adoption, and monitoring of the State’s Generative AI strategy. Under this position’s leadership, the AI COE will be a progressive, forward-thinking unit that fosters collaboration across agencies, championing AI best practices, and setting the framework for how the state of Maine adopts and integrates generative AI, making recommendations on how IT infrastructure and applications will be procured, provisioned, and supported. The AI COE will influence technological decisions, oversee the ethical application of AI, and explore its potential to drive operational efficiencies to improve services for Maine’s constituents.

This position will:

• Ensure the program is scalable, secure, accessible, and equitable while adhering to rigorous accountability standards statewide.
• Deliver guidelines for the integration of generative AI into existing state systems and monitor its ongoing use.
• Govern the program, enforce compliance with state and federal guidelines, and uphold relevant regulatory standards.
• Recruit, develop, and retain top talent to ensure the AI COE possesses the skills and abilities needed to fulfill the mission and guide the State’s journey toward leveraging generative AI for transformative impact.

MaineIT embraces the following core values (C.A.R.E.)

• Customer-Focus – Ensuring our customers are heard and their needs are met.
• Accountability – Holding ourselves to a high standard through transparency with stakeholders.
• Responsiveness – Providing timely updates in a proactive manner.
• Empathy – Delivering people-focused services with emotional intelligence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the development, design, adoption, and monitoring of the State’s Generative AI strategy and COE ensuring it is scalability, security, accessibility and equity.
• Collaborate and agencies and staff to strategize and develop AI initiatives.
• Participate in the Technical Advisory Committee as defined in the Governor’s Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence.
• Conduct capacity planning, implement optimization strategies, and maintain AI reference architectures.
• Foster and lead a community of practice (COP) to facilitate cross-agency collaboration.
• Promote and drive early adoption of AI practices to realize the value mitigating risks and maintaining transparency.
• Define governance structure and engagement processes.
• Collaborate with security, risk management, and legal/regulatory compliance to manage risks.
• Partner with policy makers and public stakeholders to align AI initiatives with the State’s missions.
• Develop and maintain a knowledge hub to support AI adoption and measure outcomes.
• Oversee the recruitment, development, and retention of a skilled team of technologists and AI specialists.
• Authorize decisions regarding the development and execution of the AI COE program statewide.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED: 

Knowledge: 

• Cybersecurity & Compliance – Familiarity with security frameworks (NIST 800-53, ISO 27001) and regulatory compliance (HIPAA, CJIS, GDPR, etc.) with a focus on securing AI models and datasets against adversarial attacks, ensuring data privacy, and maintaining compliance with evolving AI-specific regulations.
• IT Governance & Policies – Experience with IT governance structures, procurement policies, and regulatory requirements on State and Federal levels including familiarity with AI governance frameworks such as NIST AI RMF, OECD AI Principles and the EU AI Act.
• Technology Trends & Innovations – Awareness of emerging technologies (AI, large machine learning, blockchain, IoT) and their strategic impact with the ability to access the practical implication and potential risks of emerging technologies for government services.
• AI Development Lifecycle: Proficiency in overseeing the AI lifecycle,  from preprocessing to model development including expertise in feature engineering, model running and performance optimization.  
• AI Adoption Governance: Ability to provide guidance ensuring scalable, transparent, and fair AI practices with experience in establishing AI ethics review boards and developing policies to ensure responsible AI use.
• Ethical AI practices, bias mitigation, model evaluation, with deep understanding of fairness, accountability, transparency and ethics (FATE) principles.
• Experience with machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI models including familiarity with foundation models, transformer architecture and model fine-tuning techniques.
• Knowledge of model development, deployment and monitoring across large datasets with experience in implementing Machine Learning Operations (MLOPs) practices to streamline model lifecycle management across distributed systems. 

Skills:

• Strategic Thinking & Problem-Solving: Ability to solve complex challenges and develop innovative technology solutions aligned with the State’s generative AI strategy including the ability to translate complex technical challenges into actionable strategies that support long-term goals.
• Technical Leadership:   Guide teams, influence technical decisions and ensure effective AI implementation.   Assist in solution documentation, architecture diagrams and technical specifications.
• Communication & Stakeholder Engagement: Convey technical concepts in accessible terms to executives’, technical teams and non-technical audiences.
• Collaboration & Cross-Functional Teamwork: Work across functional areas and agencies to develop policies and practices for AI adoptions while promoting knowledge sharing and encouraging the adoption of AI best practices across teams. while promoting knowledge sharing and encouraging the adoption of AI best practices across teams.
• Risk Assessment & Management: Identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies with a proactive approach to identifying potential model biases and ensuring compliance with ethical standards.
• Process Improvement & Optimization: Optimize IT operations to align technology investments with business objectives by utilizing performance analytics to continually refine AI models and infrastructure.
• Contract & Procurement Expertise: Evaluate IT contracts and participate in procurement processes including MaineIT technical assessment of solutions with the ability to evaluate vendor proposals for AI solutions and ensure alignment with technical and strategic requirements. 

Abilities:

• Innovate & Adapt:  Stay ahead of technological trends and adjust strategies to evolving needs while ensuring ethical, secure and responsible AI deployment in a rapidly evolving landscape.
• Analyze & Interpret Data: Assess metrics to measure performance, financial impact, business outcome and technical viability including the ability to detect model drift, bias, and performance degradation in AI systems.
• Manage Complexity: Navigate large-scale enterprise IT environments with diverse stakeholders and competing priorities while balancing innovations with operational stability and ensuring cross-agency alignment.
• Lead & Influence: Inspire and guide teams, fostering consensus and ensuring best practices are adopted and promote a culture of continuous learning and ethical AI adoptions across teams.
• Ensure Compliance: Maintain adherence to legal, regulatory, security standards and MaineIT policies, procedures and methods with an emphasis on proactively monitoring and adapting to emerging AI regulations.
• Familiarity with AI governance models and ethical AI principles (NIST, AI RMF, EU, AI Act) with the ability to design, implement, and evaluate governance frameworks for generative AI models.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field is required.
• An advanced degree (master’s or PhD) in a relevant field is preferred, emphasizing computer science, machine learning, or business management.
• 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in strategic roles within artificial intelligence, data science, analytics, automation, or related fields, with a clear track record of implementing data science strategies and solutions that have driven significant business impact.
• 5+ years in a leadership position managing teams directly related to artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning and automation initiatives.
• Special consideration will be given to candidates with a demonstrated understanding of artificial intelligence and current policy initiatives at the Federal and State levels. 

The selected candidate will be required to pass the required background checks(fingerprinting may be required) as a condition of employment.

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship or STEM OPT extensions.

Benefits of working for the State of Maine:

No matter where you work across Maine state government, you find employees who embody our state motto—"Dirigo" or "I lead"—as they provide essential services to Mainers every day. We believe in supporting our workforce's health and wellbeing with a valuable total compensation package, including:

• Work-Life Fit – Rest is essential. Take time for yourself using 13 paid holidays, 12 days of sick leave, and 3+ weeks of vacation leave annually. Vacation leave accrual increases with years of service, and overtime-exempt employees receive personal leave.
• Health Insurance Coverage – The State of Maine pays 85%-95% of employee-only premiums ($11,196.96 - $12,514.32 annual value), depending on salary. Use this chart to find the premium costs for you and your family, including the percentage of dependent coverage paid by the State. 
• Dental Insurance – The State of Maine pays 100% of employee-only dental premiums ($387.92 annual value).
• Retirement Plan – The State contributes the equivalent of 18.09% of the employee's pay towards the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS). 

State employees are eligible for an extensive and highly competitive benefits package, covering many aspects of wellness. Learn about additional wellness benefits for State employees from the Office of Employee Health and Wellness.

Note: Benefits may vary somewhat according to specific collective bargaining agreements and are prorated for anything less than full-time.

There's a job and then there's purposeful, transformative work. Our aim is to create a workplace where you can learn, grow, and continuously refine your skills. Applicants demonstrate job requirements in differing ways, and we appreciate that many skills and backgrounds can make people successful in this role. 

As an Equal Opportunity employer, Maine State Government embraces a culture of respect and awareness. We are committed to creating a strong sense of belonging for all team members, and our process ensures an inclusive environment to applicants of all backgrounds including diverse race, color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin, familial status or genetics. 

If you’re looking for a great next step, and want to feel good about what you do, we’d love to hear from you. Please note reasonable accommodations are provided to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.

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