
AI Incubation Lab, Lead
- Goleta, CA
- $140,000-150,000 per year
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Strategic Engagement and Use Case Development:
- Drive collaboration with cross-functional teams to identify high-impact opportunities for AI and advanced analytics.
- Translate business needs into well-defined AI use cases in alignment with enterprise strategy and data capabilities.
- Lead intake, framing, and prioritization processes for AI Lab initiatives in partnership with product and delivery leaders.
- Ensure that AI engagements are grounded in real business value, feasibility, and ethical principles.
- Communication and Stakeholder Alignment:
- Act as the primary liaison between business units and the AI Lab, ensuring consistent communication and shared expectations.
- Create clear and compelling narratives, presentations, and summaries to communicate AI opportunities and outcomes to a range of stakeholders.
- Evangelize AI across the organization by promoting education, storytelling, and transparency in partnership with data literacy programs.
- Governance and Enablement:
- Ensure all AI Lab engagements adhere to internal governance standards, including data privacy, fairness, transparency, and compliance.
- Promote ethical AI practices and responsible innovation by incorporating enterprise guidelines into the AI engagement lifecycle.
- Support the transition of successful AI pilots into long-term products through structured handoffs to product, delivery, and platform teams.
- Education/Certifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required (Business, Data Science, Analytics, or related field)
- Master’s degree preferred
- Certifications in AI/ML, program management, or product ownership are a plus
- Work Experience:
- 7+ years of experience in data, AI/ML, analytics, or digital innovation programs
- Experience managing stakeholder engagement and delivery across multiple business domains
- Experience supporting AI product development or leading AI innovation initiatives in a corporate setting
- Exposure to cloud-based data and ML ecosystems (AWS preferred)
- Skills/Competencies:
- Strong understanding of AI/ML concepts, capabilities, and real-world applications
- Ability to translate business challenges into data science opportunities and vice versa
- Skilled in cross-functional leadership, stakeholder engagement, and influence without authority
- Excellent verbal, visual, and written communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences
- Agile mindset with strong problem-solving and program coordination abilities
- Passion for innovation, learning, and bridging the gap between experimentation and execution
- Competitive Pay and Bonuses - We’ve created a variety of competitive compensation programs to foster career development, reward success and to show our employees just how much they’re valued.
- Financial Planning and wellbeing - No matter what financial goals our employees have set, we want to help them get there. Our plans provide powerful ways to protect income, pay for expenses and invest in the future.
- Time away from work - Sometimes we need time away to be with family, focus on our health or just simply recharge. Our plans support our employees’ needs to get out, get healthy and come back stronger than ever.
- Extras, discounts and perks - Being a valued member of the Deckers Brands team means more than just a paycheck. From generous discounts to community-based programs, we offer a variety of cool extras
- Growth and Development - Deckers Brands was built on the idea of pursuing passion. That’s why we offer extensive opportunities and support for personal and professional development.
- Health and Wellness - There’s nothing basic about our comprehensive health and wellness programs and offerings. While at work and at play, we aim to support a healthy lifestyle.
Diversity and inclusion are key to our success. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and our employees are people with different strengths, experiences and backgrounds who share a passion for our brands. We welcome qualified applicants regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, mental or physical disability, medical condition and all the other beautiful parts of your identity.