Associate Director of Agentic AI and Automation Strategy and Enablement

Discover Vanderbilt Health: With eight hospitals and over 180 clinics, we are the region’s largest comprehensive academic health system. Vanderbilt Health has a long tradition of providing world-class care to the people of the Mid-South, living out our mission of moving medicine forward through preeminent programs in patient care, education and research. Here you’ll find a spirit of collaboration and a supportive community where your expertise is valued, your knowledge expanded and your uniqueness celebrated. We are committed to fostering an environment where talented, compassionate people are united in bringing the most advanced care to our neighbors throughout the region.

Organization:

VUMC IT Automation Services

Job Summary

This Associate Director of Agentic AI and Automation Strategy and Enablement role is a leadership position to establish clear strategic direction, platform accountability, and enterprise enablement as VUMC expands its use of agentic AI, intelligent automation, and emerging technologies.

The Associate Director will be responsible for leading VUMC’s agentic AI and automation strategy, overseeing the Automation Anywhere platform, and directing the Application Architect team. The role will connect enterprise strategy with technical execution by identifying high-value opportunities, establishing architectural and development standards, guiding platform adoption, and ensuring that new capabilities are introduced in a scalable, secure, supportable, and sustainable manner.

A central responsibility of this position will be maximizing the value of VUMC’s enterprise licensing agreements and technology investments. The Associate Director will establish the strategy, governance, adoption plans, enablement programs, and performance measures necessary to increase utilization, reduce duplication, expand reuse, and demonstrate measurable return on investment. This leader will work across IT and operational areas to ensure that available platform capabilities are translated into meaningful business, clinical, financial, and workforce outcomes.

The role will lead the Application Architect team in evaluating emerging technologies, developing rapid proofs of concept and minimum viable products, creating reference architectures and reusable solution patterns, testing new platform capabilities, and producing solution design documentation and implementation guidance. The Associate Director will ensure that promising innovations move through a disciplined process from initial exploration to validated, enterprise-ready capabilities.

The Associate Director will also build a coordinated enablement model for developers and technical teams within IT Automation Services and other VUMC technology hubs. This will include developing training programs, facilitating technical workshops and office hours, establishing development and architecture standards, and creating reusable resources that help teams adopt new platforms successfully. By scaling expertise across the organization, this role will enable developers to deliver higher-quality solutions while increasing consistency, speed, maintainability, and reuse.

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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Agentic AI and Automation Strategy (20%) Leads the development and execution of the enterprise strategy for agentic AI, intelligent automation, and emerging automation technologies. Partners with IT, operational, clinical, and business leaders to identify high-value opportunities, establish priorities, develop adoption roadmaps, and align technology investments with organizational objectives. Monitors technology trends and evaluates how new capabilities can improve organizational performance, workforce effectiveness, and service delivery.

• Automation Anywhere Platform Leadership and Investment Optimization (20%) Provides strategic and operational leadership for the Automation Anywhere platform, including platform direction, adoption, governance, standards, lifecycle planning, and stakeholder alignment. Establishes measures for platform utilization, solution value, reuse, adoption, and return on investment. Ensures VUMC maximizes the value of its enterprise licensing agreements by expanding appropriate adoption, reducing duplication, and translating available platform capabilities into measurable organizational outcomes.

• Application Architect Team Leadership (20%) Directs and develops the Application Architect team responsible for solution architecture, emerging-technology evaluation, rapid prototyping, platform enablement, and reusable technical capabilities. Establishes team priorities, assigns areas of ownership, develops staff capabilities, and ensures architectural resources are aligned with the organization’s highest-value needs. Creates a collaborative operating model that enables architects to influence multiple platforms, development teams, and technology hubs rather than remaining limited to individual projects.

• Enterprise Architecture, Governance, and Solution Quality (15%) Establishes and oversees architecture principles, reference architectures, solution-design practices, reusable patterns, integration approaches, development standards, and technical governance for the automation portfolio. Leads or sponsors architecture and design reviews for complex or high-impact initiatives. Ensures solutions are scalable, secure, reliable, maintainable, supportable, and aligned with enterprise technology requirements.

• Innovation, Rapid Prototyping, and Technology Evaluation (10%) Directs the evaluation of emerging technologies, new platform features, integrations, and agentic AI capabilities. Guides the development of rapid proofs of concept and minimum viable products to validate use cases, technical approaches, implementation requirements, and potential organizational value. Establishes a disciplined process for moving successful innovations from exploration into scalable, governed, and supportable enterprise capabilities.

• Developer and Technology Hub Enablement (10%) Establishes a coordinated enablement model for developers within IT Automation Services and other VUMC technology hubs. Oversees the development of training programs, technical workshops, demonstrations, office hours, implementation guidance, templates, and reusable development resources. Ensures teams have the knowledge, standards, and architectural support required to adopt new technologies successfully and deliver consistent, sustainable solutions.

• Client Engagement and Cross-Organizational Partnership (5%) Serves as a senior liaison among business and clinical clients, IT leaders, technology partners, architects, and development teams. Facilitates strategic discovery and planning discussions, communicates technology opportunities and constraints, and helps stakeholders translate complex needs into actionable technology strategies. Builds partnerships that increase adoption, strengthen accountability, and connect automation investments with measurable outcomes.

• TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

• Leadership (Intermediate): Motivates and inspires others to perform at a high level. Puts aside personal needs and considerations for the good of the team. Communicates in a positive and constructive way, demonstrating an enthusiasm for team and unit goals. Takes appropriate risks, showing and accepting personal accountability for actions and decisions. Gets others to share challenges and perform as a valuable member of the team and unit. Accomplishes results through influence, coaching, communication and commitment with minimal use of authority and control.

• Business Results (Intermediate): Develops and implements appropriate measures for attaining multiple business results and tracks progress in meeting goals and objectives. Builds an implementation network that includes key constituents such as peers, subordinates, top management and customers. Emphasizes both shortand long-term business goals. Recognizes and capitalizes on business opportunities. Able to detect early warning signs indicating potential issues which may impact customer satisfaction, product quality, or profitability. Effectively contributes to organizational objectives.

• Quality Management (Intermediate): Maintains an open mind and appreciation of the "big picture" rather than rushing to traditional or historical conclusions or approaches. Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully demonstrating quality management techniques with a group without requiring support and instruction from others. Able to train and educate by setting the example, giving instruction, providing leadership, and generally raising the level of performance of others. Has made and facilitated improvements to business processes within the scope of project assignments. Consistently delivers superior products and services.

• Operations Planning (Intermediate): Demonstrates ability to forecast complex resource needs, identify discrete tasks, set priorities, define dependencies, schedule activities, meet deadlines, and organize work for a single functional area. Merges diverse points of view into a coalition with shared goals and objectives. Plans for and anticipates events outside of immediate responsibility. Identifies relevant stakeholders and gains their commitment. Anticipates problems and obstacles before they arise. Able to absorb changes to major assignments while maintaining a high level of performance. Competently handles multiple assignments and projects simultaneously. Sets priorities with a proper sense of urgency and importance. Develops creative ideas and takes innovative action to achieve planned goals and objectives.

• People Management (Intermediate): Successfully resolves conflicts and disciplinary problems. Provides counseling and career development planning to subordinates. Constructively gives timely positive and negative feedback, confronting individual performance problems in a professional and sensitive manner. Aware of the values, abilities and needs of others. Demonstrates the ability to create a positive work climate, establishing a feeling of partnership and empowering others. Has set, coached and assessed the assignment objectives of subordinates. Practices and rewards behaviors supportive of company values.

About the Department:

• VUMC IT

• VUMC IT provides hardware, software and service solutions for the entire Medical Center. With over 40,000 workstations in the Medical Center, our teams can assist not only with hardware support, but also software and application support and services to enhance security and protection of your information.

• Our professional administrative functions include critical supporting roles in information technology and informatics, finance, administration, legal and community affairs, human resources, communications and marketing, development, facilities, and many more.

• At our growing health system, we support each other and encourage excellence among all who are part of our workforce. High-achieving employees stay at Vanderbilt Health for professional growth, appreciation of benefits, and a sense of community and purpose.

Core Accountabilities:

• Organizational Impact: Establishes key tactical and operational plans of a sub-function or multiple departments that has longer-term effect on results of the sub-function. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Integrate knowledge and in-depth analysis from several areas to resolve complex problems that are both technical and operational. Breadth of Knowledge: Applies comprehensive knowledge of professional/technical area and broad management knowledge of other professional areas to carry out objectives. * Team Interaction: Leads multiple departments with a function.

Core Capabilities :

• Supporting Colleagues: - Develops Self and Others: Acts upon constructive feedback from all levels of the organization and initiates strategies to develop talent in others. - Builds and Maintains Relationships: Leverages relationships and insight to forecast potential future needs and influence delivery of work to exceed expectations. - Communicates Effectively: Anticipates difference audience concerns, styles and finds mutually beneficial solutions across conflicting and sensitive issues. Delivering Excellent Services: - Serves Others with Compassion: Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of broad-based issues and considers the interests of others to improve satisfaction of services. - Solves Complex Problems: Critically evaluates complex information and identifies trends/risks to make recommendations to improve processes across areas. - Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing feedback and development discussions to motivate and support team members to maximize performance.

• Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Anticipates problems or obstacles which may interfere with quality standards and develops plants to ensure area's quality standards are met. - Ensures Continuous Improvement: Routinely draws upon valuable learning from others, past experiences, and new information to determine key opportunities. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory

Requirements

• Develops appropriate corrective actions for unsafe environments in order to ensure operational and safety compliance. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Identifies potential obstacles to goal achievement and develops solutions to address those obstacles. - Stewards Organizational Resources: Creates the appropriate systems and processes to effectively manage resources. - Makes Data Driven Decisions: Applies in-depth knowledge of data to recommend and implement new approaches to improve decision making capabilities. Fostering Innovation: - Generates New Ideas: Identifies opportunities and leads development of new initiatives that create value across areas. - Applies Technology: Creates the energy and drive for self/others to identify and leverage technology in new, innovative ways to drive greater efficiencies. - Adapts to Change: Anticipates the change process and clearly communicates impact on others/own team(s), assisting them in embracing the change.

• Position Qualifications:

• Responsibilities:

• Certifications:

• Work Experience:

• Relevant Work Experience

• Experience Level:

• 5 years

• Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

• This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

• Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled.